Mingus Union High School kicks off its theater season on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. with “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
The musical is an ensemble-based show with eight leads, chances for audience involvement and room for improvisation for the actors, making it the perfect show for the award-winning Mingus Union High School Performing Arts Program.
The comedic musical is about 12 spellers who made their way to the county spelling bee and are attempting to make it to nationals.
Over the summer, the Mingus Union High School installed a new sound system. Theater and Choir Director James Ball said the new sound system is part of the reason for picking a musical this year.
“Hearing the vocals come through crisp and clear and balanced for the first time in my career here of 15 years is super exciting,” Ball said.
Cooper Earhan, a junior in the theater program at Mingus, said he has never done a play quite as unique as this one.
Earham plays Carl Grubenierre, a doting father of one of the spellers in the play.
“I like how it changes every night,” Earham said. “With the different audience volunteers, which is random from the audience, and also the different words they have to spell … the words from the audience are different every time.”
So don’t be surprised if while attending this year’s play you get pulled up on stage and asked to spell “chupacabra.”
The show is a fast-paced and riotous crowd pleaser that has won both a Tony and Drama Desk Award. It features a vibrant score by William Finn that is sure to shine on the high school’s new sound system.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” has a unique element of choreography that is more erratic and full of pandemonium than other productions the high school has put on in the past.
“The choreography was very different than anything I’ve ever done,” said Carla Jacinto-Renard, the choreographer for the production. “Usually the shows are a lot more dance intensive and this is more nuanced with a lot of controlled chaos. You’ve got the kids running around looking like they are supposed to be a complete mess, but they have to be able to know exactly where they are going so they aren’t running into each other and things, so that was definitely interesting …. But these kids are incredible and they will give you whatever you throw at them.”
You can catch the show at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29 and 30, as well as the following weekend from Friday to Sunday, Nov. 5 trough 7, at the MUHS auditorium. There is also a closing matinee performance on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m..
The show is rated PG-13 and costs $7 for students, $9 for seniors and $10 for adults if bought online, with a $3 surcharge at the door.
