WCT and The Bee!

Published on: 9/9/2012

Facetious - f a c e t i o u s.

Definition?  An adjective meaning frivolously amusing.

Used in a sentence?  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is facetious in its delivery and plot and whose comical, relatable characters will keep the audience laughingly engaged throughout.

Running for two more weekends, September 21-30, 2012, WCT's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Book by Rachel Sheinkin, Music and Lyrics by William Finn and Directed by Thomas Weissberger is not only farcically funny, but I'm certain everyone knew or knows someone like Chip, Schwarzy, Coneybear, Barfee, Marcy, and Olive; Rona, Vice Principal Panch and Mitch!  This show's Scenic Designer/Master Carpenter, A.J. Simon, along with those who helped bring the design to life, is the perfect backdrop for this bee's school setting.  I could almost smell gym class!

Weissberger, Director and Educator believes, "The authors wrote Spelling Bee as a kind of metaphor for the Human Experience - sometimes you get the easy words and sometimes you don't...Spelling Bee, through its chaos, humor and song takes us back to those awkward elementary and middle school years.  This is the long journey of self-discovery and finding out who we truly are.  The time we learn that "it's OK to be different.""

WCT, along with its tremendously talented and hard-working cast and crew, invites you to, "Join us for an interactive theatre experience that puts the audience IN the show!  For six awkward adolescents, the Putnam County Spelling Bee is their chance to step up and stand out.  A few lucky audience members will join them as guest spellers, making every performance unique.  Cheer on your friends and neighbors as they compete against Chip, Schwarzy, Coneybear, Barfee, Marcy, and Olive.  No one is a loser during this energetic show, as Mitch, the ex-con "comfort counselor," will tell you."

This mostly funny, sometimes poignantly irreverent, FOR MATURE AUDIENCES production is a revisit to that delicate stage of adolescence and its constant search for acceptance.  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, remaining performances September 21-30, 2012, is a PIX FIX excursion worth taking.  And as Weissberger says, "Watch the show!  You may see yourself!"

You may; only this time around you can laugh!