The 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee starts June 30 in St. Jacobs

ST. JACOBS

Get out the dictionary and get ready to be doubled over in laughter when the Tony award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee brings comedy and lively music to the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse from June 30 through July 24.

The show is the musical about a charming cast of misfit heroes for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they stand out, yet fit in, all at the same time. Journey through the halls of middle school for a tale of overachievers’ angst as six adolescent outcasts compete for the spelling bee cham­pi­onship of a lifetime.

“We are thrilled to present this remarkably funny musical fresh from Broadway,” said artistic director of Drayton Entertainment Alex Mustakas. It “is a genuinely heart-warming crowd-pleaser that is guaranteed to have the audi­ence in stitches.”

The show lines up all the usual suspects for the com­petition: the spunky over­achiev­er; the ultra-pressured only child; the weirdo; the outcast; last year’s winner; and the out-of-place runner-up. Through song and humour the lives of the six contestants, all of whom share a love of spelling, are explored.

During each performance four different audience volun­teers participate in an actual spelling bee live on stage, making each performance unique and unpredictable.

This Drayton Entertainment production is directed by James Kall, who performed the role of vice-principal Douglas Panch in the most recent North American tour. As an actor, Kall has also appeared on Broadway in By Jeeves, in the national tour of Mamma Mia, as well as in several Drayton Entertainment productions, including Dial M For Murder, Lost In Yonkers, and Me and My Girl. In addition to directing the show, Kall will also take the stage as vice-principal Panch.

The actors include Tess Benger as Olive Ostrovsky, Robin Calvert as Logainne Schwartzandgrubeniere, Kim­my Choi as Marcy Park, Patrick Cook as Chip Tolen­tino, Lisa Horner as Rona Lisa Peretti, Jeff Moulton as Leaf Coneybear, Nick Settimi as William Barfée, and Lee Siegel as Mitch Mahoney.

The creative team includes Charles T. Cozens as music director, Steve Lucas as set and lighting designer, Angela Van der Veen as costume designer and Craig Goddard as sound designer.

Praised by The Washington Post as “the funniest thing in seven consonants,” The 25th Annual Putnam County Spell­ing Bee played over 1,100 per­formances on Broadway and is the winner of numerous acco­lades including two Tony awards. The show has received world-wide acclaim including productions in Australia, Ger­many, and China as well as two North American Tours.

Advance Tickets are selling quickly. Theatregoers are en­couraged to plan ahead and call the box office soon for the best available tickets at 519-747-7788 or toll free at 1-888-449-4463. For more information visit www.stjacobscountry­playhouse.com.