Two Minutes' Traffic: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Kennedy Center

It sounds strange out of context, but the best place to be right now is the spelling bee at the Kennedy Center. If you need a little more detail, that would be Danny Mefford's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee that has opened for a brief run as part of the Broadway Center Stage Series. If you want even more context, take a look at the cast list filled to the brim with talent that an appreciative audience at the performance I attended cheered for on every entrance to the stage. 

I have been a longtime fan of Bee's composer William Finn, and have actually instituted a personal policy of "no Bill Finn shows are allowed while operating motor vehicles" due to his remarkable affinity for simple melodies and lyrics that cut right to the heart. When I first encountered Bee through its cast album, I wasn't sure why that beating heart seemed so subdued. A production years ago at Ford's frustrated due to the inclusion of a watered-down alternate song for an unfortunately eliminated speller, but also revealed the drawbacks of a book by Rachel Sheinkin that already felt dated and included slurs that frankly, had never been necessary to the story.

What a revelation this new production truly has been. The lovingly rendered school gymnasium set by Paul Tate dePoo III serves as the perfect framework to invite back all the vulnerabilities, triumphs, and blind spots of childhood. Crucially, the book has been tightened and elements that felt out of place are gone, and you can see the ways in which Sheinkin's book is so solidly constructed. The heart in Finn's music isn't gone, it's just working in perfect synchronization with that simple story engine of the spelling bee, and the ensemble gathered here is truly excellent at showing you the emotion underneath both the polish and the silliness.  

Spelling Bee is a perfect use of the Broadway Center Stage series' spotlight- cast it well, think it through, get right team to stage it and bring it to life, and it'll hit the mark every time. It's beautifully sung, skillfully acted, and truly, genuinely funny and warm in way that we all need to see from time to time. Every BCS production has a very short run, but it's well worth making the time for this one before the Bee ends.



Comments

Popular Posts