Bee Good
Halifax’s Theatre Arts Guild closes
out its 2012-2013 season with a swift, sure blow to the funny bone with Rebecca
Feldman’s madcap American cult-classic The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
And what could be better than
catching a screwball comedy - with a crazy cast of kooky and colourful
characters - on a warm summer soiree?
Brian Hart is simply scrumptious as bad-boy
Chip Tolentino, while Karla Bruce is rock-solid in the role of uber-nerd Marcy
Park. Rebecca Guilderson (as super-spastic Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre) and
Anders Balderston (as loveable, aloof Leaf Conybear) raise the raucousness to uproarious
levels.
However, it is the last-standing duo
of Karen Myatt (as lost and lonely Olive Ostrovsky) and Kyle Gillis (as nasally,
bow-tied Willian Barfee) who bring a shine to the show; the former’s vocals
soaring in lament on The I Love You Song,
and the latter’s physicality making the most of his space, bringing out the
best in all around him.
While the spellers spin the stage silly,
the performance is held together by the steady hands of Margaret Champion (as
Rona Lisa Peretti) and Ian Young (as Douglas Panch) – each of whom bring well-timed
wit and experience to their respective roles. Andrew Chandler, Rayna Smith-Camp,
Christine Chapman and Krystyna MacKay all go above-and-beyond to fill in the missing
bits with a myriad of multitasking.
Kudos go to director Jolene Pattison
for recognizing - and working with - each actor’s individual strengths. Her
creative liberties put the particular (and peculiar!) pieces into a quirky,
perky puzzle.
As such, and at the core of good
community theatre, Spelling Bee is more
than the sum of its parts, with the end result being an off-beat, over-the-top,
outrageous - and ultimately satisfying - production that is more than likely to
leave summer audiences delighted. ~AE
The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Until July 7 at the Pond Playhouse
in Halifax
www.tagtheatre.com
