Spelling Bee love!- Page 26

[liotte]

Posted: 3/26/06 at 10:44am

OOH! That's fun!

I have Marcy Park's number card that is signed by everyone in the NYC cast- all originals (so with Dan and Jay).

[MyMeredithMonster]

Posted: 3/26/06 at 1:42pm

Ohh! That's great too! Jared (Barfee) said that they'll be doing three other numbers in the next weeks, so if anyone's interested they should go to the SF show on a Saturday night here soon.
The backstage photo on the back is sooo cute! I can't decide which side to frame it on!

[defying_gravity2]

Posted: 3/26/06 at 3:16pm

Hehe, Mer, last night was so much fun. I loved when Jared told us that we were singlehandedly keeping the show open. I heart the SF cast. I can't wait to get my hands on Leaf's number card.

[liotte]

Posted: 3/26/06 at 11:35pm

Today was a crazy day at the bee in NYC!

Matinee- Sarah Stiles went on as Logainne, Willis was on as Mitch, and Lisa Yuen was on as Olive.

Night- Sarah Stiles went on as Olive. I only saw the night show, but she was fantastic. Glad there is another great new member of the bee cast to watch out for!

[liotte]

Posted: 3/27/06 at 10:03pm

Following a late summer run at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, the national tour of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will take off across the country this fall. Tour stops have been announced.

The new musical currently enjoys a San Francisco run at The Post Street Theatre and will play an open-ended sit-down run at Chicago's Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place (starting March 2. The Georgia run — which opens the regional company's season — precedes the show's national tour which starts in Baltimore.

Cities slated to see the bee include:


Baltimore, MD - Hippodrome Theatre (Sept. 19-Oct. 1)
Pittsburgh, PA - Heinz Hall (Oct. 31-Nov. 5)
Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre (Nov. 7-12)
Cincinnati, OH - Aronoff Center for the Arts (Nov. 14-26)
Costa Mesa, CA - Orange County PAC (Dec. 9-31)
Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium (Jan. 2-7, 2007)
Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre (Jan. 9-14, 2007)
San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theatre (Feb. 6-11, 2007)
Louisville, KY - Kentucky Center (Feb. 20-25, 2007)
Fort Lauderdale, FL - Broward Center for the Performing Arts (March 13-17,2007)
Tampa Bay, FL - Carol Morsani Hall @TBPAC (March 27-April 1,2007)
Orlando, FL - Carr Performing Arts Centre (April 10-15, 2007)
Casting for the tour will begin this spring. The original Broadway creative team will return for the Atlanta production and national tour.

Tour stops and dates can be found on the web at broadwayacrossamerica.com. For more information on the musical, visit www.spellingbeethemusical.com.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 3/27/06 at 11:12pm

Has anyone else noticed that when the San Francisco Spellin Bee is mentioned, it's called the "San Francisco run" yet the Chicago production is called "an open-ended sit-down"? Does this mean that they don't intend on it playing indefinitely in SF? I'm curious, because it just seems odd that they refer to both productions in different ways.

[MyMeredithMonster]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 2:54am

I noticed that too, but the way the SF people talk it sounds like an open run to me.

[liotte]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 1:11pm

I was under the impression that the SF cast would be the tour cast starting in fall. But I could be completely wrong.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 1:19pm

I'm guessing that they will use the same set, but not necessarily the same cast.

[MyMeredithMonster]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 3:26pm

Wow, I really hope that's not the cast actually. I wanted them to stay here. Well, I'm definitely going to ask them about it this Sunday.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 5:07pm

Hey guys. Saw the show again on Sunday with all those understudies in. (Sarah Stiles as Logainne, Willis as Mitch, and Lisa Yuen as Olive) Heres my review of these members:

Sarah Stiles-
Sarah was cute as Logan but not nearly as good as Sarah Saltzberg. To me the whole time it seemed like she was just doing an impression of Saltzberg and didnt really put her own spin on it. However, she was really trying hard and it wasnt too bad to see her fill in. I think if she comes into her own she may be a great choice to take over in the role eventually.

Lisa Yuen-
This was the second time I have seen Lisa (last time as Marcy Park) and having seen Deborah again I can now honestly say I like Lisa better in the role, but Deborah is good too! This time I saw Lisa as Olive which was a bit strange. Seeing her with the black father and the white mother was a bit puzzling in the scene but that of course is not her fault. She doesnt have the range of Celia but it didnt matter because she is so likeable and cute. She was by far my favorite of the understudies on for the day.

Willis White-
Willis was deffinetly the weakest of the understudies. I know he was trying very hard and he acted well but he doesnt nearly have the range of Derrick. All of the Mitch songs just didnt sound right so that was a bit sad.

The most dissapointing part of the show was The I Love You Song. This is one of my favorite parts of the show but it just wasnt right this time. Because of Willis' lack of range it seemed like Lisa was toneing down her performance and it did not nearly have the power it generally has. I was quite sad because I was really looking foward to hearing this again too.

All in all it wasnt too bad and all of the normal actors were spot on as always. I still liked it, just not as much as last time.

Updated On: 3/28/06 at 05:07 PM

[LilDiva05]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 5:11pm

Any idea when Celia is coming back?
My sister and I are going to one of the performances on Saturday, and we don't want to see it without her.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 5:16pm

Ticketmaster seems to think SF is an open run. So I dunno. (Or maybe that's what it says when there is no specified closing date.)

BTW, will there be any adults-only performances in SF? I sure hope so. :)

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 5:16pm

Now to the fun part of the show, the jokes!

The first speller was a woman in her mid to late 30's. She got out on her first word. When she went up to the mic, she had these jeans on with a detail of flowers on them. Lisa said that each spring she plants a new flower in her jeans. :)

The next speller was a guy in his early 20s with the last name Baldwin. His first joke was that he acts along with his younger brothers Alec, Billy, Daniel, and Stephen but like all of them, he is betgter known for his spelling talents. Then the next joke about him was that he had won his local bee by taking last and inflicting opposite day.

The 3rd speller was a little boy about 10 with brown hair and glasses and a blue track suit. His first joke was that he came straight to the bee from the 25th Annual Putnam County Track Meet. His next joke was that he is still bitter about losing out on the role of Harry Potter.

The fourth speller got out fairly quickly and I didnt hear her joke very well because the audience was still laughing from a previous joke. I dont think it was great or anytbhing though.

[WholeLottaShakin]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 5:37pm

dirty rotten guy, thanks for reporting on the understudies. Kudos to Sarah Stiles for going on as Schwartzy, then Olive in the same day.

[MyMeredithMonster]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 10:21pm

Lizzie, I'll ask them about that too. I really hope they do.

[liotte]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 12:04am

Thanks for the reviews of the understudies!

I got a ticket for Sunday night because I wanted to see Lisa as Olive and she said she'd be on that night too, but alas, it wasn't so. I got to see Sarah Stiles as Olive, she was excellent.

[LilDiva05]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 12:13am

Liotte, since you're at Bee more than me *gasp*, any idea if Celia's going on this Saturday afternoon?

[liotte]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 12:14am

She was there tonight, I don't know more than that. Her understudy (Sarah Stiles) was great though, you should check her out too.

[defying_gravity2]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 1:35am

Hahaha, Mer, we're so greedy not wanting the SF cast to tour. I want them to stay here, too. :)

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 1:47am

One of my favorite speller comments was about a lady who had lots of Southwestern-style jewelry on.

"(Name)'s mother buys her a new piece of turquoise jewelry everytime she wins a spelling bee!"

And:

"(Name) is recovering from head lice."

[liotte]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 1:51am

Lizzie, remind me- are you in SF or NY?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 1:52am

SF. Never been to NY, actually.

[liotte]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 1:55am

Ok, thanks.

I think we need to trade casts for a week so we can check out the other ones. Don't get me wrong, I love my NYC cast, but I also love seeing new people in the roles.

[Pinaud]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 10:04am

I was told that the SF and Chicago are both open ended and that they will start casting the tour in a month. However, there is a chance that if the grosses are not what is expected for the SF run,they might tour. As of right now, that is not the plan.