By Michael Torley, Staff Writer

Over Family Weekend, Xavier Theatre put on “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” in the Gallagher Student Center (GSC) Theatre. Over six shows, contestants and audience members were pushed to the edge of their seats.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” was written by Rachel Sheinkin as a book and was later adapted to the stage by Rebecca Feldman and the late William Finn for Broadway in 2005, cementing itself as a hit ever since.

Over the course of two acts, six actors portraying Putnam County spelling contestants, along with four audience participants, battle it out in a typical spelling bee to win a prize of a $200 scholarship. One of the six Putnam County contestants, not a chosen audience member, always wins. During the bee, the audience gets to know each contestant through a fun-fact style introduction song given by the bee’s directing teacher, Rona Lisa Perretti, along with the Putnam Middle School’s vice principal Douglas Panch.

In regards to Xavier Theatre’s performance of the show, it was fun and interactive. Members of the audience were also able to optionally sign up to be selected to participate as a contestant in the Bee prior to the start of the show. For Xavier musical theatre alum and current graduate student Sienna Glaze ‘24, she chose to sign up as an audience participant in support of the Xavier Theatre program as a whole.

“I love the show itself but I also love the Xavier University Theatre Program and wanted to support the current students in a more interactive way,” Glaze said. 

The show contains characters like Chip Tolentino, a boy scout and baseball player who is very infatuated with a girl named Marigold, and Leaf Coneybear, a boy who you could sum up as if an energy drink was a kid wearing a bicycle helmet and cape. Another character is Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere, the president of her elementary school’s Gay-Straight Alliance and winner of the longest last name in history. All of these characters help bring the antics of this show to life. 

“The cast did a fabulous job at instructing the audience participants on what they wanted us to do. I think it adds even more humor to have a couple of people have no clue what’s going on,” Glaze said.

The Xavier Theatre Program lives up to the hype. The show was witty, with many quotable lines and funny shenanigans to watch, from the usage of the “magic foot” to learning what the definition of horse is. It was very insightful. 

My standouts would be the set designers, who turned a generic stage into a usable gymnasium complete with basketballs and a half-court. Also, the actors who all managed to truly encompass their characters and make them individualistically distinct. Finally, the additional references added to the show, specifically the “Jesus Christ Superstar” reference, Logainne’s rants and the constant pan-out to the audience seat where Marigold was, made the show entertaining. 

This show sets the stage for what is likely to be a season of successful theatrical performances to come. 

“It was truly so much fun and made me laugh through the rest of the weekend,” Glaze said.

Xavier Theatre’s next show is “The Crucible,” which will run from Nov. 14 to Nov. 22.