In parallel with the calendar year, Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts produced Rachel Sheinkin’s Tony Award-winning musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The musical is worth a watch for the stellar acting and humor, despite some slight stumbling on the musical performances.
The musical takes place during the Putnam County Spelling Bee, where six middle school students compete for the championship. Along the way, the students learn life lessons about their pre-pubescent selves and the tribulations that come at that stage of their lives.
The set was remarkably small and simplistic, only using the front of the stage in front of a closed curtain. Despite the limitations, this was all the space that was needed, and the cast made full use of it.
Three rows of chairs adorned the left side of the stage, a table with chair and microphones were on the right and in the center was a microphone.
Buffy Toledo as Rona Lisa Peretti left a glowing first impression through voiceless acting as the show began. Toledo maintained this momentum throughout the entire show with a phenomenal singing voice and a perpetually bubbly and enthusiastic line delivery that was consistently funny.
Lizzy Bies as Vice Principal Panch was by far the highlight of the production. The audience roared with laughter whenever Bies delivered the joke hidden within the sentences used when prompted by the students. Furthermore, their comedic timing throughout the show was impeccable.
The rest of the actors excelled at portraying each of their characters’ unique quirks before and after their growth arcs.
Across the board the acting was solid, with Aidan Pryor, Olivia Manz and Jim Marchbanks being other standout members of the cast.
However for a musical play, the musical aspect was good but not as strong. While all the songs served their purpose well and were a lot of fun, none were all that catchy or memorable.
The musical performances were also a bit of a mixed bag. When actors sang and danced alone almost everyone absolutely nailed their performances, but during ensemble pieces cracks began to show.
Actors had a distracting difference in the energy and expressiveness when working together, and not always in ways that suited their characters.
Marchbanks did a stellar job with the comedy and overall acting while playing three different parts, but his singing left much to be desired. Oftentimes his singing was so soft that the lyrics were unintelligible, and during a duet he fell very short of his partner.
The show was still a lot of fun. The production made up for the lackluster musical elements with highly convincing acting and hysterically funny comedic moments, both spoken and sung.
Clearly directed with humor in mind over music, the show excels in that regard. For that reason, SRJC Theatre Arts’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is highly recommended.
The show runs for one more weekend, with performances March 6-8 at 7:30 p.m. and March 8-9 at 2 p.m.
