25th annual ‘Spelling Bee’ offers audience participation
NEGAUNEE — This Thursday is the opening night for the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It tells the story of six oddball kids competing for a spelling title.
“This is not a serious representation of what a spelling bee is. Almost every word in the show either has a silly pronunciation, a silly definition, or when used in a sentence it’s some sort of ridiculous joke. So, it’s a very chaotic, crazy, unrealistic but fun, exciting, comedic good time,” said Craig Grabarczyk, who plays Vice Principal Panch.
This play is a little different from other productions you may have seen. During the spelling bee, audience members have the opportunity to participate in the play.
“It’s their chance to show us if they can spell, if they are willing enough to go up there. And there’s even a chance that they might even win, so we’ll see. They’re words that some may know and some may not know! It’s nothing to be nervous about, you just go up there and spell some words,” added Ricky Peterson, the director for the show.
The cast and crew are almost ready to go live, but they had to over come a few obstacles. first.
“The Vista isn’t heated all year round, so we had to find a new rehearsal space. It was kind of hard and challenging to come into the space and work with it, so that was probably the most challenging part but it’s been rewarding over all,” said Peterson.
You can see the play on May seventh, 8th and 9th and then again on the 14th, 15th and 16th. Each showing starts at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are twelve dollars for adults and eight for students.