Living in Israel, I was not expecting the performance of the musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee to begin punctually, so I was five minutes late. That meant that not only did I have to sneak in and catch up quickly, but I also missed a crucial element of the storyline, leading to much confusion on my part.
I knew that the subject of the show was a children’s spelling competition (known as a “bee”). As I hurriedly sat down in my seat and took in the stage, I saw, seated at a table on the right-hand side, the spelling bee’s two judges (played by director Aviella Trapido alongside Alexander Kahan), and next to them, a former juvenile delinquent doing community service, named Mitch Mahoney (Amihai Kipnis).
At stage left, seated in ascending rows, were about 10 people, who were clearly the spelling bee contestants. I expected to see young actors at an Encore! Youth production, but a few of these individuals were more advanced in years. “How nice – intergenerational acting!” I thought, totally unaware that these were volunteers from the audience.
These brave members of the public had elected to have random words shot at them by the judges, who were quite unsympathetic and even nasty at times. Those who failed to spell the words correctly were escorted off firmly by Mr. Mahoney.
It took me several minutes of bemusement at the erratic behavior of these “actors” to grasp what was happening. (I still feel outraged that one British volunteer was sent off for spelling amoeba with an “o”!)
Sounds entertaining? It was. Yet this was not even half the fun in this delightful show. The audience – which included many supportive friends and kvelling parents – laughed uproariously throughout at the sharp and hilarious one-liners. Some of these related to Jewish content (for example, the word PHYLACTERY and the mention of a bat mitzvah). As the cherry on top, we also enjoyed some surprise Israel-based quips by the Encore! team added to the original 2004 script, such as “This bee is about as organized as the Israeli Knesset!”
AS THE show proceeded, we got to witness each contestant not only successfully spell obscure words such as STRABISMUS and HASENPFEFFER, but also go through their own individual emotional processes. These adolescents arrive at the contest with some serious baggage in their lives. Olive Ostrovsky (Ofir Zaif) waits in vain for her dad to show. Leaf Coneybear (Raphi Cohen) has been convinced by his family of his stupidity. Chip Tolentino (Danny Cohen) has fallen for Coneybear’s sister, which provides a major distraction (as Raphi and Danny are twins in real life, this joke becomes even more comical).
William Barfée (Idan Marcus), who has a “magic spelling foot” and is constantly yelling at people for mispronouncing his surname as “Barfy,” gradually reveals to us the vulnerability under his arrogant shell. Marcy Park (Batya Feder), an overachiever, starts questioning whether she wants to win after all. Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (no typo – that is the name of the character played by Neta Arbel), pressured by her two competitive dads, must discover her own voice. And Mahoney also has to face his criminal past and who he wants to be henceforth. At first he is cynical, stating, “I want to tell them disappointment doesn’t last – but from what I’ve seen, disappointment lasts like hell.” However, in the act of consoling the losers he finds redemption, rebranding himself as a “comfort counselor.”
Although the show’s message is that life is not all about winning, to me everyone involved in the production was a winner. The talented Aviella Trapido not only starred in the show, but she was its director and the driving force behind it. Since Encore! founder Robert Binder stepped back last year, Trapido has taken on new responsibilities (see box).
I was impressed by the skill and energy the young actors brought to the show. Even when playing characters who were obviously scripted to “ham it up,” all the performers remained on the right side of funny and never entered cringe territory. That alone speaks volumes about their comedic talent.
The singing and dancing were also skillful. I heard some very strong singing voices on stage (particularly Zaif); and Feder, doubling as choreographer, did a wonderful job getting everyone moving in sync.
A further draw of the show for a word-lover like me was the opportunity (“irresistible urge” might be more accurate) to spell along in my head with the contestants. I certainly made some mistakes (XEROPHTHALMIOLOGY, anyone?), but I’m glad to say I got WELTANSCHAUUNG correct, muttering under my breath “Another ‘u’!” when William paused after the first one. An incorrigible pedant, I couldn’t help noticing a few mispronunciations of words, but that was a minor flaw relative to the overall radiance of the show.
‘In Jerusalem’ in conversation with director Aviella Trapido
What was behind the decision to put on Spelling Bee?
I’ve only recently taken over as artistic director for Encore! Educational Theatre, but I have slowly been stepping into these very big shoes over the past few years. We did our first Encore! Youth concert in the summer of 2022 with a Musical Theatre Showcase at the small Khan theater and sold out four performances.
After that, I realized we needed to do something fun for kids to access each summer. J-Town Playhouse did Spelling Bee many years back under the auspices of Rafi Poch, so I thought this would be a fabulous show to revisit for the talent we had. We successfully performed the show in August of 2023, just before this fateful war broke out.
Last year we didn’t perform in the summer – there was too much happening and so much uncertainty. This year, we decided that an easy return would be to reprise Spelling Bee, backed by popular demand.
What is your vision for Encore! Youth?
One of the important things for a community theater to survive long term is to look to continuity: investing in the next generation, giving opportunities to fresh faces, and raising young talent to love and appreciate performing arts and musical theater.
There is something for everyone – whether you are sitting in the lighting box, managing lighting cues, fine-tuning the microphones, sewing a costume, or flexing your talents on stage. It’s the epitome of community and working together to put something special together. Everyone is a unique part of the puzzle. This is an incredible life lesson for everyone, but especially for kids. Moving forward, I hope to continue to give opportunities to the next generation.