Spelling Bee love! — Page 58

Snow did a fabulous job tonight in the Bee! Her debut as Olive was great! She has a beautiful voice, and was able to pull off the cuteness factor of being a 12 year old.

Looking forward to seeing her again once she's settled in a bit more!

I love JSW! Gah, someday I will meet her! Haha.

I would love to see Spelling Bee with Barrett and Snow. *sigh* Hopefully something amazing will happen and they both will still be in the show during summer when I can fly up! CROSS YOUR FINGERS! ;]

You don't know that necessarily. I probably would have anyways if I was in town! To defend myself..

I saw her in Good Vibrations and Little Shop and at a Fringe show last year. Can't wait to see her in Bee

ATTENTION BOSTON!

i was browsing on the SF message boards and someone posted this link. One of our newscasters was a speller in the bee and there is actual footage of them on stage. thought you might want to see.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=whatshot&id=4356483

---

Updated On: 9/20/06 at 05:42 PM

Clang,
Thanks for the link. That was really fun to see the footage of the SF cast. I only got a chance to see them once, but it was delightful (except for the drunk lady). I hope all of you in Boston get a chance to see this cast - they were exceptional, especially the man who played Leaf. Sorry I don't remember any of their names.

Jud-
You were there the night of the drunk lady? i've heard about that night. intense.

---

It was pretty freaky. I posted about it back in early July, but let me see what I remember.
During the first act, a lady in the back started shouting. She was saying things like, "I'll make a scene, I'll make a scene." The ushers were trying to get her calmed down, and she kept getting louder and louder. The actors on stage were quite taken aback. They started adlibbing lines like, "I didn't know anyone could get so upset at a spelling bee." Eventually they just stopped the show and waited around until it was under control. The cool thing was they stayed in character the whole time, and they acted like it was a disturbance at a spelling bee. I was very impressed with them, and I was very impressed with the way the ushers handled it.
We talked to the ushers afterward and they said the police came and took her away. She was really drunk and it took several policemen to get her in handcuffs.
The cast after the show kind of laughed it off. A few of them said, "Oh that was just part of the show." But I'm sure it shook them up a bit.
It definitely effected my enjoyment of the show. My wife and I had seen the show in New York, and one of my kids had seen it in SF earlier, but my other kid and our other guests were wondering what was going on. It definitely took awhile for us to get back into the mood of the show. Spelling Bee is such a sweet show, and this kind of outburst really took away from the mood. The lady was carrying on for a good five minutes, and it took about another 10 to really get the focus back in the show. For me anyway. My wife said the same thing.
I don't think it is something I'll remember though. I love the show so much, and the message of the show has such a profound effect on me, that I'm sure the memory of the drunk lady will fade. It already has to some extent, but my fondness for Spelling Bee will live on forever.
I tend to be someone who loves seeing a show once, and then maybe a second time much later. So many shows I have seen way too many times. But I do think I will like this show every time I see it. I couldn't see it as many times as Liotte though, as I'm sure I would get really sick of it. But the improv aspects keep it fresher I'm sure.

Haha, just watched that video.

"Please put on this glove." hahahaha, I have never heard that one. Cracks me up! Panch is so small in Boston! He could fit in my pocket. Cute.

Yeah, I never saw that lawyer-term used whenever I saw it, but...that's hysterical. Don Sanchez is sort of an institution, so that was extra amusing for me (and many other Bay Areans, I'm sure).

BTW, the dark-haired lady talking to him and sitting down was Elsa Carmona (standby Olive/Rona/Logainne), if anyone was wondering. :)

---

I wouldn't know, sorry. It did seem that attendance became quite spotty about halfway through the run, though.

---

I know this was in the Boston Bee thread, but I thought I would post it here too:

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2006/09/22/getting_into_c_h_a_r_a_c_t_e_r/?page=1

Only 8 more days!!

I saw the show yesterday afternoon for the second time. The first time I saw it, Celia was out and Kate Wetherhed went on for her - I thought she was fantastic and never would have imagined she was the understudy had it not been announced.

I have to say I did not find Wilson as natural nor as talented a singer - I'm disappointed that Wetherhed wasn't moved up into the role when Celia left.

I thought Foa was absolutely adorable - I liked his Leaf better than Ferguson's - it was more real, not a manufactured caricature, but a kid you actually knew. I still don't like Sarah Saltzman - I find her performance contrived and she looks like she's 45. She's completely unbelievable to me.

Lisa Howard had been out the first time I saw it as well, so it was great to see her this time. As before, my favorite performer and character by leaps and bounds was Josh Gad as William Barfee.

This is a fun show - I laughed as much this time as the first time!

---