Liotte's Chicago Spelling Bee reviews! Updated Aug 24

[liotte]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:17am

(I just broke my own rule about threads with screennames in the title, but this is my show, so I made an exception :) )

So I just got home from the Bee in Chicago at Drury Lane Theater!

***SPOILERS***

It was a great show, but SO DIFFERENT than what I am used to seeing. I knew going into it that it would be strange, considering the huge number of times I have seen it have been the original cast, or replacements that I am used to and love. Plus all in NYC. So here are the details I can remember (and this will be L-O-N-G)!

The theater itself is fancier, so the lobby wasn't quite as schoolish looking. Still had lots of pictures up on easels, rather than on the walls. The actual theater area is more traditional (instead of a U shape, it's a normal stage that the audience faces), so the kid bleachers and Rona and Panch's desk are on the sides, and huge posters for the Jai Alai second place and the Putnam Optometrists are huge and on the sides of the stage against the wall. Mitch's chair is on the side of the stage by the teacher's desk.

The cast were all pretty young- looked to be in their early 20s. Logainne, Olive, Marcy, Chip costumes were the same. Leaf had a different cape and jacket. Panch was still in a dorky suit, just not the same as NYC. Rona wore a green suit, but her jacket was undone and she had on a leopard print shirt underneath. Barfee's shirt was blue and green stripes, tucked into the grey shorts. Logainne's hair had a bunch of braids all over the place instead of just 2. I'll get into the actual actors in a bit.

Stage was a lot smaller, so a lot of the staging was different in regards to moving around, dancing, etc. The ending with the passing of the trophy was all done in a line on stage, with it being passed to everyone except Marcy who stepped back.

The dialogue was pretty close to the original, but I heard quite a few new words- interior, bankruptcy, a big long word about acid and drugs instead of xerophthalmiology, and another one that of course I can't remember now. The cast wasn't quite as in sync with their singing in a group (Pandemonium), and the delivery of a lot of lines, especially Panch's sentences, were very slow. Panch pronounced each word phonetically and emphasized each syllable slowly, and his sentences were pretty monotonous throughout, rather than pausing to have more of an effect. He also pronounced words differently, such as capybara and zoonosis.

A lot of the jokes were changed to include Chicago stuff- such as being in a gymnasium with chandeliers, Olive taking the Red Line (train) to get to the bee, Logainne becoming secretary of ed under President Obama (whatever the Chicago/IL govt official is), Olive's halloween costume wasn't roadkill but I can't remember what she said now, something about Michigan Avenue. Logainne's speech was about the ridiculousness of American Idol, and that Taylor Hicks winning was absurd, and that 65 million (or whatever it was) people voted. For the next presidential election, we need to have Hilary Clinton go on AI in order to get votes and win. The adlib jokes included a woman whose friends call her Imelda because she picks out shoes first and then matches the outfit, a young black man who preferred his ladies "bootylicious", an older woman who looked like Judy Holliday (?), and the "when you think white guy, think me".

So the characters- (in alphabetical order)
James Earl Jones was great as Mitch, he has a strong singing voice for both Mitch and as Logainne and Olive's dads. He was a bit meaner as Mitch- when he came to lead the pledge of allegience, he yelled "get up!" and then "sit down!" at the end. His rant about Chip was also done with a more "thug" edge.
Bill Larkin- Like I said before, his delivery was very different than both Jay and Greg, he is much slower and more monotonous. The audience liked him though, they enjoyed his sentences and laughed appropriately. His "incident" was a lot more screaming and thrashing about.
Cristen Paige as Olive was adorable, her voice sounded close to Celia's so it was beautiful. She played the role more confidently, she didn't have the same shy, nervous disposition. Very cute though, the audience was on her side the whole time. Her staging in Dictionary was trying to be like the original, so she was walking all around the stage which looked a bit strange, going back and forth. And her timing in that song was slower. The whole night seemed slower actually, the line deliveries were slower all around.
Eric Roediger as Barfee sounded A LOT like Dan Fogler. His hair and costume were weird, I don't know why he is wearing green and blue stripes. Instead of saying something different every time his name was pronounced wrong, he always said "It's Bar-FAY". Magic Foot choreography was new since the stage is different, but it still worked well. His Weevil slow speech wasn't as funny as Josh's (or Dan's was). But I really liked his performance overall.
Jen Sese as Marcy Park was fantastic, I think she might have been my favorite of this cast (look out Deborah!). She has a beautiful singing voice, can do all the stunts in 6 Languages, and was just great all around. Her hesitation at camouflajzh was a bit rushed I felt, but it worked fine and the audience loved it. She is really young (still in college), so she had an extra kidlike quality and she wasn't quite as formal and anal about making sure the microphone is in exactly the right place, and her movements and stance aren't as sharp.
Lucia Spina as Rona- nowhere near the singing chops as Lisa H, but does a good job. She is a little more strict with the kids, especially with the coke spill incident. Also, she is more aggressive- When she came in she had full conversations with people in the audience for a few minutes before going on stage, her spelling of syzygy wasn't very kidlike or hesitant, she does a little leg flashing with her kicks and then makes a big deal of covering it up (just leg!), little things like that. Her comedic delivery of audience speller descriptions, and even the crepuscule sentence, wasn't spot on, and I don't think that she got the laughs that the lines deserved. I don't think the audience really connected with her with the same female role model tendency I see people get in NYC.
Derrick Trumbly as Leaf Coneybear wasn't even close to Jesse's portrayal. Derrick acted a lot more dumbed down, and did stuff like try to fly and belly flopped onto the stage at the beginning (and when he said spelling GAME in his entrance, Logainne and Chip say BEE instead of him correcting himself), hanging off the edge of the bleachers while lying on his stomach during Pandemonium, and not so many of the cutesy comments that Jesse has (How-a, I don't know-a). During the dialogue with capybara (pronounced CAP-E-BARE-A), I missed the goofiness of "is that a word?" "no way!" and the whispered "awesome". Derrick said all those things, but the delivery came off as he is a dumb kid, not the goofy cute. The audience still loved him though, and I liked him as well, it was just very different than what I am used to. He got a big "awwww" when he got out.
Brad Weinstock was Isaac Chip Berkowitz. Besides the fact that he is a short, white Jewish kid (and every time they said Berkowitz instead of Tolentino, I got confused), he did a good job. Not quite dorky enough. His MUE was great, though the theater doesn't have the same set up for throwing candy at the audience and walking through. The audience loved it though, lots of candy thrown! :) His Jesus had really long flowing brown hair, and when he came in through the back amidst all the smoke, all the lights on stage and on him were out, except for his heart. He said "Let there be light" and spotlights came on him and Marcy on stage.
Christine Werny is also very young looking, and seemed a bit too cutesy to have a strong political background. The audience enjoyed her speech while waiting for her word, and laughed appreciatively at her lowering the voting age to 10 and head of the gay-straight alliance. She opted to both write the words on her arm to get a visual before speaking them out loud, and signed the letters in sign language of each of her words. Her beeeeeee at the end of Woe is Me was really soft and quiet, her lisp was great.

I waited around to say hi after the show, got to meet James, Cristen, Jen, Lucia, Derrick, and Christine- all very nice none of them had ever seen the show in NYC. It was interesting to see how they made it their own and interpretted how they saw the roles, especially without having seen anyone upon who to base their characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, but I think I need to go back (on Sunday if I can!) so that I can be more observant of the actual show, rather than comparing it to what is already in my head. It was cool to see another version of Bee, hopefully I can get to SF to see that one too! Let me know if you want more details (if there are any!) or any other info.



Updated On: 8/25/06 at 02:17 AM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:22am

Great review, as usual.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:23am

Thanks for the review!

so the kid bleachers and Rona and Panch's desk are on the sides

Where are they on Broadway? Sounds like Chicago and SF have the same staging.

and did stuff like try to fly and belly flopped onto the stage at the beginning

They do that in SF, too. Hm, I see a pattern!

I missed the goofiness of "is that a word?" "no way!" and the whispered "awesome".

OK, now I don't, because that whole bit is in SF. :)

Thanks again! Come here next!

[justagirl2]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:27am

Great review, thanks!

I just realized that I was in a show with Christine a long time ago...I hardly remember. Perhaps I should go see this. :)
Updated On: 5/27/06 at 02:27 AM

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:39am

Great review! I need to go back and see it again.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:40am

That is weird. When I saw it Rona's jacket was done up. I wonder if they changed that.And she didn't have a leopard print, it was zebra. Barfee's shirt was not blue and green stripes when I saw it,it was green and yellow and he had it half tucked in (in the front) and untucked in the back. Weird. Logainne's had 3 braids. I wonder why they changed it so much. Do you think it changed the characters in your opinion?

And when you say that Spelling Bee is "your" show, what do you mean by that? Were you involved with the original production?

I hope you are having a good time in Chicago. What else are you seeing?

[liotte]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 9:42am

The costumes may have been different for you, Sueleen. I said it was weird because I am so used to seeing the same production on Broadway in NYC, so seeing the show in a different city, with a different cast, was a new and yes, WEIRD experience.

And I said Bee is one of "my" shows because it is one of my favorites and I see it on a regular basis. In no way am I affiliated with the production, or have ever been, except that I go see it and enjoy it.

[schlitze]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 10:11am

Thank you--that was a nice review. Do you know how long Spelling Bee will be in Chicago, or is it indefinite?

[liotte]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 10:12am

I have no idea about the length of the run.

And Sueleen, I am seeing Wicked tonight.

[TheMecca]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 10:32am

Wonderful review- it seems alot like the pre-Broadway Second Stage production (especially with the trophy pass done on stage). Do you know how many seats are in the theater?

[defying_gravity2]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 12:57pm

Thanks for the review. I'm glad you had a good time. Now we need to get you out to SF to see our cast :)

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 1:02pm

Make sure you post your Wicked review, too!

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:16pm

It's an open-ended run. Hopefully it will run for a while.
The open-ended Urinetown closed May 7th after only about six weeks whereas Wicked had been sold out since last summer.

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:16pm

double post. Updated On: 5/27/06 at 02:16 PM

[Brokenlizard14]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 3:57pm

Wicked in Chicago is AMAZING. Of course, I saw it with Kate Reinders and Ana Gasteyer. Gene (the Wizard), Kris (Fiyero), and Telly (Boq) are the sweetest guys ever though.

For Spelling Bee, do they come out the lobby or is there a stage door? Like I said, when I saw it they all came out through the lobby, but that had been worked out beforehand with Derrick and I.

[respeck]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 5:29pm

Just to clear things up, Urinetown had NOTHING to do with Broadway In Chicago which runs Wicked and Spelling Bee. It was in a small theatre FAR away from the city and I don't even think it was all equity. Urinetown was so different than these shows!

Spelling Bee and Wicked really have nothing to worry about.

[teddyp2]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 6:50pm

cleary, you could not be more mistaken, spelling bee chicago is averging only a 60% attendance!! Not the numbers it is doing in san fran or nyc.

[liotte]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 8:00pm

Unfortunately I won't be able to see Bee again while in Chicago this trip, I am going up to a lake house til Monday night. I'll go when I am in Chicago again in August.

On another note, I just won the Wicked lotto for tonight! I'm not writing a review of it, there are enough Wicked reviews out there.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 8:06pm

Darth Vader's in the cast?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 12:01am

"Just to clear things up, Urinetown had NOTHING to do with Broadway In Chicago which runs Wicked and Spelling Bee. It was in a small theatre FAR away from the city and I don't even think it was all equity. Urinetown was so different than these shows!"

What are you talking about??? Urinetown was in Wrigleyville (East Lakeview), that is practically in the heart of the city!

[Brokenlizard14]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 12:05am

Liotte,

At least tell me what you thought of our Fiyero and Boq. lol. I've seen Wicked in Chicago 3 times now and I just adore them.


So does anybody know if the cast of Spelling Bee comes out the lobby, or if they go out a stage door?

[liotte]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 12:49am

Kris is great as Fiyero, I've seen him before. He's also a very nice guy and we chatted for awhile after the show.
Telly is on vacation, I saw him last time I was here. The person who went on tonight did a fine job.

Spelling Bee cast- some of them came out the lobby on Fri night, don't know if I missed the rest or if they used a side door.

[respeck]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 1:50am

Teddy, I just meant that it didn't have exactly the same problems as Urinetown (not all Equity cast, bad/mixed reviews, odd location, ect.) But I will admit I did not know it was doing that poorly. I just wanted to get it out there that it was not affiliated with Broadway In Chicago.

And Fosse, Wicked and Spelling Bee are both right down town near a million hotels, meaning people see them walking on Michigan Avenue or State Street and is in walking distance from all hotels pretty much. Wrigleyville might not be that far away, but is it out of the way.
Updated On: 5/28/06 at 01:50 AM

[teddyp2]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 12:58pm

get your facts straight respeckt!

having worked with the pr firm that did the show, you are clearly wrong about the reviews for urinetown, around ten reviews that came out were posted were amazing with the exception of the chicago reader that also trashed spelling bee, you might want to search the sun times, the trib, timeout, the herald, the free press, etc, etc, and get your facts straight before you put info out that you really have no knowledge of. i will give you that the theatre is in an awful location, but to say that the reviews were bad to mixed is a lie. also you might want to know that the show got unanimously jeff recommended something that is unheard of in the chicago scene.

[respeck]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 1:28pm

Ah! Sorry, I meant some mixed and bad reviews, not all. I know the Reader was bad, but I do remember reading some that loved the show but still thought the comedy was pushed, which in my book is mixed.

My only point was that is was not a Broadway In Chicago show. Clearly I'm not a Urinetown expert.