By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Fans of spelling bees and plays are in for a treat as the Bucyrus Little Theatre is currently running its latest production ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.’
Much like an actual spelling bee, the play features a cast of nine actors who remain on stage for nearly the entirety of the performance as they come of age from adolescent to adulthood. The play is directed by Jason Chandler.
Chandler explained why he chose to direct this particular play.
“I had seen the show several years ago performed, and I got a hold of a copy of the script, and I read through it. It is a particularly funny, just charming show,” Chandler said. “The humor in it is spread throughout the whole thing. It really laughs through the entire performance. Yet at the same time, several of the characters have some growth moments where they have a touching moment of moving from early teen years into adolescence into adulthood. It can be a very silly, uplifting and yet at the same time there is a couple fun little moral parts in it, too.”
While the cast will be staying on stage for most of the performance, there are some differences to this play compared to others. One of those differences is audience participation. While it is not quite the audience participation that the ‘Rocky Horror’ play produces, the participation will involve a few members of the audience joining the actors on stage to become part of the play themselves.
Chandler described some of the challenges of directing audience members who potentially will change the scope of the play on a night to night basis.
“As a director and a cast, we talk about and we try to come up with all of the different things that might come at us when we actually put this in front of a real audience,” Chandler said, who brought in volunteers to help practice. “They had no idea what they were doing other than coming in for audience participation, and they came up and went through it on stage. There were some bizarre moments that we had with that, but overall it went pretty smoothly. The audience members, their work load isn’t particularly steep. They just come up and are given some words to spell and whether they spell it right or wrong is the biggest thing that the cast has to be prepared for then.”
Castmember Tyler Jacobs echoed the sentiments of the challenge of the audience participation, but, he also is looking forward to the excitement and spontaneity that it could bring.
“One of the things I am most excited about for this play is that we have four members from the audience to be part of the play. One of the challenging parts is we never know when that participant is going to misspell a word, and we actually have songs that coordinate with that speller getting eliminated that we have to sing immediately,” Jacobs said. “So, what’s challenging is also very exciting. Every night we won’t be able to get into a rhythm because one night somebody could get out very early in the show, and then on Saturday night we might have that same speller last longer, and we have to sing that same song at a different part of the show. So, that is probably the most challenging part of the show, and also the most exciting.”
Jacobs, who plays the character Leaf Coneybear in the play, spoke about his role in the production.
“Leaf is that kid that I grew up being, who had a very kind heart, enjoyed being around other people, enjoyed the moment being where he is at, but he didn’t necessarily deserve to be where he was at. Leaf Coneybear gets to the spelling bee without actually ever winning a spelling bee,” Jacobs said. “He gets there on a kind of an alternative route, and he just somehow makes his way to the spelling bee, but I think that people will come to enjoy Leaf and love him just for the kind heart that he has, not necessarily because he is a good speller.”
Performing in numerous plays for the Bucyrus Little Theatre, Jacobs spoke about how the character of Leaf Coneybear differs from others that he has performed as before.
“Most of my characters are things I have to work on as far as the serious moments, and I have to tap into a different part of myself that I don’t use every day to become those characters. With Leaf, while I am not as crazy in certain aspects, I pretty much have been able to fall into the role of Leaf Coneybear. It is kind of bizarre, I never felt like I had to act to be Leaf Coneybear, I felt like I was able to just be myself and adapt to the role of Leaf Coneybear. It has actually been one of my easiest roles because I am, to some degree, Leaf Coneybear. So, it is kind of bizarre, but it is great to be a part of.”
With one performance of the play already under their belts, those wishing to see the play still have numerous opportunities with performances at 7:30 p.m. tonight, May 19, and May 20 and Sunday matinée performances on May 14 and 21 at 2:30 p.m.
The show isn’t quite a family play however, as it does carry a PG-13 rating. Chandler explained why it might be a good idea to leave the kids with a sitter if going to see this performance.
“We have taken a little liberty to make it more comfortable for our local audience, but in the original script there is some blue language in it,” Chandler said. ‘We have taken some of the more offensive parts of that, but at the same time there are hints of those things said is still there. As a board of directors, we thought it was a safe decision to give people a heads up that the play really isn’t meant for children even though the play is about 10- to 14-year-olds at a spelling bee, it is meant for adults in the audience.”
Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for students. Those wishing to purchase tickets can do so by visiting the Bucyrus Little Theatre Box Office Monday through Thursday until the show concludes. Attendees can also reserve tickets by calling 419-562-0731. Bucyrus Little Theatre is located at 130 Songer Ave.