The theatre department is back on stage starting Thursday night with its rendition of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Putnam), running through Saturday with shows starting at 7 p.m. each night in the auditorium.
“The play is about six kids who are competing in a Spelling Bee,” lead actor Dhillan Desai said. “There are a lot of characters, and they’re each determined to win the Spelling Bee, and they all have different experiences with spelling and their own desire to win it for different reasons.”
Rehearsals for the show have taken place during fourth-period theater classes rather than after school which has been a change from the usual routine for senior Ana Ortiz-Lagarda
“This [show] has been kind of different than our usual rehearsals,” Ortiz-Lagarda said. “Typically, we rehearse after school from 4:30-6:30 p.m., but this is a show that we’ve been doing only in class, so we’ve only ever had rehearsals on B days, fourth period. It’s been a little stressful because we have much less time than we would, but since we’ve had months and months of preparation, I feel like we’re fine. We started out with a bunch of music work, and then we got into choreo, and finally into the blocking of the scenes.”
Performers are not the only ones responsible for bringing the show to life; technical theater also plays a role in this.
“It’s been really fun getting to work with a lot of actors while still being in a technical role,” junior Karthika Menon said. “But at the same time, one of the hardest parts is definitely working on the music, especially because even with our head music director, Mr. Yowell, sometimes getting the notes or getting everything working together can be a little bit difficult. During rehearsals, I usually play all of our tracks, and I also conduct whenever Mr. Yowell is working on tech or anything else.”
In addition to music, choreography plays a role in bringing a musical show together. Sophomore Alaysia Rhodes is choreographing a show for the first time and said collaboration has been key.
“So far, it’s definitely been a bit difficult,” Rhodes said. “Me and Dhitika, she’s the other choreographer, work together a lot, so the teamwork is really great. Everyone’s been really helpful with the choreo. Right now, we’re already done choreographing everything, so we just clean things up and make sure everything looks good and that everyone’s doing the choreography correctly.”
The musical’s catchy songs, choreography, and memorable characters make it a must-see production in the eye of lead actress, senior Amanda Oh.
“[Putnam] is a very fun show,” Oh said. “It’s also very heartfelt at times, and it has a lot of great music that’s catchy and also story-driven. “[Viewers] can expect a lot of singing, some choreography, big character choices, and honestly, a great time.”
Tickets for Putnam are available for purchase through HomeTown Ticketing.
