‘Spelling Bee’ hilariously endearing on Paramount’s Copley stage in Aurora

Spelling bees – in which students attempt to correctly spell a wide variety of words of varying difficulty – have been around since the 19th century. The National Spelling Bee was first held in the U.S. in 1925 – 100 years ago. The musical about a fictional county’s bee, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” went to Broadway in 2005, winning two of its six Tony Award nominations. The show is pretty much a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, and the current BOLD Series production at Paramount’s Copley Theatre in Aurora is no exception to the rule. It’s hilariously endearing.

As you enter the 165-seat theater, you can’t help but be impressed by the work of scenic designer Lauren M. Nichols and properties designer Aimee Plant. You’ll feel transported to a junior high gymnasium thanks to a set festooned with large posters with inspiring messages, including “Kindness Is Everything”; a drawing of the school’s goat mascot; banners promoting teams’ past athletic accomplishments; and smaller posters spotlighting events like an upcoming jigsaw “Puzzlepalooza.” Occasional school public address announcements (such as the relocation of band practice to the school superintendent’s backyard where there’s a dog who “doesn’t like people, or music for that matter”) add to the pre-show fun.

Under the first-time direction of Stephen Schellhardt, who was an excellent Willy Wonka in the Paramount Theatre’s production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” in late 2023, this nine-member cast brings to life six student spellers, the bee organizer, the vice-principal/pronouncer and a “comfort counselor,” along with several other relatives/supporters. (Note: To fully enjoy one surprise character in the second act, don’t read your Playbill until after the show.) In addition, four volunteer audience members who complete a short form before the musical begins are announced as additional spellers who’ll “bee” in the show.

Through songs and dialogue, we get to know the main characters quite well, including:

• The previous year’s bee champion, athlete Chip Tolentino (Nic Dantes), considered the front-runner in this year’s bee

• The youngest competitor, Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere (Ann Delaney), whose “Woe Is Me” solo number shows her determination to make her two dads proud

• The full-of-doubt-but-adorable Leaf Coneybear (Ben Broughton), who’s only in the bee because the first- and second-place winners from an earlier competition were both unavailable

• The hard-driving Marcy Park (Shelbi Voss), an overachiever who fluently speaks six languages, and only sleeps a few hours each night

• A participant in the previous year’s bee who had a “tragic setback” – William Barfee (Teddy Gales), whose last name is consistently mispronounced (it’s supposed to be bar-FAY) and whose “magic foot” may give him a leg up on the others

• A last-minute addition, Olive Ostrovsky (Elizabeth Stenholt), who doesn’t have any onsite parents to cheer her on, and whose “My Friend, the Dictionary” solo gives an inkling of her possibly lonely existence

• Rona Lisa Perretti (Veronica Garza), a real estate agent and past bee winner who now oversees the competition

• Vice-Principal Douglas Panch (Jason Richards), who’s “returning after a five-year hiatus” (“I’m in a better place now,” he explains) to be the bee pronouncer

• Mitch Mahoney (Naphtali Curry), the sympathetic hugger and juice-box provider (when a speller is eliminated), on hand “doing his community service”

This ensemble does an outstanding job of making the audience care about their characters and about the outcome of the bee while also keeping us in stitches – often with the definitions and/or sentences of the words they’re asked to spell (“boanthropy,” the “delusion that one has become an ox”). Even the false factoids given by Perretti in introducing audience-member spellers prompt laughter.

Praise also goes to lighting designer G. “Max” Maxin IV for effectively helping to set the mood and to focus our attention on specific characters as we delve deeper into their lives outside the bee. Costume designer Theresa Ham’s outfits are spot-on in helping the first six adult actors listed above become memorable junior high kids.

It should be noted that due to very occasional foul language and subject matter, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is most appropriate for those of junior high age on up.

In summary, as someone who cringes at typographical errors and misspellings, but loves this show, I’d encourage readers to definitely not miss “Spelling Bee!”

• Paul Lockwood is a communications consultant at Health Care Service Corporation in Chicago, as well as a local theater actor, singer, Grace Lutheran Church (Woodstock) and Toastmasters member, columnist and past president of TownSquare Players. He’s lived in Woodstock for more than 24 years.

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”

• WHERE: Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora

• WHEN: Wednesday through Sunday until April 27

• INFORMATION: 630-896-6666, ParamountAurora.com