BY ETHAN SEMLER
STAFF WRITER
With MSA’s first in person theater production in over a year, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is sure to be a little different than the typical MSA theater experience.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (a mouthful of a title, I know) is a fictional musical comedy that takes place in a middle school setting. The show follows a group of kids as they perform the nerve-racking event we all have either been in ourselves or don’t dare to go near: the spelling bee.
The cast is rehearsing five, sometimes six days a week to get this show up and running, and they’re all very excited to finally be back and performing live again. This year everyone is overcoming new obstacles with being away from the stage for so long. The biggest obstacle so far: acting with a mask. Without being able to see the actors’ facial expressions, the actors in the show have been thinking of new ways to get emotion, humor, and a story across to an audience.
Something that MSA doesn’t usually do is double cast two actors in the same roles. However, this year we had so many talented people audition and not enough roles to give everyone, so all the female roles were given to two different actors. This means that there are technically two casts: cast X and cast Y. Cast X will be performing on Thursday, May 20th and Friday, May 21st, while cast Y will be performing twice on Saturday, May 22nd.
The official cast list is as follows:
Rona Lisa Peretti …………………………… Maya Dalal (X) / Catherine Larson (Y)
Chip Tolentino …………………………………………………………………… Ethan Semler
Logainne Schwarzandgrubenierre .. Elizabeth Conlin (X) / Caroline Steury (Y)
Leaf Coneybear ………………………………………………………….. Thomas Nelson (Formerly: Logan Schlosser, replaced due to COVID-19 Exposure)
William Barfee …………………………………………………………… Sam Wurdemann
Marcy Park ……………………………………… Kiley Tatarka (Y) / Kate Thurlow (X)
Olive Ostrovsky ………………………… Maya Crandall (Y) / Kendra Flanigan (X)
Vice Principal Douglas Panch …………………………………………….. Ray Huntley
Mitch Mahoney ………………………………………………………………… Zac Barnaby
Members of the show are very excited to finally be back and doing another musical. Sadly, tickets for the show will be limited, and every cast member will get a certain number of tickets to give out to family and friends. As much as the cast and crew would love for everyone to be able to see the show in all its glory, we have to limit it in order to have the chance to have a show at all. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a stepping stone back to normalcy for theater at MSA, and I for one can’t wait for the show!