Mundelein Summer Theatre to stage first musical

For the last six years, Mundelein High School Theatre alumni have returned to the MHS stage for a summer production.

Now, for the first time since its inception, the group will produce a musical — “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

The show is set for 7 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, July 21-23, in the MHS Auditorium. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the box office 30 minutes before each performance.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin, chronicles the experience of adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime.

The Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky, yet charming, cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

The show is improvisational in nature, with four audience members selected before each performance to serve as onstage guest spellers. This guarantees each show will be a unique experience for the audience.

“We are really fortunate to have an all-star team for this show, both onstage and on the production team,” said Juli Del Prete, a theater major at Northwestern University and the show’s director.

There are cast members who have played leads in virtually every MHS musical for the last 10 years.

“It’s a little strange to direct the same people I acted alongside — or have even been directed by. But it’s also challenging and enlightening. I couldn’t ask for a better group to work with,” she said.

Jori Pulver, a recent music education graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, serves as music director, handling the vocal direction and pit orchestra.

“The process has been fun and gratifying,” Pulver said. “It is motivating me through the summer before I start teaching in the fall.”

The cast is certainly involved in a labor of love, with rehearsals having the feel of a reunion.

“This production has felt like a Hall of Fame get-together of Mundelein Theater. It’s amazing to work with some of the best talent from different classes of Mundelein High School,” said cast member Jonathan Sricharmorn, a recent graduate of Lake Forest College.

Sarah Van Sickel, now a student at University of Illinois-Chicago, said it’s great being onstage again with favorite friends.

“The best part is that Mr. Meier and Mr. Gohr are playing my dads,” she said. MHS faculty members Jonathan Meier and Adam Gohr are both in the cast.

Rounding out the cast are Ben Brown, Arika Egan, Katie Finch, Chris Johnson, Jessie Johnson, Eleni Psihogios, Jennie Santeler, Chris Sricharmorn, Samantha Sricharmorn and Shannon Wittenberger. The production team consists of Maryn Munley (set designer), Angie Jorgensen (light designer), Lee Delehoy (stage manager) and Michael Fehr (technical director).

Many other MHS graduates and current students are also working behind the scenes.