THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Where: Phoenix Theatre, University of Victoria
When: Nov. 7-23
Tickets: Tickets $18-$34 from the Phoenix Theatre box office (250-721-8000)
When the spelling bee was first introduced, in the late 19th century, it was meant to motivate young students to become better spellers, enlarge their vocabularies and widen their working knowledge of the English language.
In the decades that followed, spelling bees became something else entirely: High-stakes, high-stress events, with students pitted against each other for bragging rights and cash prizes. That in and of itself made the exercise — not to mention the anxiety and weighty psychological impact — ideal fodder for the stage.
It also explains why musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ran for 1,136 performances on Broadway before closing in 2008.
“On the surface, it is a comedy,” said Jacques Lemay, who is directing a University of Victoria production of the Tony Award winning smash at the Phoenix Theatre this month. “But the characters all have very deeply rooted stories.”
The characters in question are what made the original (with music/lyrics from William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin) an instant hit in 2005. Presented with a live band, the story of six pre-teen student spellers and their associated handlers — from teachers to parents — is a lively and heartfelt piece.
There’s a universal quality to Putnam County, and that continues to draw in audiences, nearly 20 years after it premiered. Comedy is often at the fore of the homespun story, but emotion and drama are equally intrinsic elements, Lemay said.
“I wanted the cast to really understand the depth of those characters. Even though the spellers are 10 to 13 years old, and have a short amount of life lived, they have a lot of personal background.”
The musical is set at Putnam Valley Middle School, inside the school’s gymnasium. Dialogue is paramount, from the words the students are tasked with spelling to the sharp wit of the adults overseeing the exercise. Lemay saw a locally-produced version of Putnam County at The Belfry Theatre in 2010, and had some semblance of how he wanted his students in the University of Victoria theatre department to approach the material during the upcoming run.
Lemay said it was a distinct advantage working with a young and malleable 11-person cast. “They are not that far away from [the age of the characters]. We’re not talking about a 30 or 40 year spread. At 19, 13 is not that far away.”
He asked his students, as part of their preparation, to visit a middle school during recess. He wanted his actors to observe how young children interact, “to remember those moments” when the intersection of school life and real life felt like the biggest, most daunting thing in the world.
”It doesn’t matter if this takes place in the ‘80s or ‘90s or 2024. These are human traits, and we all identify with them from when we were a kid.”
Lemay, a Montreal-born dancer, educator, director and member of the Order of Canada, has assembled a vast skillset over his 50-year career, and he called upon his experience with Pacific Opera Victoria (where he is vice-president of the board of directors), the Canadian College of Performing Arts (which he co-founded) and UVic (where he is an adjunct theatre professor) as the director of Putnam County.
“A good part of my career as a performer was in musicals, so I’m very in tune with that whole genre. Musicals are the most difficult and challenging thing for a performer. When you have to act and sing and dance, and embody a character, it’s not as easy as it seems. Our job is to make it look easy.”
He’s known for being exceptionally down-to-earth, despite his array of stage credits, and worked closely on shaping the piece with his current crop of students, employing both the cast and crew to become key contributors.
“I love the collective process, and I’m always open to hearing everybody’s opinions,” he said. “I have a vision, and I’m going to guide them towards that, but there is a reason you bring a collective together. You can learn, and everyone brings different ideas. I’m the one who is going to make the final decision, but this not a dictatorship. This is a collective. This is a team effort, but with one person trying to pull all the pieces together.”
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