After more than two years of preparation, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee debuted on Thursday, Nov. 14, as a musical entirely conceived, directed, and managed by students. Adapted from the 2005 Broadway production directed by James Lapine, the show featured a vibrant cast and crew and a leadership team of five seniors: Director Lucas Keeley, Assistant Director Nico Bennett, Choreographer Anna Durfee, Stage Manager Happy Lee, and Costume Designer Evie Scott, who worked together to manage the production.

The musical unfolds at a middle school spelling bee, where a cast of quirky, offbeat contestants vie for the title. But the cast members aren’t the only ones spelling out words — audience members are invited to come up on stage and participate in the competition. Even during intermission, cast members remain in character while attendees grab concessions.

“There are 10 spellers in every show. Six of them are cast members, and four of them will be from the audience. This could be students, this could be teachers. It’s really whoever shows up that day, and we decide would be a good fit,” Bennett said.

Freshman Aristeria Taptelis said allowing the audience to interact with the show created a new atmosphere for opening night.

“A lot of people came up to me after the show and they told me how much they really enjoyed watching it because we were so inclusive with the audience and we really brought everyone’s attention in,” Taptelis said.

The five senior leaders found inspiration for the show after seeing it performed professionally at TheatreWorks, a nonprofit theater company.

“Honestly, as soon as we pitched the idea of producing a show, we knew it was always gonna be [The 25th Annual Putnam County] Spelling Bee. It’s pretty simple in terms of, there’s no set changes, it’s in one location. Everyone’s just on stage the whole time. The lighting is chill. So just in terms of logistically, we thought it’d be doable. And also, we all loved it,” Bennett said.

Junior Rosemary Conant, who plays the determined Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere, said she was drawn to the musical’s balance of humor and emotion.
“When you watch the show, you can’t help but falling in love with all of the characters. I think that William Finn [the writer of the show] is so talented and he did a great job because the show is so funny but also extremely heartfelt. It explores childhood which is also fun because you get to embody a ten year old,” Conant said.

The senior leaders pitched the idea to drama teacher Cindy Skelton during their sophomore year. Initially planned as the third production of the year, the musical was rescheduled as the fall production due to time constraints. As the driving force behind the show, the group had to manage funding and buying rights before kickstarting auditions.

“I think a lot of adult-centered things like funding or building things or just kind of some of the scheduling is challenging, and I think trying to learn and teach at the same time is a little bit tense, but it’s not as crazy as you think it might be,” Durfee said.

After months of rehearsals, Conant said the cast and crew’s hard work will finally pay off.

“I’m really excited for people to see it because I think this show is really fun and we’re putting so much life into it, I think it’s definitely going to be a crowd pleaser because it is so funny,” Conant said.

The audition process, including dance and singing auditions, was very similar to productions directed by Skelton, Bennett said. Yet, the cast size is one key difference from the typical adult-led productions.

“One thing that is beneficial is that there’s a smaller cast. So I think that if we had 20-30 people in the show, it would be really hard for students to coordinate all of that. But since there are only 11 people in the show, I think it’s going great,” Conant said.

With rehearsals five days a week, the cast had time to figure out and get to know their characters. But sophomore Aidan Vega’s character, the awkward and cocky Chip Tolentino, wasn’t new to him. Over the summer of 2023, Vega played Tolentino at the Spindrift School of Performing Arts’ rendition of the show with Taptelis, who played Marcy Park.

“This year it felt actually kind of different, cause I had more time. Last show I had two weeks, this show I had like eight, so I was able to sort of connect deeper. Lucas [Keeley] did a great job with our acting exercises this year, and we all got to really get into character. One time we spent a whole day getting into character, doing all these exercises and this felt really good.”

The change in character for Taptelis was also a learning curve for her as she went from playing one of the children spellers to Rona Lisa Peretti, the adult host of the spelling bee.

“Preparing for an adult role was definitely one of the challenges because you have to be kind of sophisticated in a sense, but she’s also very quirky because she was a speller once herself, so it’s a mix of the two,” Taptelis said.

The musical drew an engaged audience, but for Vega, what happens behind the scenes is just as valuable.

“Well of course I’m always nervous beforehand, everyone’s always nervous, everyone’s always running around, going crazy, but in the end, it’s like once you step on stage it’s all a blur and it’s a big relief and feels like everything’s melting almost,” Vega said. “It’s really fun, it’s always nice to perform with my friends. I’ve gotten really close with the people backstage.”