Aussie Spelling Bee - THE VERDICT

[dramarama2]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 3:45am

I've heard of adapting things for different "cultures" but this is different...

Aussie Spelling Bee really is a whole new take on The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee.

For starters the stand out cast members...

Magda Szubanski - When people on this board found out that, in fact William Barfee is played by a woman, a few eyebrows were raised. But she does a fantastic job at the role and, a long the way, almost steals the show. Particular Emphasis on ALMOST. I'll get to that later.

Marina Prior - I always looked at Rona Lisa Perreti as the "boring" character, which every show has. Not here! Marina Prior is a complete theatre Psychopath! She's rude, flirtatious and, another difference to the broadway show, blonde! My favourite of her lines..."Miss Newan is a recovering cleptomaniac...don't even think about stealing that microphone!"

Lisa McCune - Her performance as Olive was very cute. She manages very well to sing sweetly in MY FRIEND, THE DICTIONARY and really belts it out in THE I LOVE YOU SONG.

Josie Lane - Here's our show stealer! What an energetic performance! Lane is absolutely superb as Marcy Park and I adored her in I SPEAK SIX LANGUAGES.

The Creative aspects...

I've heard people say that the show's score is very "Ho-hum". I've even heard that this is Finn's worst score. I completely dissagree. Spelling Bee's score is one of the most original and funnest scores I have ever heard. The orchestrations were brilliantly written too.
I now also see why the book won a tony. The book was very clever and extremely well written, if the second half of the show was a little messy in parts. It had me laughing all the way.
As for the sets, once again they were quite different to the broadway production. It is still a gym. The most noticable difference is that the band sit on the stage, behind the spellers, but are covered by a curtain when not peforming.
The direction and choreography was mostly good, but Pandemonium was a complete mess. Some more work could have been done.
Other thoughts...
I had front & centre seats. I had a good view of the show, but it seemed like something was always beeing thrown at me (eg. Panch's word cards, Chip's snacks and Popcorn, confetti @ the finale).
I registered as a guest speller, but didn't get chosen =(
The guest spellers were pretty good spellers. The last guy to go was asked to go up over and over again, as he kept getting the questions right, no matter how hard they were. The cast couldn't hold in the laughter. He lasted about 10 rounds. He wasn't showing off about it or being over confident about it either. He was hillarious.
If you happen to be in Australia (hmm...) then definately see this. It's a unique experience!

I'd definately see it again!

[burntplains]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 4:28am

i have an audio of it and it is quite interesting!

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 8:39am

Thanks for the review. I hope some clips end up on some site. Do they know about that in Australia?

[gettinhep]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 8:59am

Who is playing Chip at the moment? David Campbell took the role for the Melbourne Theatre Company run.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 9:22am

"She's rude, flirtatious and, another difference to the broadway show, blonde!"

The lady I saw in the sit-down production in Boston (who was in SF an I'm assuming also went to Broadway) was blonde too. I don't think that is a significant difference.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 1:45pm

Betsy Wolfe didn't go to Broadway's Bee with the rest of the SF/Boston cast. She's in the ensemble of 110 in the Shade.

I've never thought of Rona as the "boring" character. But Marina Prior can do anything.

[dramarama2]

Posted: 6/30/07 at 8:10pm

"Thanks for the review. I hope some clips end up on some site. Do they know about that in Australia?"

I, as do most other Australians use/watch videos on sites like Youtube. I've never known any one to actually film them though. I don't know why it is, it just seems that us Australians are into filming shows illegally. There aren't any commercials either. The best you can probably do is look at the pictures.

"Who is playing Chip at the moment? David Campbell took the role for the Melbourne Theatre Company run."

Jamie McGregor plays Chip. I've never heard of him, so it's unlikely you'll know him.

"The lady I saw in the sit-down production in Boston (who was in SF an I'm assuming also went to Broadway) was blonde too. I don't think that is a significant difference."

I meant it as she played her like almost a dumb blonde. She made stupid comments, she flirted with EVERYONE (Even the 15 yr old guest speller who "Stopped breast feeding 18 months ago"). She was litterally bouncing off the walls, in a big ball of energy. This is why I wish you could see a video. I'll try search Youtube for one of her in either the title song or her singing back-up in I SPEAK SIX LANGUAGES. Hillarious!

[gettinhep]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 5:47pm

Actually, I have heard of Jamie McGregor. He is a Kiwi. He played Timon in the Australian production of The Lion King.

[dramarama2]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 6:46pm

Oh, you're right! (Just checked my Australian LK program)

[Wicked63]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 6:50pm

We dont have spelling bee's in the UK, well not on the scale of the US which is a shame cos it means we'll proberbly never get a production here.
Great fun show, though i havent seen it since it transfered.

[dramarama2]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 6:52pm

We don't have spelling bees in Australia either. The show is still is just as hillarious!

[lfae]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 9:00am

I just saw it on Saturday night - Jackie Rae Lythgo was on as Logainne and such a joy to watch! I'd already seen it three times in Melbourne, so I was very pleased to get yet another different cast member.

We also had a show with an interval; Magda was sick and couldn't continue for about ten minutes. Quite funny when Tyler Coppin was going, where is Mr. Barfee, why is Mr. Barfee not here, before the actors were clued in!

I loved the new cast members, but David Campbell was really the epitome of Chip and I quite missed him. (Although then we saw him on Sunday in Company, so all was good!) But Jamie was wonderful - I really liked when he was trying to pull down his number to hide his erection, and the elastic snapped back up and in his face and he fell flat on his back. Genius!