Daily Vidette Article For Putnam County Spelling Bee

Written by Brittany Tepper, Daily Vidette Reporter

The Community Players present “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” from May 10-26.  This hysterical musical is sure to take students back to the days of juice boxes and imaginary friends. The Tony Award winning musical tells the story of six elementary school students competing for the Putnam Country Spelling Bee title. This is not your typical community theater piece. Audience members are invited to be spellers in the bee and many aspects of the show are highly improvised. Not one performance will be the same, and audience members are sure to hear a lot of hysterical pop culture references.   However, what makes the show extremely fun to watch is the cast. All the characters in this musical have their own quirks and are extremely relatable.    “People can relate to a character in some way. It is the kids we went to elementary school with. Each is a little quirky, but they see the best in people,” Kelly Slater, who plays Logan Schwatzandgrubenierre, said.    “My character is every 8-year-old kid or teenager that has ever drank a Red Bull. He is so excited, and he finds the little happy things about life and people,” Austin Travis, who plays Leaf Coneybear, said.     Both Leaf and Marcy are escorted off stage by the comfort counselor. The comfort counselor is another quirky aspect of the show that adds an extra dash of humor. Chris Stanford, who plays Mich Mahoney the comfort counselor, escorts losers off the stage with a song and a juice box.     Carol Plotkin, who has done props for many Community Players shows, said that she really enjoys this show because of the extra humor.     “It is the first time I had to tell people not to squeeze juices boxes so they don’t get it all over themselves. We need more fun in our society and this show is a riot,” Plotkin said.     Dorothy Mundy, who has also done props for many of the Community players shows, said that this show is different from the other ones she has worked on.    “It is one of the few shows that I have actually laughed out loud to. I have seen it grow, the different stages, and it keeps getting funnier. I hate being backstage,” Mundy said.     The show is rated PG-13 and is perfect for college students. Tickets are available online at www.communityplayers.org.    “This is a hilarious show. Anyone who comes will leave laughing. People may be hesitant if they don’t know this show, but it is definitely worth the risk,” Megan Masterman, who plays Marcy Park, said.