Spelling Bee Tour Review -2/24 Matinee in Louisville, KY

[kyguy78]

Posted: 2/24/07 at 8:37pm

Saw the Saturday afternoon performance of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" this afternoon in Louisville. It was easily the best show of the season. The sets were simple and effective, but a show like Spelling Bee, embraces its' simplicity.

The entire cast did a great job and the laughs came in abundance. I thought the three female spellers easily stole the show though. Sarah Stiles may have been my favorite of the spellers as Logainne. She had a charisma and energy that just seemed to translate well to the audience. Lauren Worsham was a very good Olive. She has a great singing voice, but she also did a great job with the acting as well. And Kate Boren as Marcy Park was frantic and intense at the same time, especially with her version of "I Speak Six Languages."

The guys were okay. I thought Miguel Cervantes was good as Chip, but I was a bit unimpressed with Eric Petersen's Barfee. I thought the acting part was great, but I really didn't think he held character very well during the songs. But Michael Zahler takes the prize for weakest performance. Leaf Coneybear was my favorite character when I saw the show in NYC and Michael's portrayal is very flat. I thought his "I'm Not That Smart" was underplayed and that there was nothing really brought to the character at all. If anything, Michael did a better job as one of Logainne's two dads.

Overall I thought the show was great and an entertaining couple of hours. I heard from some of the box office people that this had been the best attended show of the season and I'm glad. The cast works good as a unit, but could still use a little more tweaking. Other than that though, this has been the best show of the 2006-2007 season performances I've attended in Louisville, Lexington, and Cincinnati.

Kate Boren may take the honors for the second best performance of the day as Marcy Park. Her version of "I Speak Six Languages" was frantic and energetic.

Miguel Cervantes as Chip was very good. His singing voice was quite strong

[yankee_fan907]

Posted: 2/24/07 at 9:08pm

I saw it in December with about half of the orginal cast and I thought it was a truly amazing show! I'm sorry the performance you saw wasn't the best, especially I'm Not that Smart which is one of my favorite songs, but it is impossible not too like that show...

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 2/24/07 at 9:16pm

kyguy--I also caught the show in Louisville this week and liked it as well. I saw the show in NYC last summer with Barrett Foa as Coneybear and would have to agree with you that Zahler does fall a bit flat by comparison. I would also have to agree that the women are stronger than the men. I was especially impressed by Jennifer Simard as Rona Lisa Peretti. As much as I loved Lisa Howard in the role on Broadway, I think Jennifer is equally good in the role. Overall, the touring version is well worth seeing!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 2/24/07 at 10:04pm

Agreed. I think Simard was the best of the bunch. The guys felt a little uninspired to me, but I though Barfee was the best out of the men. I thought he held character very well.

The only part of the show I have a problem with is the opening. That first little part with Roni and her spelling the word just seems like it doesn't work. I know why it's there, but at the same time, it feels like there should be more, or just something.

[gillybean]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 6:17pm

I have to disagree with the posts that have been made. I loved the tour and I thought the men were really strong. And, actually, I found Michael Zahler's Coneybear to be outstanding and anything but boring...and I actually found him to be a standout. I guess it proves opinions differ! Having seen the original cast, there weren't any performances in the tour that I found to be less than and even if there were, I am not sure I would feel comfortable bashing them on this forum. However, I agree with sidneybruhl that Simard is a bit of a genius and holds the whole production together.
The tour is definitely worth seeing as someone above said. The cast, overall, is vocally stronger than the original (though I love the original and am not trying to defame anyone) and seem to be having a great time up there. I hope to see the tour again when it comes closer to NY again. I love this cast!

[TWSFan4Ever]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 6:30pm

Glad you enjoyed the performance!