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Take note, this is not your grandfather’s musical.
Tim Abou-Nasr, who plays Chip Tolentino in the Omaha Community Playhouse’s upcoming production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, knows so.
“This isn’t South Pacific or Hello Dolly,” Abou-Nasr said. “It is a new show geared toward a younger audience than the Playhouse historically attracts.”
With a new audience in mind, the humorous musical details the experiences of six quirky elementary students battling for a coveted spelling bee title. The characters’ strong personalities, according to several cast members, are what make The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee such a memorable musical.
“This show is funny because the performance really emphasizes the stereotypes of kids in spelling bees,” Analisa Swerczek, who plays perfectionist Marcy Parks in the production, said. “It takes these stereotypes and blows them up in a fun, endearing way.”
The characters’ differing personalities make for an entertaining performance, as Abou-Nasr suggested.
“The way the spellers interact is one of my favorite parts of the show,” Abou-Nasr said. “They are always sizing each other up [and] there are friendships and rivalries, but I think there is an underlying sense of mutual admiration between the kids.”
This is evident through Abou-Nasr’s character, Chip, who is the previous year’s returning spelling bee champion.
“Chip is pretty athletic and sociable, and I think he expects everything to come easily to him,” he said. “He’s a Boy Scout and probably a model student, but is a bit of a sore loser.”
Abou-Nasr believes that the wide range of these six adolescents’ personality traits provides Creighton students a chance to appreciate this musical, largely because the characters are so easy to relate to.
“I think Creighton students will be able to relate to the characters and have a good laugh,” Abou-Nasr said. “These students are young, but they are dealing with a lot of the same angst — academic stress, overbearing parents, egos, and of course, hormones.”
Swerczek agreed.
“You don’t have to love musical theater to love this show,” she said. “It really gives you a chance to relive your childhood in a sense.”
In addition to encouraging the audience to relive the typical trials and tribulations of childhood, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee offers another unique element — audience interaction.
“There are four contestants from the audience that are brought onstage to compete alongside the characters,” Abou-Nasr said. “There are a lot of plays that have audience interaction, but I think it’s rare in a musical.”
The component of audience interaction is one of the reasons Swerczek urges the Creighton community to come see a performance she describes as “beautiful pandemonium.”
The production at the Omaha Community Playhouse runs from Feb. 18 through March 27. Performances take place Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
To purchase tickets, call the box office at (402) 553-0800 or go to www.OmahaPlayhouse.org.