The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Reviews

already!? wowzer

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Good so far...

I just KNOW this is going to depress me. Bee was between it's Off-Broadway run and it's previews on Broadway when we were there - and it's one of the ones I really wanted to see. Ah well, it happened last year with Caroline, and then the theatre gods smiled on us here in LA. I'll hopefully see it eventually!

Well, Dgrant, unlike Caroline, Spelling Bee looks to get mostly rave reviews and it'll likely have a far more healthy run than Caroline so you'll certainly get to see it here on your next trip.

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Updated On: 5/2/05 at 06:33 PM

It will definitely be near the top of the list for next year if it's still playing!

Did the Tony races just get a little more interesting?

I really expect raves for this show and that's certainly going to turn the balance of power right now for the upcoming Tony nominations...

It probably will get more raves that not.

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Right now, I would say that Folger is a lock for a nomination for a best supporting. Though I frankly preferred Llana (who IMHO got the funniest scene and song in the show).

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Updated On: 5/2/05 at 06:40 PM

Nods I'm predicting as sure things:
-Musical
-Score
-Book (Which it will most likely win, deservedly)
-Direction
-Featured Actor (Fogler, maybe Ferguson as well)

It could also snatch nominations in Best Lighting, Best Set, Best Orchestrations, and Best Featured Actress.

Updated On: 5/2/05 at 06:45 PM

I think Fogler is almost guaranteed a nom, although, I thought that about Ann Harada last year.

Talkin Broadway is Mixed-to-positive:

Humor is just as plentiful, but most everything else is less spellbinding the second time around at The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. If you missed the show during its lauded engagement at Second Stage, you now have another chance to see one of the season's most laugh-packed musicals (the funniest to open on Broadway, at any rate). But the more compelling war of words than the one onstage at Circle in the Square is the one between H-I-T and T-R-A-N-S-F-E-R.
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As the spellers are eliminated, the survivors and the losers make their quiet and often painful progression toward adulthood until, at the end of the show, there's nothing left to do but explain exactly how this one fateful day impacted all their lives. The musical's affecting final scene is a triumphant tribute to not just the victor, but to the art of competition and the glory of youth, in which - in many ways - anything goes, and everyone can be a winner. This remains on Broadway a powerful, pleasing message.

But though the Broadway production is superior in many respects (most of them technical), it's less earnest and less polished than it seemed Off-Broadway, lacking much of the cutting earnestness that gave it what heart it had. While many shows (Caroline, or Change being a recent, highly visible example) can use time between mountings to fix problems, most of Spelling Bee's issues have not been sufficiently adjusted.

That's most notable in Finn's score, which is attractively adolescent in its worldview (including songs like "I'm Not That Smart," "My Friend, the Dictionary," and "I Speak Six Languages") but only theatrically ornamental. Only the title song, the singing of the competition's rules, and the hormone-inspired lament by an eliminated unlock any musical storytelling possibilities for the show; the other numbers feel like time-wasters, however charming, that lack the punch of necessity that even the best musicals need. (The score is playfully orchestrated by Michael Starobin, and Vadim Feichtner provides the lively musical direction.)

But if Finn erred in not making significant adjustments to his lackluster score, Sheinkin scored by leaving firmly in place her book's sharp-edged hilarity and undercurrent of pathos. She develops her characters so cleanly, cleverly, and completely in her dialogue that one can see why Finn was reluctant to fully integrate his songs with it: Sheinkin has provided one of the 2004-2005 season's tightest and most satisfying musical librettos.

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Whether The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will prove as successful remains to be seen. If it's more relatable and human - at least on paper, if not currently in the broader than ideal production - it never obtains quite the synthesis of word, music, and concept that has made Avenue Q so captivating to so many. Ultimately, it's that more than the quality of the transfer itself that will spell either doom or success for this well-intentioned but not yet entirely realized show.



http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/25AnnualPCSB.html

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Updated On: 5/2/05 at 06:50 PM

I have always hated Matthew Murray's reviews and this one just proves my disliking again.. the show didnt lose ANYTHING when it transferred, and the cast has only gotten stronger, not worse!