Best way to get into "The Bee"
Best way to get into "The Bee"
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#0Best way to get into "The Bee"
Posted: 6/29/06 at 10:46amI am going to see Spelling Bee in Atlanta in August, and really want to be a contestant. So I thought maybe people who had tried or gotten to be a contestant in The Bee could give some advice about the best way to answer the questions to get into it.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#1re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 10:48am
-You have to tell them its your first time
-You should get there as early as possible
-Wearing strange clothes or having a unique attribute helps greatly
Hope it helps and tell us how it goes!
"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"
#2re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 10:53am
I did it on broadway. I just acted totally natural. I was wearing a funky shirt with matching wristband, and they might've liked that 
Otherwise, just be yourself, but sound excited and entertained.
...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...
#3re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 10:56am
- being part of a big group helps
I was watching the table folks interview a few Bee contestants one night, trying to see if I could pick out who they were going to pick, and I picked the one guy right out of the few I watched them interview- I could just tell, there was just a certain...personality? presence?...about him, I knew they'd be putting him on stage. Sorry- I can't really put it into words. :)
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#4re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 10:59amIs it better to say you've seen it or not seen it? And if you know a lot about it?
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
QOM
Stand-by Joined: 8/28/05
#5re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 11:05am
I'd say it's better to say you haven't seen it. If you know all about it then you will know (for the most part) which words they will be asking you to spell.
Two times now someone from my group was chosen. Both times they were approached by someone with a clipboard in the lobby and were asked if they wanted to be in the show that night.
#6re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 11:30amYou HAVE to say its your first time. I went to go and try to do it my second time and they wont allow you to.
"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"
#7re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 11:35am
Also don't act as though you've had any experiance in theatre before, but you still have to act as though you wouldn't be nervous on stage. They don't want anyone going up there who looks as though they may have a headshot and resume.
Here are some ideas on what to wear to get chosen
-wear all black (they'll call you the spelling ninga)
-wear alot of jewlery (they'll say your mom buys you another piece of jewlery everytime you win a bee)
-over accesorise (they'll say you like to freak out other contestants by over accesorising)
-wear clothes in shades of gray (they'll say you can't wait till your favorite fashions come out in color)
-wear sweats or jeans(they'll say you like to dress like a gym teacher or you exclaimed to your mom before comming here "I'm not going to a Broadway show Ma! I'm just going to a spelling bee)
The above jokes have been used several times so it's your best bet to do one of those things.
Updated On: 6/29/06 at 11:35 AM
#8re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 12:09pmDo NOT be an actor. Don't try to create a character for them and don't be a ham. They want people who will be natural and not try to be funny.
thevolleyballer
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
#9re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 12:10pmAs far as personality, what's best? To be charismatic and energetic, or to be mild-mannered and, though loud, shy enough?
#10re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 12:47pm
You might want to get there early. Don't walk up at the last minute. Someone approached me when I went to the show. I'm a chicken, and I didn't participate. In my opinion, I don't pay my hard earned money to put ON the show; I pay it to WATCH the show. 
However, it was a blast to watch the audience participants. I love that show. And Jesse Tyler Ferguson
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
coolphantom919
Broadway Star Joined: 6/6/06
#11re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 2:38pmI saw it in Chicago. Just be unique!
&OneForMahler
Understudy Joined: 6/27/06
#12re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 2:59pmDon't admit that you're a bad speller if you are... because when I was being interviewed for it, they got to the "how would you rate yourself as a speller," and I couldn't find it in me to lie so I said 'below average' and I think that really hurt me... that and the fact that I admitted to knowing the show well. Good luck though.
<--- me & Erin Davie =)
omigod, omigod you guys...
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#13re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 3:39pmI thought they wanted bad spellers...
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
&OneForMahler
Understudy Joined: 6/27/06
#14re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 3:41pmWell, the night I was there I know that two of the people they picked had both been spelling bee winners when they were younger... I think that they want people who can at least get through a word or two.
<--- me & Erin Davie =)
omigod, omigod you guys...
#15re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 3:41pmBe bald. They love bald people- I have seen them get picked more than anyone else. Or wear one of those fuzzy scarves....
"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck
CurtainUp
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/9/04
#16re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 4:14pm
Underdress.
Or, wear an outfit that's OVERDRESSING and might verge on innappropriate. "So and so has broken the _ School Dress Code...27 times."
Rosencrantz: "Be happy - if you're not even HAPPY what's so good about surviving? We'll be all right. I suppose we just go on."
- from Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
#17re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 5:30pmIt's more fun with good spellers, so say you are one. If they choose all bad spellers. Most everyone would get out on their first word and that's no fun. Trust me. Last time I went the only people who didn't get out on their first word were the people who got cow and mexican. But both of them go out on their first word.
tmz814
Broadway Star Joined: 8/21/03
#18re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 7:32pmI think it is best to just be yourself. The little girl that I took to the show put her name in and was interviewed. I wanted her to mention that she was a champion Irish dancer (which she didn't), but when they asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up she said an actress (I thought she was out of the running right then and there because they didn't want any actors), and ten minutes later her name was called. She had so much fun. I think being yourself is one of the most important things because they want real people.
We've all got our junk and my junk is you!
#19re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 7:35pmHave someone you're with tell them it's your birthday?
thevolleyballer
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
#20re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 8:29pm
For those who want to make life hard for the cast if they do in fact get picked:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_25th_Annual_Putnam_County_Spelling_Bee#Words_Used
#21re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 8:30pm
Not neccessarily.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
SweetQintheLights
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/12/05
#22re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 8:41pm
volley- that's horrible and yet funny
I want to know who made that.
"How bout a little black dress?"~hannahshule
"I have a penis, not a vagina." ~munkustrap178
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#23re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 8:45pmVery funny. But they don't have dengue (or however you spell it) on there.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#24re: Best way to get into 'The Bee'
Posted: 6/29/06 at 10:56pmI've never heard Kakapo. And the list of audience words is waaaay off.
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