Broadway Watch: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Tue, 3 May 2005, 03:03 pmWalter Plinge1 post in thread
Broadway Watch: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Tue, 3 May 2005, 03:03 pmThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Music and lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Directed by James Lapine
Opened 2nd May 2005
Extracts from various reviewers:
“Humor is just as plentiful, but most everything else is less spellbinding the second time around at The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee… But the more compelling war of words than the one onstage at Circle in the Square is the one between H-I-T and T-R-A-N-S-F-E-R.”
“The new musical… has remained virtually unchanged at the material level. It follows the spelling-influenced adventures of six wacky kids, thrust into the bee spotlight at a time in their lives when they're still trying to figure out exactly who they are and what they want from life. That each is somewhat ostracized from normality (as they see it), and as they're under the harsh eye and apparently unforgiving voice of a spelling announcer consigned to being as helpfully unhelpful as possible, only increases the stakes. Their futures really do seem to be on the line.”
“But though the Broadway production is superior in many respects (most of them technical), it's less earnest and less polished than it seemed Off-Broadway, lacking much of the cutting earnestness that gave it what heart it had.”
“Sheinkin has provided one of the 2004-2005 season's tightest and most satisfying musical librettos.”
“The strength of the book makes it even more unfortunate that, since the Off-Broadway opening, a number of actors have loosened in their performances and begun to force the off-kilter comedy that once came naturally. The biggest offender is Dan Fogler, who's crossed over the line into complete caricature that he merely toed at Second Stage: He's now too over the top in presenting William Barfee's mental and physical eccentricities - particularly in his big solo spot, "Magic Foot," which describes his singular spelling strategy.”
“Celia Keenan-Bolger has lost enough of her wide-eyed wonder as the solitary Olive Ostrovsky to dampen her character's sympathetic impact”
“Of the spellers, only Jesse Tyler Ferguson (playing last-minute substitute Leaf Coneybear) and Jose Llana (as last year's champ, Chip Tolentino) have stayed rooted in reality, and give performances equal in strength and fun to those they gave Off-Broadway.”
“Set designer Beowulf Boritt hasn't just adapted his middle-school gymnasium set, but transformed the entire theater (lobbies and all) into a school, complete with inspirational banners and kids' art projects crowding the walls and an extended basketball court for the set to bring the action as close to the audience as possible.”
“Whether The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will prove as successful remains to be seen.”
Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray
“Great news! The American musical comedy -- with equal emphasis on the "musical" part and the "comedy" part -- is alive and well.”
“…the musical is a treat and a half. Although it has urgent things to say about the American obsession with being number one, it connects primarily because Feldman, Sheinkin, and Finn have lit on a milieu in which to have a good deal of fun with music and words -- many of those words literally spelled out.”
“The plot couldn't be simpler. As the spellers are winnowed down to a champion, the dramatis personae get the chance to tell us who they are and to demonstrate their eccentricities.”
“Who wins the Putnam County event doesn't matter; that's part of the collaborators' point about competition. Indeed, the show could have been rigged so any one of the core six would prevail. What does matter are the opportunities that the authors take to amuse while presenting misfits at work and play. The narrative, such as it is, contains a few flashbacks and even a few flashes sideways; Jesus shows up in one of the latter, and his contribution is a hoot. Also, when the kids ask to hear a sentence incorporating the word that they have to spell, the responses -- apparently written by actor-playwright Reiss -- are hilarious. None will be quoted here, since giving a single one of them away would spoil the enjoyment.”
“Nobody is going to call this Finn's most potent score, but it fits the proceedings seamlessly. Indeed, it helps the entire team spell hit, H-I-T, hit!”
“A note on the transfer: Moving The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee to a Broadway house looked to be a risky endeavor, but the producers turn out to know just what they're doing. Circle in the Square, which set designer Beowulf Boritt has turned into a 360-degree high school gym (conducive lobby included), is a space that lends itself to a multitude of opportunities. James Lapine has taken advantage of all of them. In a season when too many directors have sent actors scurrying through the audience in a misguided attempt to make ticket-buyers part of a play's world, Lapine is the one who has made this conceit work like a charm. Some of the hyperkinetic activity went on when the endlessly charming and full-of-giggles musical bowed at Second Stage in February, but even more of it is cheerfully afoot now.”
Theatermania – David Finkle
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has packed up its unabridged dictionary and moved to Broadway. And William Finn and Rebecca Sheinkin's jubilant musical didn't leave behind a single laugh, stellar performance or moment of psychological clarity.”
“The consistently adventurous Finn… took what at first appeared to be a step backward in ambition, turning his songwriting talents to the intrigues of… an elementary-school spelling bee. But with the help of the best ensemble on Broadway and James Lapine's buoyant staging, Finn and bookwriter Sheinkin have transcended the material to create a profoundly embracing reminder that heartbreak or joy or a new friend can be just a consonant away.”
“The inclusion of four audience members in the on-stage bee remains a highlight of the show, drawing the rest of us into a vicarious terror… It's worth mentioning that the cast makes these volunteers as comfortable as possible, even when Chip gets "omphaloskepsis" and one audience member gets "cow."”
“Lapine has reconfigured his staging beautifully to accommodate Circle in the Square's thrust space… Lapine's exacting style has always been a welcome counterweight to Finn's loonier impulses, and he blends the surreal goings-on with the squirm-inducing verisimilitude of Beowulf Boritt's school-auditorium set and Jennifer Caprio's endearingly pathetic costumes.”
“…Finn's score, while effective overall, is not among his most memorable… But the majority of the songs are far more effective as character studies than they are as great musical numbers.”
“I like--I love--The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Broadway.Com – Eric Grode
Next Broadway Musical opening – Sweet Charity – 4th May
Music and lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Directed by James Lapine
Opened 2nd May 2005
Extracts from various reviewers:
“Humor is just as plentiful, but most everything else is less spellbinding the second time around at The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee… But the more compelling war of words than the one onstage at Circle in the Square is the one between H-I-T and T-R-A-N-S-F-E-R.”
“The new musical… has remained virtually unchanged at the material level. It follows the spelling-influenced adventures of six wacky kids, thrust into the bee spotlight at a time in their lives when they're still trying to figure out exactly who they are and what they want from life. That each is somewhat ostracized from normality (as they see it), and as they're under the harsh eye and apparently unforgiving voice of a spelling announcer consigned to being as helpfully unhelpful as possible, only increases the stakes. Their futures really do seem to be on the line.”
“But though the Broadway production is superior in many respects (most of them technical), it's less earnest and less polished than it seemed Off-Broadway, lacking much of the cutting earnestness that gave it what heart it had.”
“Sheinkin has provided one of the 2004-2005 season's tightest and most satisfying musical librettos.”
“The strength of the book makes it even more unfortunate that, since the Off-Broadway opening, a number of actors have loosened in their performances and begun to force the off-kilter comedy that once came naturally. The biggest offender is Dan Fogler, who's crossed over the line into complete caricature that he merely toed at Second Stage: He's now too over the top in presenting William Barfee's mental and physical eccentricities - particularly in his big solo spot, "Magic Foot," which describes his singular spelling strategy.”
“Celia Keenan-Bolger has lost enough of her wide-eyed wonder as the solitary Olive Ostrovsky to dampen her character's sympathetic impact”
“Of the spellers, only Jesse Tyler Ferguson (playing last-minute substitute Leaf Coneybear) and Jose Llana (as last year's champ, Chip Tolentino) have stayed rooted in reality, and give performances equal in strength and fun to those they gave Off-Broadway.”
“Set designer Beowulf Boritt hasn't just adapted his middle-school gymnasium set, but transformed the entire theater (lobbies and all) into a school, complete with inspirational banners and kids' art projects crowding the walls and an extended basketball court for the set to bring the action as close to the audience as possible.”
“Whether The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will prove as successful remains to be seen.”
Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray
“Great news! The American musical comedy -- with equal emphasis on the "musical" part and the "comedy" part -- is alive and well.”
“…the musical is a treat and a half. Although it has urgent things to say about the American obsession with being number one, it connects primarily because Feldman, Sheinkin, and Finn have lit on a milieu in which to have a good deal of fun with music and words -- many of those words literally spelled out.”
“The plot couldn't be simpler. As the spellers are winnowed down to a champion, the dramatis personae get the chance to tell us who they are and to demonstrate their eccentricities.”
“Who wins the Putnam County event doesn't matter; that's part of the collaborators' point about competition. Indeed, the show could have been rigged so any one of the core six would prevail. What does matter are the opportunities that the authors take to amuse while presenting misfits at work and play. The narrative, such as it is, contains a few flashbacks and even a few flashes sideways; Jesus shows up in one of the latter, and his contribution is a hoot. Also, when the kids ask to hear a sentence incorporating the word that they have to spell, the responses -- apparently written by actor-playwright Reiss -- are hilarious. None will be quoted here, since giving a single one of them away would spoil the enjoyment.”
“Nobody is going to call this Finn's most potent score, but it fits the proceedings seamlessly. Indeed, it helps the entire team spell hit, H-I-T, hit!”
“A note on the transfer: Moving The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee to a Broadway house looked to be a risky endeavor, but the producers turn out to know just what they're doing. Circle in the Square, which set designer Beowulf Boritt has turned into a 360-degree high school gym (conducive lobby included), is a space that lends itself to a multitude of opportunities. James Lapine has taken advantage of all of them. In a season when too many directors have sent actors scurrying through the audience in a misguided attempt to make ticket-buyers part of a play's world, Lapine is the one who has made this conceit work like a charm. Some of the hyperkinetic activity went on when the endlessly charming and full-of-giggles musical bowed at Second Stage in February, but even more of it is cheerfully afoot now.”
Theatermania – David Finkle
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has packed up its unabridged dictionary and moved to Broadway. And William Finn and Rebecca Sheinkin's jubilant musical didn't leave behind a single laugh, stellar performance or moment of psychological clarity.”
“The consistently adventurous Finn… took what at first appeared to be a step backward in ambition, turning his songwriting talents to the intrigues of… an elementary-school spelling bee. But with the help of the best ensemble on Broadway and James Lapine's buoyant staging, Finn and bookwriter Sheinkin have transcended the material to create a profoundly embracing reminder that heartbreak or joy or a new friend can be just a consonant away.”
“The inclusion of four audience members in the on-stage bee remains a highlight of the show, drawing the rest of us into a vicarious terror… It's worth mentioning that the cast makes these volunteers as comfortable as possible, even when Chip gets "omphaloskepsis" and one audience member gets "cow."”
“Lapine has reconfigured his staging beautifully to accommodate Circle in the Square's thrust space… Lapine's exacting style has always been a welcome counterweight to Finn's loonier impulses, and he blends the surreal goings-on with the squirm-inducing verisimilitude of Beowulf Boritt's school-auditorium set and Jennifer Caprio's endearingly pathetic costumes.”
“…Finn's score, while effective overall, is not among his most memorable… But the majority of the songs are far more effective as character studies than they are as great musical numbers.”
“I like--I love--The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Broadway.Com – Eric Grode
Next Broadway Musical opening – Sweet Charity – 4th May