As Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre stepped up to the microphone, she pulled back her sleeve and furiously traced letters out on her arm. Spelling bee moderator Rona Lisa Perretti explained that this helps Logainne, the first speller of the First Year Players’ production of ‘The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,’ visualize the spelling before she gives her final answer. The quirky character set the audience up for the pandemonium about to unfold.

From April 14 to 16, this Broadway favorite brought enormous energy to Syracuse University and hit numerous high notes, leaving the audience wanting more. The cast members’ dedication enhanced their roles and the overall show. While the entire cast produced a collectively spectacular show with absolutely no weak links, specific performances stood out among the rest.

One notable performance was given by Yulia Gorman, a freshman Russian studies major, as Logainne, the youngest yet most politically aware speller who acts as a ray of light throughout the spelling bee. Another was Maria Dell’Anno, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, as the hilariously witty Rona.

‘Putnam County’ reminds us all of what it is like to want what we covet most of those pesky, yet awkwardly explorative, younger years of life. The show takes place at a spelling bee in an underground school gymnasium and features six main spellers, each vying for the title of Putnam County Spelling Bee Champion.

With the original production normally showcasing just nine to 11 performers, FYP had the daunting task of doubling its onstage presence to accommodate the always overwhelmingly large turnout for auditions. FYP is an on-campus organization for non-theater majors who have a budding interest in the performing arts.

‘There were so many talented kids that auditioned, we wanted to expand the cast to have all that talent be a part of the show and ultimately part of the organization,’ said director Kimberly Ndombe, a senior television, radio and film and political science major.

Because the show normally calls for a smaller cast, there aren’t many dance numbers to accommodate this cast of 24. Head choreographer Lisa Bondi, a senior communications design major, said she took risks in adding dance sequences to a musical that is not dance-centered.

‘I got to take a step back and figure out which numbers in the show to choreograph and which to leave alone,’she said.

Her effort was best materialized in the dizzying and hysterical musical number ‘Pandemonium,’ where the large ensemble runs all around the stage and dances wildly, matching the song’s title. The choreography added an essence of classic musical theater to a modern musical.

Music director Nina Elias, a senior magazine journalism major, said she wanted to make this production of ‘Putnam County’ completely original to FYP’s multitalented cast members.

‘I absolutely did not want the songs to sound like an imitation of the cast from the soundtrack,’ Elias said.

She successfully tweaked the original arrangement and voices, layering the different vocal parts in the challenging ensemble numbers and blending them all magnificently with one another.

The moment in ‘Putnam County’ where this was exhibited greatest was during Olive Ostrovsky’s ‘The ‘I Love You’ Song.’ She laments her desire to see her parents, who are not present at the spelling bee. She wants them to be near her in that moment of the spelling bee when she truly needs them. This was the highest point of the musical as a whole and in Meghan Flaim’s performance.

‘I imagined what I would feel like if my parents didn’t come to see the show,’ said Flaim, a freshman vocal performance major.

Flaim laid her heart and soul on the stage as Olive. The emotional pain and longing for her parents were honest and moving.

Another standout was Jon Corton, a freshman communication and rhetorical studies major. He showed incredible comedic and emotional range as Leaf Coneybear, an easily distracted speller who spells his words while in a trance. Corton performed his highly expressive, over-the-top character with a noticeable dedication to the acting craft.

His abilities shone in the song ‘I’m Not That Smart,’ where Leaf talks about how his family and everyone else around him tell him just that. The song is an emotional seesaw, alternating between sadness about the world telling him of his supposed inferiorities and Coneybear’s fun, bubbly personality. Corton performed the song with all these emotions, taking the audience with him through both the high and low points.

The most noticeable and enjoyable factor of ‘Putnam County’ was the sense of community clearly felt by each performer onstage and staff member in the audience. Co-producers Kieran Siao and Nick Deyo, along with many others in the cast and staff, described FYP as a big family whose hard work and dedication produce the musical each year. With a family of numerous incredible cast and crew members, there’s no wonder why ‘Putnam County’ was S-U-P-E-R-B.

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Published on April 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

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