Puberty is not pretty.
Your body has a mind of its own, insecurities run rampant, and false bravado is the norm.
But, oh, is it ripe for laughs. "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" underscores the humor of those awkward years.
Don't get us wrong — the play doesn't have a mean line in its script. This musical about a bunch of nerdy middle school kids at the Putnam County Spelling Bee treats the cleverly developed characters with a gentle, loving hand.
It's no small feat to have adults play young kids — the posturing and "acting young" can be most annoying.
But not in this production, which Broadway in Tucson has brought here for a seven-show run. The actors give the characters an innocence and enthusiasm that makes you believe they are young, shy, lonely, pompous and/or conflicted.
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The intermission-free show moves quickly, with catchy music and lyrics by William Finn and a delicious script by Rachel Sheinkin, who landed a Tony Award for the play.
The characters are fleshed out so nicely that by the end of the evening you feel you know each, and it stings when one misspells a word and has to leave the stage. That stage is set up to look like a school gymnasium with bleachers and a piano pushed into a corner.
The road show of this Broadway hit matches the New York production in talent and heart.
It's a strong ensemble piece, with a stage full of actors who clearly love their characters.
Roberta Duchak and James Kall play the token adults with an air of comic authority and exasperation. Duchak's Rona Lisa Peretti, a one-time winner of the Putnam County Spelling Bee and this one's monitor, has a self-satisfied air that smacks of school monitors across the country. And Kall was a hoot as the slimy Douglas Panch, the vice principal in charge of giving the words and their definitions (he was a last-minute replacement for Lute Olson, Duchak's character tells us, explaining Olson canceled his appearance but will get paid nonetheless). The sentences his character comes up with are priceless.
At one point, a student was given the word "phylactery," which Panch defined as a small black leather cube inscribed with verses used in Judaism. The sample sentence: "Billy, put down that phylactery; we're Episcopalians."
The bee contestants were made up of Marcy Park (Katie Boren), an overachiever who's sick of living up to others' expectations; Leaf Coneybear (Andrew Keenan-Bolger), who makes his own clothes, has been tagged stupid by his siblings, and won his spot in the bee finals because two others had to drop out; and Chip Tolentino (Justin Keyes), the one-time champ who now finds he has a bit of a problem with lusty thoughts at inopportune moments and what his body does as a result.
There are also Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Dana Steingold), the daughter of two daddies — hence the combined last name — who don't like losers; shy Olive Ostrovsky (Vanessa Ray), whose mother is off in an ashram and whose father is too busy to come see her at the bee; and, best of all, William Barfee (Eric Roediger). His name is constantly being pronounced Barfy instead of Barfay, he has a magic foot that he uses to write out a word before he recites it, and he is continually congested.
All did full justice to their characters, as did Kevin Smith Kirkwood, who plays Mitch Mahoney
, a punk who is doing public service (in lieu of jail time) comforting the losers with a box of juice and some big hugs.
"Spelling Bee" does something most other productions wouldn't dare — it brings on four audience members to play spelling bee contestants. It adds a sense of danger to the sweet production — what if the audience member never misspells a word, what will happen then?
Of course, that doesn't happen. Not when you have Douglas Panch handing out the words, some of which have never been seen or heard before.
"Spelling Bee" is a witty, charming musical that works its way into your heart and your funny bone.
We'd call it e-x-u-b-e-r-a-n-t and recommend you fall under its spell quickly — it's here only until Sunday.
review
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"
• By: Music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin.
• Presented by: Broadway in Tucson.
• Director: James Lapine.
• When: 7:30 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.
• Tickets: $20-$58 at 321-1000 or in person at the TCC box office, 260 S. Church Ave. Student tickets for all performances are 50 percent off; it's 10 percent off for seniors 65 and older and all military.
• Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes, with no intermission.
