Spelling Bee

Well, it's a Saturday Night Live sketch dragged out for two hours, some of which is funny, a lot of which is not. The actors are fine and the staging is clever. It's one of the best uses of CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE I've seen (NOT ABOUT NIGHTINGALES remains the front runner).The score is the usual William Finn amateur bag of tinker-toy mewlings, pulings and dribblings with not one measure of real music to be heard in the proceedings. There's a predictably gay throughline (Heather or whoever has two dads) and a misfit girl whose mother has joined the ashram or whatever and naturally they get to sing ballads of astonishing mediocrity. There are (of course) cheap shots at Jesus (a few laughs) and the Pope (even less) that are beneath contempt. And none of it adds up to anything whatsoever.
For the record,the audience was pumped and seemed to enjoy it (though I heard many comments about it being overlong). Personally, I couldn't wait to get outta there.

Updated On: 5/2/05 at 11:12 PM

You know what - I like Finn, I liked Spelling Bee...and yet, that score...

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I agree....with EVERYONE. Finn is one of the best and worst composers out there. Parts of A New Brain are lovely, but I could not make it through the Falsettos scores even once. Gawd, that was some of the most grating, headache-producing, melody-murdering "music" I have ever heard.

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I Can Dream, Can't I?

(But since Broadway hasn't produced a memorable score in years, I should know better).

Yes, that's my reaction to most Broadway scores as well. Ugh.

having seen all of the new shows this seasson, Spelling Bee was, by FAR, my absolute favorite. Out of Spamalot, DRS, Light, etc. It was the only one I walked out of humming a tune from, and the only one I've seen more than once. Granted, Spellbound is one of my favorite documentaries, but I found Spelling Bee to have the heart and charm that most other shows lacked.

I don't think that there is one memorable score to hit Broadway this season....

DRS might be the most enjoyable, but PIAZZA's is definitely the best written score of the year.

PS: You haven't voted for my awards yet! Please do!

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I have to say I laughed a lot at SPELLING BEE, and (despite what I say here) I didn't hate it. But I never warmed to it, either. Like MusicMan noted, it's staged well and the cast is excellent, but at the same time I think it's a pretty weak and predictable show with a forgettable score. The idea is a sensational one for a musical, but it's hard to care about the "kids" when they are written more as a lineup of sideshow freaks (I'm surprised there wasn't a kid with chronic flatulence or a kid who picks at his scabs). You're not sure if you are supposed to laugh at their monsterous eccentricities or feel sorry for them. Peter Filicia nailed it for me when he described it as a show that ultimately thinks that being smart is something to be ridiculed.

It makes one re-appreciate the brilliance of AVENUE Q whose puppet cast is more recognisingly human and moving than any character in SPELLING BEE - I didn't care about any of the characters one bit. In retrospect, I thought it a surprisingly cold show.

It desperately wants to be this seasons AVENUE Q.

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Updated On: 4/29/05 at 05:37 AM

Curious. I think I have to disagree with Filichia. I find that the show actually ends up celebrating that intelligent eccentricity. These ARE the weird kids (for the record, I was a three-year spelling bee champ of my own county - parish, actually - and not one "cool kid" would be caught dead admitting he had a facility for spelling) in your school and they do have eccentric behaviors.
I think it's a very clever book in that it starts off with those exagerrated traits but, bit by bit, knocks them down and you start to see the real kids underneath the exteriors.
And that, I find, is totally winning here.

This thread is both hilarious and unsurprising. Now I know for sure I will love Spelling Bee.

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I didn't love Finn at first, but lately, his music has been such a vital part of my life.

Updated On: 4/29/05 at 10:25 AM

MusicMan: It's the Munky Awards thread off topic, vote by pming Munk.
I'm still undecided on Bee.

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Just chiming in, because I went into Spelling Bee with a lot of trepidation since I didn't like A New Brain at all, and ended up really enjoying it. Though I would have to agree the score isn't it's strongest point; I think the book is, followed closely by the cast. I enjoyed it more than just about any of the other new musicals (ok, I haven't seen All Shook Up), though I realize that may have been in part due to my lower expectations for it. I'm not sure how it will fare as a Broadway show...though I think it works quite well in the Circle in the Square space, it really is a small, intimate show, and I can see where someone would have trouble justifying $70 for it, let alone $90, if they are expecting a lot of Broadway flash.

I think anyone who really thinks the creators believe being smart is something that should be ridiculed missed the boat. Is being smart something that is ridiculed? Yes, at least it was to an extent back in my school days, and I think that's what the writers are drawing on. (Although even I would have to agree that a couple of the characterizations are a little extreme!)

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