Chicago Critic BASHES Spelling Bee like I've never seen!

From Chicago's free weekly paper, The Reader.



THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Dissonant is the word for this Broadway hit, now receiving its Chicago premiere from a local cast. The spelling-bee contestants inhabit a no-man's-land of age: the adults playing the kids, who unaccountably seem to range from 8 to 14, never come across as either flesh-and-blood nerdy grade-schoolers or witty adult takes on them. The setting is a homogenous small town, though audience-pandering jokes refer to Chicago. Worse, cartoonish characterizations by writers Rachel Sheinkin, William Finn, and Jay Reiss clash with attempts to tug at our heartstrings. Making up for all the weird disconnects, I guess, are the predictable parts: a monotonous contest format, racial and gender stereotypes, Finn's forgettable songs, and simplistic backstories and emotions. At this spelling bee, nobody wins. --Laura Molzahn




Thoughts?

It wasn't even like they spoke directly about the production on an acting level very much, they just bashed a lot of the creative portion. Just very brief with overall negativity for everything. Well speaking from someone who saw the obc twice, I loved every bit of it, creative and performance wise.
What they were saying about the characters, it makes me either a) think the reviewer was on crack or b) that NY spelling bee audiences got lucky with an extraordinary batch of actors to play these "cartoonish characterizations" here.
From the pictures I have seen, I am intrigued about this Bee.

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I have a feeling Laura Molzahn will soon be attacked my a little girl named Jenna who will appear by her bed at midnight with a knife if she doesn't send this to 30 people. Oh, wait, never mind.

I agree with EVERY point of her review. I never really understood the success or popularity of this musical. It seems so peurile and unworthy of production in a Broadway house. I saw it and thought that it was a cheap tourist trap trick pandering to middle American white suburban moms on thier "mom's night out".

Joe! How true! A friend and I were discussing how we fully expected Hedy's review to state that having the character of Chip become Jewish for this production indicates the CLEAR anti-semitism of the midwest, the OBVIOUS sexual abuse in the Ostrovsky family, the fact that picked on kids will UNDOUBTEDLY grow up to commit acts like columbine, and don't even get her started on Mitch Mahoney -

but amazingly enough, her review was glorious.

Maybe I judged Hedy all wrong?

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I agree with you, washu2002. I couldn't wait for it to be over when I saw it in NY.

Thanks JoeKv. I got my Chicago critics mixed up. :-/

TT

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bwayondabrain...there's no mention of columbine in the show at all. Ms. Weiss has a tendency to find meanings in things that aren't there and to carry her sometimes-delusional meanings to their extreme conclusions. Thats all I was trying to say.

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I saw Bee when it was still off-broadway and loved it. I thought it was so sweet and funny and I think the songs are completely memorable. I can see why some folks may not like it, butI can't understand not being able to wait until it is over.

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I think the show is okay, but I can't stand the score and only segments of the book are entertaining. The show basically annoyed me, I didn't see what all the hype was about.

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I just read hedy Weiss' review. Wow, nowhere near that nasty review of Wicked. (She and I traded e-mails on that one). Maybe since then, they have adjusted her medication.

I saw the OBC of Bee last May and plan to see the show again this June. Taking my best friend as I told him it is a must see.

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Updated On: 4/14/06 at 11:56 AM

I respectfully beg to differ with the issue of the casts being not as strong...

While the NYC/OBC cast will always be hailed as the originators and therefore "best," the Chicago cast (and Im guessing the SF cast as well) was completely delightful and more than held up their end of the bargain.

As for having less stage experience, Cristen Paige and Lucia Spina (among others) are old pros of the Chicago theatre scene... and sometimes, new performers - though young - can surprise you. See Derrick Trumbly, the Chicago Leaf, for an example. He's awesome.

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Updated On: 4/14/06 at 12:19 PM

I thought that it was such an adorable and fun show when I saw it in New York, which is all it sets out to be, so that's fine. The score isn't very strong, but the book is great.