The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Quirky. Cute. Hilarious. Entertaining. Fabulous.

A brilliant show, brought to us by a brilliant director, brought to life by brilliant actors, and phenomenally run by brilliant technicians.

While opening night may have begun with technical difficulties as the light board completely crashed, the show must go on…and go on it did. The amazing technical director, Leonardo Calvillo, made sure that the audience would not have to be sent home without enjoying SBHS’ Spring Musical. Working with what seemed to be magic, Leonardo Calvillo was able to produce the lights on the spot, while making it seem to the audience as though it was planned.

This production not only included song and dance, sincerity and hilarity, but audience participation as well. Four members of the audience were “chosen” to participate in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as well, including our very own Ms. Juras! As each of the audience members were called up to spell their assigned word, a brief introduction was given. Ms. Juras’ intros included “likes to sing and dance to Beyonce” (after which Ms. Juras gave her best booty-shake) and “likes piña coladas and long walks in the rain.”

Other audience highlights centered around the words they were given to spell. Ms. Juras first word was “Mexican.” Her facial expression was priceless when the sentence for “Mexican” was given: Potato chips – the Mexican lettuce. Another audience member was given the word “Cow.” Daniel Laing’s interpretation of the annoyed and frustrated Vice Principal Douglas Panch during this exchange was spot-on. When asked for the definition of “Cow,” Daniel deadpanned, “it means cow” and when asked for it’s language of origin and to be used in a sentence, he didn’t miss a beat with the responses…”it means cow” and “Um. I don’t know…English.”

The play wasn’t all light-hearted fun though. A poignant moment of the play occurred during Sara Ramos’ performance as Olive Ostrovsky singing “I Love You” with Brandon Guerrero and Nia Cabrera as her parents. Their performance was passionate, heartfelt, and stirring. The emotions that came through this scene and their singing were believable and pulled the audience into the moment.

If you missed the spring musical, just prepare yourself for next year. With all the talent our students possess, the next show is bound to be remarkable.

Synopsis of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee:

“An eclectic group of sixth-graders arrives at the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, each eager to win for very different reasons. Sweet and shy Olive brings only her best friend (the dictionary) with her to the bee; bold and hyperallergic speller William Barfee uses his “magic foot” to propel him to greatness; former champion Chip is struggling with his burgeoning puberty; easily distracted Leaf is unconvinced that he’s smart enough to be a challenger; overachiever Marcy is disappointed by her consistent success; and politically aware Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre only wants to impress her gay dads. In hilarious, touching, and catchy songs, each speller reveals his/her hopes, struggles, and passions as they make their way through the competition. With an engaging, tuneful score by William Finn and a sweet, funny book by Rachel Sheinkin, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee causes audiences to fall in love, both with the show itself and its ‘perspicacious,’ ‘jocular,’ and ‘effervescent’ spellers.”