Debuting at the Palace Theatre from April 24-29, Broadway Across America will dazzle Columbus once again with the energetic and humorous musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Using a spelling bee as the plot, the show features a cast of six adults in the roles of pubescent children who have become portals for their parents’ life-long dreams and ambitions. The Tony®-award winning show tunes into the competitive edge that consumes many people, preaches the life-altering lesson that winning isn’t everything and provides audience members with the opportunity to participate in the performance.
Among the eight-person cast is actress Sarah Stiles who starred in many regional shows, including Tommy Tune’s Dr. Doolittle, before accepting a position as a cover in Spelling Bee show. “That’s where I learned the show and from there I got cast in the tour,” she says.
Stiles plays Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre’s character, a fiery, pig-tailed 10-year-old who is the adopted daughter of two homosexual fathers. “They definitely put her on display and in the course of the show you get to see sort of how that affects her and has made her a competitive person,” Stiles says.
Through her character, Stiles feels that many people can relate to the cutthroat attitude that is instilled in Americans from an early age.
“I think Americans especially are just sort of born to compete in everything we do. It’s all about getting that American dream and going to the top and winning,” Stiles says. I think everyone else has something in their life that they can identify with and mix that feeling of needing to compete and needing to be the best.”
In addition to exploiting the competitive motive that drives most Americans, the show also highlights the lack of self-confidence and awkwardness that taunts many kids. “All through all that is going on there’s a lot of insecurity and feelings of not being good enough or feeling like they are kind of a loser,” Stiles says of the young characters. “Everyone feels that way at times. So that’s very easy to identify with as well. It pulls on your heart strings a little bit too.”
While the show the show beholds a unique plot-line, cast and message, it also offers a one-of-a-kind experience to a few lucky, audience members. Before each performance, four ticket holders are selected to be participants in the spelling bee. They can anticipate spending around 45 minutes on stage with the actors.
“They come up every night and they spell right along with us until they get the word wrong,” Stiles says. “It just makes the show so fresh and new and adds this sort of sense of reality to the whole thing. I love that the audience is sort of a character.”
With only a few more pit-stops left on the tour, Stiles says that she has not heard of anyone who hasn’t been swept off their feet by the endearing act. “It’s a little show that could. Everyone loves it. It’s just such a simple idea and it’s just so wonderful. We have a great story and a really entertaining cast and it’s just a wonderful piece.”
Ticket prices range from $22.50 - 69.50 and may be purchased at any Columbus box office, Ticketmaster outlet or by calling 614-431-3600.
Liz Goodman is a contributing writer for CityScene.