Knees are trembling and palms are sweating as the competition begins in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” March 6-31 at Music Theater Works at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.
Performances of the musical with book by Rachel Sheinkin, and music and lyrics by William Finn, are at 2 p.m. Wednesdays (except March 27); 7:30 p.m. Thursdays (March 7 and 28 only); 7:30 p.m. Fridays (except 7 p.m. March 8); 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; 7:30 p.m. March 6; and 2 p.m. March 16.
“I saw the original production on Broadway and I just immediately fell in love,” said director and choreographer Christopher Pazdernik. “All of these characters — especially the kids — are so relatable because they want this so bad and they’ve worked so hard for it and I think that’s a really easy thing for anyone to relate to, understanding that working hard doesn’t always mean that you win. But that doesn’t mean that your hard work was for nothing either. I think there’s a lot of life lessons buried in this play.”
Pazdernik also praised the “infectious” score.
The biggest challenge of the musical for Pazdernik is the fact that “we invite four strangers from the audience onstage every night,” he said.
That’s something that Rachel Guth, who plays Olive Ostrovsky, can relate to.
“I saw the Broadway production of ‘Spelling Bee’ when I was a kid and was an audience speller in that,” Guth said. “It was so much fun. I was 9 with my grandparents who loved the theater and loved me. They were thrilled. I remember it fondly.”
Guth described Olive as someone who has been alone a lot “so she has a great imagination and love of words and is so excited to make friends even though she doesn’t necessarily know how.”
The spelling bee is a great outlet for Olive. “Because she’s been alone a lot, her best friend is the dictionary,” Goth explained. “She’s a little bit shy at first but underneath she’s this goofy kid and wants to make connections.”
The actor said that she is a huge reader who loves language as much as her character does.
Joe Lewis, who plays Leaf Coneybear,” hasn’t been in a spelling bee but he has a strong connection to bees.
“I’m a middle school teacher so every year I’m the word pronouncer at my school,” Lewis said. “I read the words and use them in a sentence and give the definitions and language of origin. It’s really letting me live out my ‘25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ fantasy on the other side of the table.”
Lewis noted that he’s playing one of the quirkiest characters in the musical. “He can come across as happy all the time but I think that he’s got a lot of anxiety and a lot of feelings that are normal 12-year-old feelings,” Lewis noted. “He wants to do his best. He wants people to see him as somebody who contributes but doesn’t always feel that he does that.”
Lewis believes that his work as a middle school teacher has impacted his approach to his role. “I have taught so many kids who are like all of these kids in the show,” he explained. “Kids who struggle with anxiety and depression, kids whose home lives are challenging, kids who aren’t used to losing. I have a lot of empathy for these characters because I’ve had a lot of empathy for these real kids.”
Director and choreographer Pazdernik concluded that this show is “so heartfelt and wholesome.”
‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
When: March 6-31
Where: Music Theater Works at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Tickets: $39-$106; half-price for ages 25 and younger
Information: 847-673-6300; musictheaterworks.com
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
