Photo by Jane Kirsch
By Jane Kirsch
Get ready, Willow. The high school musical this year will be highly interactive. Audience members may find themselves plucked from the audience to be contestants in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The play, consisting of 23 cast members, will be taking place February 9-12 in the Timothy Baker Theater at Delgado Community College.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee tells the story of a regional spelling bee for elementary school students. Six children compete to win the spelling bee trophy while also giving the audience a bit of backstory about each contestant.
I interviewed CA Musical Theater teacher Mr. Allegra about the upcoming musical.
Kirsch: Who is the cast for this play?
A.J. Allegra: This year’s cast is smaller than some previous shows I’ve directed here due to the size and scope of the show itself. Different musicals all call for different casting specifics, so I always try to tailor my show selection to the students we have currently in the school, with preference given to the upperclassmen. Theater is very much a profession of starting small and climbing a steady ladder to more significant roles. All the students in the show attended both an initial audition as well as a callback where they had to perform specific challenging portions of the score. I am very pleased with the final result. The cast is Teresa Fasone as Rona Lisa Peretti, Aidan Caliva as Douglas Panch, Elijah St. Martin as Mitch Mahoney, Henry Morse as Chip Tolentino, Kalani Ramirez as Leaf Coneybear, Cannon Jewell as William Barfee, Aubry Snipes as Logainne Schwartzundgrubenniere, Audrey Gotham as Marcy Park, Kelly Laines as Olive Ostrovsky, Brady D’Agostino as Carl Dad, Amos Liles as Dan Dad, Yva Totchum as Jesus Christ, Henry Perrine as Olive’s Dad, Bethany Livers as Olive’s Mom, Madison Soboul as Leaf’s Mom, Jalyn Gottschalk as Leaf’s Dad, Addie MacMahon as Marigold Coneybear, Hannah Bui as Pinecone Coneybear, Ari Uschold as Brook Coneybear, Ella Gottschalk as Raisin Coneybear, Jo Huynh as Paul Coneybear, Sophie Collins as Speller, and Judah Dumas-Mwendo as Speller.
Kirsch: What is this play about?
A.J. Allegra: This musical is exactly as the long and silly title suggests: it’s a regional spelling bee for older elementary school students. So most of the cast will play children much younger and less mature (I hope) than they are. The musical tells the story of six main children competing to win the coveted spelling bee trophy and gives the audience a bit of a backstory on each contestant. The show is also highly interactive and will feature spelling contestants selected from the audience. So each and every show will be different and contain some improvisation as well.
Kirsch: What are your hopes for this play?
A.J. Allegra: I hope that the musical is an enjoyable and educational challenge for all our students performing in and working on the show. And I hope that the audience takes a great deal of enjoyment out of watching older teenagers play much younger versions of themselves again.
Kirsch: What process is involved in going from auditions to the actual play, and what is the most difficult part of this process?
A.J. Allegra: The two processes are very different. Auditions require no real work on my part other than observation, whereas the rehearsal process is largely controlled by myself as director. Oftentimes when working with high schoolers, the most difficult part of the rehearsal process is getting the kids to make risky choices and start to give performance-ready work early in the rehearsal process. Lots of young actors like to wait until there is an audience there for opening night to “turn it on” so to speak. But in the professional world, we really require performance-level work all throughout the rehearsal process so that the transition to having an audience is a seamless one.
Kirsch: Last year the play was Spongebob, which was very lighthearted. How do you think this play compares to Spongebob?
A.J. Allegra: This show is also a comedy with some oversized characters. But now we’re once again portraying human beings rather than cartoon sea creatures. And the score is much more traditional musical theater style than Spongebob was. That show had a very pop/rock score due to the fact that different popular musicians wrote each of the songs. Spelling Bee was conceived and composed by one man, William Finn. His music is quirky and bouncy, something more akin to Randy Newman, I think.
Kirsch: When will the play happen?
A.J. Allegra: The musical will happen this year in February. Specifically, February 9-12 in the Timothy Baker Theater at Delgado Community College.
