Actors put the F-U-N in ‘County Spelling Bee’

By Guy D’Astolfo

YOUNGSTOWN — Six wonderfully eccentric young students.

That’s what makes “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” such a fun romp. The young cast in Easy Street’s production brings all six to life and puts a magnifying glass on their mannerisms.

Mahoning Valley audiences got their first glimpse of the Broadway hit in a local venue Friday, but it surely won’t be their last. This musical comedy has the richness and humor to be around for a long time.

The premise is simple: It’s a spelling bee. Vice Principal Panch (played by Todd Hancock, who also directs) is, for the most part, the straight man who doles out the words, their definitions and some hilarious “use the word in a sentence” lines.

Past champion Rona Lisa Peretti (Amanda Beagle) is the queen bee who keeps things on track as Panch’s assistant. Beagle, a former Miss Ohio, draws on her pageant experience with satirical sincerity. Perfect.

Mitch Mahoney (Kenneth Taylor) is the menacing parolee custodian who doles out juice boxes to the contestants as they fall.

But what makes “Spelling Bee” special is the six young spellers, each so uniquely composed and well-drawn by the cast. Hancock and crew know “Spelling Bee’s” secret weapon is the kids’ personalities, which are unfettered by adulthood and utterly free spirited. The cast is meticulous in mining those details while injecting their own spirit.

Each of the spellers registers somewhere on the nerd scale, but none is a crude stereotype. That’s because their quirks come from nature or their home life.

Through flashbacks, the script reveals these problems — and in the process adds dimension to each youngster and warmth to the play.

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere (played by Rosie Jo Neddy, a freshman at Canfield High) is a diminutive bundle of tightly wound explosiveness. Under intense pressure to succeed from her two dads, she takes on those big words, leaning forward into the microphone, fists clenched, pigtails flopping. Neddy commands attention in this role.

Then there’s William Barfee (Khaled Tabbara, displaying some magical footwork), a mouth-breather with a raft of allergies and a very unorthodox way of spelling.

Also a delight is Leaf Coneybear (Paul Sauline), a home-schooled space cadet who exists somewhere between his own world and the real one. It’s hard to describe his personality, but Sauline nails it.

Bernadette Lim is the stern overachiever who is badly in need of some unstructured playtime.

Chip (Michael Koziorynsky) is a good-natured Boy Scout whose sudden awareness of the opposite sex comes at a very inopportune time. Koziorynsky later lets it rip in a risque solo.

The most normal character might be the attention-starved Olive Ostrowski (Alyssa DiBernardi), whose parents are wrapped up in their own self-discovery. DiBernardi, Beagle and Taylor team up for a poignant musical flashback. As the sole serious moment of the evening, it’s a standout.

The cumulative result of these characters and cast is a fast-paced blast that never slows down. The Tony-winning comedy, composed and written by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin, comes in at just under two hours.

Although the set is a hardwood hell of bleachers, banners and basketball hoops, the audience fortunately gets to sit in the comfortable and plush seats of Ford Family Recital Hall, which is the most intimate and inviting theater in the Valley.

Friday night’s opening performance suffered from low sound levels. From where I sat, it was hard to hear some lines, especially during the songs because the vocals were drowned out by the band. Let’s hope that gets an adjustment.

There were also electronic pops and feedback and a bit of an echo. Even if unintentional, they added to the feel of being in a gymnasium. But they also muffled some lines.

Some hand-picked guest spellers take the stage for a couple of early rounds. It’s a diversion that doesn’t really add to or detract from the story.

X“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” will be performed at 2:30 p.m. today and at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Ford Family Recital Hall, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown. Call (330) 743-8555 for tickets.