Department of Theatre and Dance: Western Illinois University

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Music and lyrics by William Finn, Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Directed by Ray Gabica

Dates: March 31 - April 3, 2010
Place: Horrabin Theatre
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Price: Public $14.00; Senior/WIU Student: $12.00
Ticket Contact: Hainline Box Office 309.298.2900 (NOON to 5:00 PM)

You'll find yourself in the middle-school gymnasium where a handful of determined young bookworms vie for the county title. Presiding over the competition, with a cheerfulness as sturdy as her shellacked coiffure, is Ms. Rona Lisa Peretti, herself a former champ. Fictional though it is, the competition proceeds according to the strict rules of bees everywhere, which will be painfully familiar to anyone in the audience with a history, however brief, of bee participation.

Six young people in the the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a hilarious tale of overachievers' angst chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show's Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

For more information:

Call the Department of Theatre and Dance 309.298.1543