KASPELLINGBEE

This production was by far the best of the three productions that we have seen this semester. I loved how it was comical and was something you would not expect from its title and as well as for the musical abilities of both the characters and bands on stage...!!!

PRO'S:
 * __Costumes-__ I thought that the costumes were a huge part if not all of the reason that the audience somewhat connected with these characters and really helped distinguish the different types of stereotypes in current society and spelling bee contests. I loved the fact that many of the costumes described the personalities of the characters as with the over-perfectionist who had not one hair out of place whilst some of the other characters “nerd” appeared as if it was quickly thrown together maybe to give the illusion of what a typical “nerd” might wear.
 * __realistic simple set__- Although the the set manager had not gone too far in creating the set of the production, I believe its simplicity helped in making it versatile while still appearing as though you were at a spelling bee. The banner that slowly came down helped in creating the special dramatic moment that audiences await as they prepare for a show. I also loved the versatility of both the bleachers as well as the trophy that when turned around, became additional pieces for use.
 * __incorporating audience and improvisations__- Although this is usually one of the rather difficult tasks to be pulled of by college students especially due to their lack of consistency and experience with it, the improv and audience incorporation was by far one of the best qualities of the show. It made the audience feel welcome and that they were part of the show which created a better atmosphere all around. While the improv team had a few areas where they were stumped or had something they had not expected to occur, I thought that they quickly caught themselves and returned the show back to a stasis.
 * __Characterization__- The specific characterization of many of the spellers was most definitely one of the Strong points and a main reason in why many of the characters were more distinguishable from one-another. This was quickly obvious due to the fact of not only the costumes that the characters wore, but largely due to the way that the spellers spelt out their words. These included spelling with 1) your feet, 2) writing it out on the inside of her arm, 3) pretending to hit out a baseball, and 4) one whispering the words into her hands. I thought that this helped me keep track of who was who throughout the entire play.
 * __Musical Abilities__- I thought that this production by far out-did all of the other shows that we have seen this year in the musical ability of the characters on stage. In my opinion, some of the top performers would definitely have to be Rona Peretti whose musical vocal ability's outweighed many of the other characters as she did her song throughout the scene with the black Jesus. Next would have definitely had to have been Marcy Park and Olive where Marcy was a great multi-tasker with many abilities, as well as Olives soft yet powerful voice that stood out in a pleasing way.

CON'S:
 * __Religion__- although the intent of the play was most likely not that of mockery towards religion, the scene with the black Jesus and the girl praying could have been largely misunderstood by a large portion of the student body, as well as their families in the audience. While this was a comedy styled musical, too much comedy is not well represented in alliance with religious scenes, which should have been something that was pointed out by the production team. While many may not have a problem with this duo, a large number of the more conservative/religious student body would have and this could have been a problem for the show.
 * __Costume__- Although many of the costumes aided in the representation of the wide variety of characters and their personalities, many of the costumes did not appear to have had time to really think them out and perfect them. It was visible to the audience numerously as tape that was holding the numerous wigs was showing. It appeared as if the costumes were quickly decided upon and that it was quickly thrown together.
 * __Repetitiveness__- although the title of the play is The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, I believe that more of a variety of locations or at-least techniques should have been striven for in this production. Although it was very comical and humorous, it was too predictable. The children would be called up to spell their word where they ask for its definition, after that they asked for the specific words which were very witty or almost impossible to spell to be placed into a sentence where they either spell it out correctly or incorrectly.
 * __Overacting and Annoyance__- while the intent of the characters characterization was meant to be comical and to provide a wide variety of characters (the prep boys, lisp girls, over-perfectionist, etc...) many of the characters overacted their parts to a point where it was somewhat annoying and unrealistic. The lisp girl was acting too childish for her parts as well as I believed she also over-acted her lisp which I have never heard of one with that type of strength and persistence due to the fact that it is usually with certain letters of the alphabet or sound (s's, th, sh,etc...).
 * __Cast size and disconnect__- At the end of the production I had realized that while the musical was very entertaining in the fact of a comedy, it did lack in the sense of connectivity between the audience and its characters. With many of the characters, although you could tell their outer appearance (perfectionist, nerd, prep-kids, etc...) you could not figure out their age and who they really were. I believe it was too many characters which loses the connection that might of occurred if it were only a few characters who were more