THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Foothill Music Theatre presents….
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

If you have never seen a production directed by Jay Manley, you owe it to yourself to get to Foothill Music Theater’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee before this beautifully crated confection closes March 7th. The show is has everything you could possibly want in a musical: it is touching, funny and magnificently performed. The production runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. There are 2 pm Saturday matinees 2/27 and 3/6.

Dr. Jay Manley founded this innovative, exciting music theater in 1985. His intention was to produce rarely seen, neglected musicals but it has been going on so long that he has pretty well done them all. (At least, all that are worth humming). His casts are usually non-equity performers, often students and bay area singers and dancers who love to perform. That love of the stage is apparent in every show I have seen there. Each production (and I have been attending them since 1986) is a full scale work of art. The scenery is just right; the costumes amazing and the performances polished diamonds. These productions are not small scale imitations of the more highly touted and expensive extravaganzas seen on professional stages. Not at all. Each show has special touches only Dr. Manley can add. He has a magic touch that makes each performance unforgettable. In this production, we actually see Jesus right there loving us all.

I am not the only one who thinks Jay Manley is a genius. He has received numerous Dean Goodman “Choice” awards for his work and Bay Area Theatre Critics nominations for his outstanding direction and production. He directs two or three plays each season and every one of them are as good if not better than anything you will see at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theater or on Broadway. The actors and actresses lucky enough to work with Dr. Manley revere him, as well they should. He has mastered the art of bringing out the inner genius in anyone he casts. He does all this on a shoe string budget that no audience member could possibly detect. A show directed by Jay Manley can hold its own and even surpass the financially opulent productions that ask us to pay a small ransom for the privilege of seeing their expensive costumes and elaborate sets. When Dr. Manley takes on a project, he makes it glow. His direction guarantees that it will be a highly polished, beautifully paced, delightful theater experience.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is no exception. Mark Hanson’s musical direction is right on key and Kateri McRae outdid herself creating energetic, fast moving choreography that transformed the entire cast into “tween” versions of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. SPELLING BEE showcases the joys and pitfalls of cut-throat competition between six adorable young oddballs (played by adults, but they will fool you, I promise) as they spell their way through the contest. The judges’ lines are truly choice and their introductions and asides keep us laughing even as feel the tension inherent in this kind of contest. We watch egos disintegrate and confidence wane as one by one these very special children are eliminated and the winners circle narrows.

Every parent should see this show not just for the music and terrific dancing, but for what the book has to tell us about the pressures we too often inflict on our youngsters. We live in a society that honors achievement. We inundate our children with lessons and training and games that they feel they must win if they are to be valued. We forget that winning is so meaningless in the larger scheme of things. You don’t have to be better than the person next you. All you have to be is yourself. Would that our children knew that and their educators taught them to mine their individuality. After all, isn’t that their gift?

As I watched this talented cast participate in a contest with rules older than school itself, I realized how cruel it is to tell a child he needs a prize to be appreciated. Don’t get me wrong. No one preaches to you in this production. Yet, you cannot help but sense how misplaced the tension and the tears are when you watch these children compete. It will become clear to you that our schools have forgotten how to deal with individuals, instead of tabulating scores on a test. The sad thing is that all of us faced the same pressure and most of us accepted it as the way of the system. The winners and the losers in this production show us how foolish that assumption is. Every character in the bee is a special and very loveable human being. He do not have to be the best speller to capture our hearts.

I would be hard put to highlight one actor’s performance over another in this musical. I have to say that Kristin Walter as the former winner of Three Bees and hostess of the 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee stole my heart, but so did Alicia Teeter as Olive Ostrovsky, whose mother was meditating in India and whose father never managed to get to see her excel in the Bee (or pay her entry fee). Gregg Zigler and Water M. Mayes as Logianne Schwartzandgrubenierre’s two daddies touched me in ways that you must see to understand. Their lines were sharp and funny, but the sentiment behind their love for their daughter brought tears to my eyes. In fact, watching this musical as it spotlighted our parental stereotypes was like enjoying a yummy dessert that I didn’t want to end. And when it did and I exited the theatre, I had to remind myself that the losers didn’t really lose. They ware acting, for heaven’s sake.

You could have fooled me.

IF YOU GO:
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
LOHMAN Theatre
Foothill College
12345 El Monte Road
Los Altos, CA 94022

Tickets; 650 949 7360
More information: www.foothillmuscials.com