Yeth, of courth!

I saw Spelling Bee just before the Tonys and I had a B-L-A-S-T! With Book by Rachel Sheinkin (who won the Tony!) and music and lyrics by William Finn, Spelling Bee has made an extemely successful transfer to Broadway.

Spelling Bee is playing in the Circle in the Square theater (right next to the Gershwin where Wicked is playing). You actually go downstairs to get into the theater, and the whole lobby and inside of the theater are decorated like a school gymnasium, with handmade signs -- very charming.

There is even a registration area for "new spellers". That's where you can apply to be one of the audience participants (if you get there early enough, which we didn't, but will make sure we do next time or else my daughters won't speak to me again). About 10 minutes before show time they come out and announce the four names who will be coming up on stage. Disappointed spellers get a piece of free wacky taffy as consolation!

We were seated in the floor section, which is right in the middle of the action. They aren't tiered seats, so if you go with small kids (which you may or may not want to do after listening to the soundtrack...) it might be hard to see. All the tiered seats have a good view. But the cast was singing right at us, they were running around us (lots of stuff takes place in the aisles and at the back -- as one of their songs says "Life is Pandemonium"), imparting a wonderful feeling of organized chaos.

The book is frikkin' hilarious and very clever and James Lapine's direction is fab. This book evolved with many contributors and was based on C-R-E-P-U-S-C-L-E, an original play by The Farm. I understand that the actors brought their specific characters (already named in some cases) to the project. They all have such specific "ticks" and characteristics that you can't really separate them from the book. My favs were Wiliam Barfee (rhymes with parfait, for heaven's sake!) and Leaf Coneybear. I won't divulge their specifics since the joy of discovering the characters is part of the joy of the evening. The actors themselves are fabulous and so very appealing The audience even gave a spontaneous "ahhh, too bad" sound when one of the contestants lost.

The construct of having the words defined and then used in a sentence guaranteed you laughed every minute of the show's 1 hour and forty five minute (no intermission) running time. Although I do remember seeing a similar bit on the Will and Grace show when Jack is at the gay spelling bee! Hmm...

I was suspicious of the audience volunteer bit, but it does work without being too cutesy...

One of the things I liked the most was the way the kids would be up at the mic getting ready to spell and then they would flash back to a family/home moment, with the other spellers taking on new roles (say, of a father or a mother). It was seemless, and crystal clear.

The music is fine, but not wildly memorable. My two fav numbers are "Life Is Pandemonium" and the "Goodbye" chorus that is sung whenever someone is kicked out of the Bee.

It was a fun, refreshing evening of theater and we all left smiling. Moreover, Spelling Bee was my youngest daughter's pick for best musical. It didn't win, but at least Dan Fogler won for best featured performer.

Antihistamine -- luck of the draw!

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