'Putnam' spotlights spelling bee quirks
Conrad Camellino estimated he has participated in about a dozen spelling bees since third grade, and quirky behavior is commonplace.
Some contestants write words in the air, others clap while they spell.
But the reigning McHenry County Spelling Bee champ, who reached the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee last month, has never relied on such tricks.
“I just visualize the word in my head,” said the 14-year-old from Richmond. “There are three or four questions you can ask (i.e. defination, origin, use in a sentence). But if you blank out, nothing is going to help.”
This was the second consecutive year a local kid competed with the best of the best in Washington, D.C. It’s a world away from the Pleasant Valley High School gym – the fictional location of the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” now playing at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
Despite the differences, “Putnam” offers us a snapshot of real life. Caught up in this atypical musical are watershed moments for anyone who has survived puberty, from first love to first place.
“We love it [the show] ... but boy we didn’t love figuring it out,” veteran director Rachel Rockwell said. “You have an idea of what you need this to be, but there is so much room for interpretation. A lot of them [actors] have been in this show before, so they had a handle on where they had been.
“The first act, there is so much improv and it changes from night to night. Act I is called the ‘game’ for us. ... It’s like doing a musical and comedy improv sketch at the same time.”
Just two weeks of rehearsal time, versus the typical six weeks, added to the pressure; as did staging the show in the round.
“You are always going to have somebody seeing somebody’s back. If you move one single chair it is a house of cards,” Rockwell said. “We had failsafes for just about everything, but you have to have really smart people who think on their feet. We do.”
“Putnam” depicts contestants such as William Barfee (pronounced Bar-Fay, mister) and Logainne Schwartzandgrubennierre (spell that, hotshot). Sugar Grove resident Roberta Duchak helps oversee the proceedings as the perky bee hostess, Realtor Rona Lisa Peretti.
It is Duchak’s third time in the role, but each performance is a new experience.
Understudies, which the cast dubs its “spelling bee wranglers,” work the foyer before the show conducting mini interviews. Four people are selected to participate as guest contestants on stage ... up to a point. The idea is to blend in, spell to the best of their ability and roll with the punches. For example, Peretti attributed one invitee’s black and purple outfit to Smucker’s.
“I ad-lib those gags,” Duchak said. “The most fun is when I look at someone and something pops into my head. I’m constantly writing [on stage]. Most people don’t realize that.”
For the record, Duchak, a sixth-grade spelling bee contestant, insists she is an excellent speller.
“Our regular word pronouncer, Roland Burris, was not available,” Peretti announces at the start of the bee. “But we’re sure he’ll be back with us real soon.”
As contestant Leaf Coneybear, Derrick Trumbly augments his spot-on performance with some slapstick humor. Still, he warned audiences to look beneath the surface at the “deceptively simple” contestant.
“The show brings with it these characters that are in no means stereotypes, but can be assumed as stereotypes,” said Trumbly, who lives in New York City when he is not on the road. “The first time you see [Leaf], he falls down. And you’re thinking he’s the little ADD kid that doesn’t pay attention. ... He says some ridiculously simple things, looking for a reaction. But he really doesn’t get a reaction [from the other contestants]. This is a freeing thing for him.”
Coneybear uses a shotgun approach – rambling on or daydreaming until the correct spelling pops into his head.
Barfee spells out words with his foot. Schwartzangrubenierre pretends to write the words on her forearm. It’s not far from reality.
“There was a girl who covered her mouth after every letter she said,” said 2008 county spelling champ, 15-year-old Priyanka Damarla of Huntley. “At the national level, one guy would twirl his hair all the time. I didn’t do anything weird. The trick is reading a lot and learning as much as you can about their words and their origins.”
Keeping it all in perspective also helps.
“There is always tension in the room. It was unavoidable, especially during the final round with all of the commercial breaks,” Damarla said. “But you have to understand only one person can win. It’s a great accomplishment just to go there.”
Rockwell agreed.
“The past makes you the person you are today. Losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser and winning isn’t everything,” the director said.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
WHEN: 1 and 8 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 4:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 5 p.m. Sundays through July 19
WHERE: Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire
TICKETS: $45. Dinner theater option available.
INFORMATION: 847-634-0200 or www.marriotttheatre.com