Six hopeful Spellers (and a few audience members) gather in a high school gymnasium for a championship spelling bee, a competition of focus, determination, and uniquely cerebral skill. As the bee unfolds in a flurry of letters and laughs, the Spellers also must navigate their hopes for love, acceptance, and validation — and the highs and lows of adolescence — and confront the pressures from parents, themselves, and society pushing each toward the first prize. Bursting with charm and heart and an outrageously good time, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (with a book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by William Finn) at the Kennedy Center is simply P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A-L.
With a spectacular cast from start to finish, this Broadway Center Stage production radiates the kind of youthful exuberance that makes you forget about the world outside to just laugh, smile, and cheer. The six main Spellers did an outstanding job balancing the comical, technical challenge of “being” a middle schooler, and each built a constant stream of moments — whether big character songs or small background asides — that infused the production with more personality than I’ve seen in one show in the last several years. Add in the guest Spellers — at our performance Carla Hall, Cobie Smulders, and audience members Jack and Vivienne — and you couldn’t help but dive head first into the torrent of chaotic, earnest joy at the center of the show.
Nina White as contestant Olive Ostrovsky nailed the awkward self-consciousness and quiet desperation for acceptance at the character’s core, masterfully highlighting her tension of self-reliance and finding solace in the steadiness of words with her melancholic seeking love and care from others (specifically her parents). Her commanding voice was especially displayed in “My Friend the Dictionary.”
An unlikely friend to Olive, William Barfée sniffled and shuffled his way into your heart as portrayed by Kevin McHale, an incredibly skilled physical actor. William’s “Magic Foot” underscored McHale’s talent at infusing his charater with eccentricities from head to toe. McHale also had a catalog of looks of disgust and adolescent arrogance that he flipped through at rapid speed during the show, all spectacular to watch.
On his own journey as Leaf Coneybear, Noah Galvin’s performance was the perfect balance of unbridled stream of consciousness and pure joy. Whether in “I’m Not That Smart” or as a member of the growing “Pandamonium,” I found myself holding my heart every time he stood at the mic. Galvin’s shepherding of the free-spirited and self-doubting Leaf into a place of self-discovery and confidence was buoyant love personified.
Intense and highly motivated, Beanie Feldstein as Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre imbued precision into every moment and every syllable. With a lisp as big as her passion for progressive politics and making her two dads proud, Feldstein’s Logainne led to more than a few cheer-out-loud moments. From Feldstein’s “Woe Is Me” to Logainne’s future appointment in the cabinet of President Sasha Obama, this DC home crowd was the target audience for her character in every way.
Similarly struggling to live up to parental expectations, Leana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park rose to the occasion and then some. Overachieving and (protestingly) serious but also still just a kid, Concepcion’s Marcy found room for play — particularly in “I Speak Six Languages” — and often had the biggest smile on her face among the Spellers during the full-company songs.
Last but not least of the Spellers (especially in his own estimation) was Philippe Arroyo as Chip Tolentino. The most confident and then rapidly the most distraught, Arroyo’s Chip excellently demonstrated the many frustrations of adolescence and the physical embarrassment of puberty — whether serenading a lovely girl or chucking candy at the audience in the fantastic kerfuffle that is “Chip’s Lament.”
Guiding the Spellers were the equally idiosyncratic bee staff — Bonnie Milligan as the warmly nostalgic Rona Lisa Peretti, Taran Killam as the unpredictable (and hilarious) Vice Principal Douglas Panch, and Alex Joseph Grayson as the silvery-voiced, pep-talking Mitch Mahoney. All exceptional additions to the chaos, standout moments were Vice Principal Panch’s ever-blossoming crush on Rona throughout, Rona’s not so masked envy of the kids as she longed to re-live her own youthful glory, and Mitch’s increasingly sympathetic juice box handoffs before sending each eliminated contestant down the aisle and out of the competition. Additionally, both Grayson and Milligan alongside White as Olive’ parents in “The I Love You Song” were transcendent. The trio of voices locked into perfect frequency, cutting to the heart of each audience member and chord.
The creative team of this production went all out as well. The creative set design by Paul Tate dePoo III cheering on the Putnam Piranhas with bright blue and yellow; the sometimes time-warp-inducing lighting design by David Weiner; the off-kilter and energetic costume design by Emily Rebholz; the helter-skelter choreography and well-orchestrated, multi-layered direction by Danny Mefford — every element of this show was in it to win it.
In trying to summarize this glorious night of theater I find myself aware of the irony of running out of new words to describe how good a show set in a spelling bee is. Luckily thanks to my friend the thesaurus, I am able to add that it was effulgent and effervescent. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center is an absolutely must-see of the 2024/25 theater season. Grab tickets as soon as you can for this sure-to-sell-out run.
Running Time: Approximately one hour and 45 minutes, no intermission.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays through October 20, 2024, in the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC. Tickets ($69–$299) can be purchased at the box office, online, or by calling (202) 467-4600 or toll-free at (800) 444-1324. Box office hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 am-9 pm, and Sunday 12pm-9 pm.
The program for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is online here.
COVID Safety: Masks are optional in all Kennedy Center spaces for visitors and staff. If you prefer to wear a mask, you are welcome to do so. See Kennedy Center’s complete COVID Safety Plan here.
