On April 17th, I saw Spotlight Theatre Company‘s final performance of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the Schoolhouse Theatre in Croton Falls, NY.  Spotlight Theatre is a community theatre group located in Putnam Valley, NY in Putnam County, so it is very suitable to the show’s name. The Schoolhouse theatre is a very small theatre located in Westchester County, NY and also has its own productions.

Aptly titled, the show is about children competing for the title of the Putnam County Spelling Bee Champion and I found it very humorous and entertaining to watch. The cast was made up of adults playing kids, and the score and the singing was good. The songs were so relatable to the context, and even though the cast plays children, the show is appropriate for all ages. The jokes are timeless and funny.  I laughed the whole time.

I also liked the way the show used audience participation. They recruited four audience members to be spellers in the show, and this added greatly to the show’s humor. They were given words spontaneously to spell and had to participate in the choreography.

One of the spellers who stood out was Marisa Delmore who played Olive Ostrovsky. Her voice was lovely and she was especially poignant in “The I Love You Song” musical number. I also liked the characters of the competitive gay fathers, and Chip a speller who was eliminated early.  It showed the competitiveness of the spelling bees and how much it means to the parents, and the pressures it puts on the children to succeed and win.

Broadway is of course more high end, but as far as acting goes, this cast could hold their own and I think it’s important to support local theatre.  I highly recommend it to everyone!