After a two-year hiatus caused by damage from Hurricane Ian in 2023, Venice Theatre has brought back its SummerStock program, which this year will culminate with the Tony Award-winning musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
SummerStock is a musical theater bootcamp focused on high school and college-age students, giving them the chance to work with industry professionals for several hours a day.
The participants will be playing a diverse group of young children who are competing in the title championship, using unique spelling methods while revealing something about their lives and quirky personalities along the way.
“It’s sort of a flashback for most of us who have been in a spelling bee or have had a son or daughter compete in one,” said director and choreographer Brad Wages.
SummerStock was put on hold after the mainstage Jervey Theatre was damaged during Hurricane Ian, limiting space available for the student program. “Spelling Bee” was chosen, in part, because it has a relatively small cast and can more easily fit in the 90-seat Pinkerton Theatre space. The theater will be getting a $350,000 grant from the state of Florida to help cover the millions it will cost to make repairs to the building and create a new Jervey Theatre.
A Tony Award-winning musical
The two-act musical comedy by Tony-winning songwriter William Finn with a book by Rachel Sheinkel, features what Wages describes as catchy tunes and high energy numbers like “Pandemonium,” which likely get the audience members involved in the struggles and pressures the spelling bee competitors face.
There are also more poignant melodies and ballads performed as the show progresses, reflecting the rollercoaster of emotions the characters go through as they battle the challenges they face in their home lives while competing with other spellers.
The play was also selected for its unspoken moral: success comes from involvement and education, Wages said.
“With all the recent events in America, including book banning and certain subject matters being eliminated from the classroom, I felt it was important to do a show that would uphold the education system,” said Wages.
Some of the performers in the production said the SummerStock program allowed them to learn more about their craft.
“I think what I’ve learned most from this is the development process of a character,” said 20-year-old Dylan Ramon who plays spelling bee competitor William Barfee and the father of another character. “It’s really a challenge to stand out against these other standouts.”
Ramon said his castmates have pushed him to make his character’s development and standout moments “more refined and more detailed.”
His character deals with a mucus condition and a voice that reflects that. Like the other competitors, Barfee also has his own unique way of approaching each new word, as he reveals in the song “Magic Foot.”
Ramon is part of an ensemble that includes Silas Thormo as Chip Tolentino, Summer del Valle as the overachieving Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere, Matthew Crawford as Leaf Coneybear, Emily Kelly as Marcy Park and Delaney Lockwood as Olive Ostrovsky. Hannah Rose Randi plays past champion Rona Lisa Perretti who moderates the competition, Fiona Villalba as the assistant principal who provides the words and Tan Selby as Mitch Mahoney, who provides comfort when someone loses.
Michelle Kasanofsky serves as musical director
Sandy Davisson, the theater’s director of education, said the show is enchanting in the way it explores sentiments that all humans experience such as insecurity and the desire to succeed.
“I think we are going to see some of ourselves in this show,” said Davisson. “I think it’s kind of true for all theater. If you can allow the audience to see themselves, then you’ve done a good job.”
‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
Music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. Directed and choreographed by Brad Wages. Runs July 18-Aug. 3, Venice Theatre Pinkerton Theatre, 140 W. Tampa Ave., Venice. Tickets are $40, $28 for college student and educators and $18 for youth. For more information; 941-488-1115; venicetheatre.org
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice Theatre brings back SummerStock after two-year hiatus
Reporting by Hannah Spence / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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