Spelling Bee

I found Spelling Bee to be a slight, but enjoyable show. The quirkiness of the characters made it stand out a bit at the time if I recall, and the chemistry among members of the original cast probably raised the level of the material a good deal. I saw it once but have never felt a need to see it again.

I think it's the best musical comedy of this century so far.  It's original, touching, relatable, and funny.  It's colleagues like Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, and The Producers are all hilarious and great, but never quite reach the humanity of Spelling Bee.  It's a very sincere show.  I saw the original production and also a couple of regional productions.  This is a show that needs to be handled with a great deal of precision and detail to really work.  Everyone in the cast needs to be charismatic and on the same page.  Perhaps the production that you saw was not handled properly.

Updated On: 7/15/17 at 09:03 PM

I don't know how the production you saw handled the songs, but they are meant to be a little off.  They represent the characters' need to be perfect, but not quite reaching it. The genius of the score, in my opinion, is the grating harmonies at points: where the score goes wrong enough to make you feel something for the characters.  I feel like in productions of this show where the actors are singing TOO well, that can be missed. There is a delicate balance here.

Alex Kulak2 said: "I'd be curious to know what you don't like about the book, music, and lyrics. Did you not think it was well-written, was it not your thing, what?

 

I suspect the key issue is that it just wasn't my thing...that is why I was trying to get some insight from others.  

Re the music, I really did not think there was a single good song, from beginning to end, so that didn't help.  I thought the book was better and did try to provide both a light and a dark dimension.  I guess I have concluded that it was just sort of trivial, and that the score added nothing and was amateurish.  It is an interesting perspective that the songs were intentionally a little off...maybe the production, which I previously said was well directed and had a solid cast, wasn't idiosyncratic enough.

 

Updated On: 7/16/17 at 12:23 AM

I loved the "spelling bee" part of this show. Super funny and creative. Bringing up someone from the audience - hilarious. But I did not care for the music, I felt the songs were very slight. I believe it also suffers a bit from what I call "the list" factor. Where you know from the get-go that everyone is going to tell their sad stories and list the reasons for their personal angst. Repetitive and boring — waiting for issues to be checked off the list.

This song (not from Spelling Bee) is the ultimate victim of the "list factor." I just can't get into it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwOU3bnuU0k 

 

Updated On: 7/16/17 at 09:23 AM

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.  I am thinking that it is just different enough, and that the differences are not my thing.  I concluded when I saw Avenue Q that it was not my thing when the audience was laughing hysterically and I was sitting there stone cold, although I could hear that the score included a number of well written numbers.  

it did not help that my wife HATED it and was fidgeting non-stop.  When my wife really doesn't like something, she gets angry that it has wasted time that she won't get back.  In the last 20 years, she hated Avenue Q, Newsies, and Catch Me If You Can more than any shows I can ever remember and was borderline obnoxious trying to get out of the theatre during the curtain calls.  At least we were on the aisle for Q and Newsies.

I'd be curious to know what she does find funny