Casting, acting, directing are syzygistic in Bay Street's "..Spelling Bee"



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 When actors try to play roles outside their age range, it usually is a disaster. This is not case in The Bay Street Players’ musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County (Middle School) Spelling Bee” now playing at the State Theater in Eustis.


Moderator Rona Lia Peretti (AshleyWillsey) tells us in the opening moments that SYZYGY is the word that won her the championship many years ago.

Each of the middle school contestants, all played by adults, is quirky in his or her own way. One traces out the word by using his foot. Another associates the word with a political event or person. The returning champion has puberty confounding his concentration. A loner declares that the dictionary is her only friend.

Timing, acting, and singing are all excellent and a tribute to Artistic Director David Clevinger’s ability to draw the right people to the right part. The students are played by Jacob Baltunis, Astrid Gonzalez, John Gracey, Katelyn Long, Car;u Slubik, and Sage Starkey. The pleasant surprise is that newcomers Baltunis and Long were able to match the veterans and even at points out perform them.

Ashley Willsey gives the overall most polished performance.

Now SYZYGY sounds like a proper word for a spelling bee, but COW??? Three other contestants who faced early elimination were selected from the audience (as in the Broadway show). The neophytes are handled by adlibbing Vice Principal played by Jeff Lindberg aided by Willsey. Jonathan Olson plays the grief counselor who is on work release.

The stage set is spare and depicts a school gymnasium, a step down from expectations. While the basketball was present the basket and back board are missing. Sound is not a problem as all actors are on microphones. Music behind the upstage scrim is excellent.

“…Spelling Bee” is a cute, funny musical show with characters the audience may be able to identify with. Top casting and near flawless performance earns another Must-See rating for Bay Street.

The musical plays through February 26.  Call 357-7777 for information or reservations. Details can be found by clicking on icon on the left.

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"Nunsense II, the Second Coming" Scores High in Habit Humor at Ocala Civic

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by guest columnist Don Simson

If you are a fan of the original “Nunsense”, or musical shows like “Mama Mia,” and “Menopause,” then do not hesitate, do not think about it, do not pass “Go”, go directly to the Ocala Civic Theatre for “Nunsense II, the Second Coming.”

The plot picks up where the original play ended. Sister Amnesia has won the “Publisher’s Clearing House Lottery,” and the financial problems of the Little Sisters of Hoboken appear to be over. However, once bitten by the show biz bug, they try again in the auditorium of Mount St Helen’s High School. This time it’s a production of “The Mikado” being sponsored by a Japanese restaurant and car dealer. All is well, until the word comes from the Franciscans that Sister Amnesia belongs to them along with her money and they are here to take her back.

Everyone drops into a state of depression as the 70” TV, Stereo/DVD, and new car are being removed. As ever, goodness and prayer win out in the end.

From the entrance of the “nuns” ‘till the closing number, you will be laughing, toe tapping, and giving the St. Helen’s “OO OO” cheer. The up beat music and lyrics will not let you sit still. The jokes and “one liner’s” are tops with nothing sacred, from: Protestants, Catholics, Tebow, to even the Pope. The Sister Amnesia and Sister Mary Annette duet is priceless. Even the ‘habit’ gets into the act as a fashion design.

The ensemble singing, choreography, and staging is top shelf and one could easily believe they were seeing a Broadway caliber show. The actors are equipped with personal mikes for easy listening. However, they needed to be monitored a little closer as they were over modulating during some of the songs and especially during the ensemble singing. The words were lost even though the actors were excellent in their enunciation.

Cast member are Celia Bills (Sr. M. Regina), Amanda Harding (Sr. M. Hubert), Megan Hilt (Sr. M. Amnesia), Rebekah Leppert (Sr. M. Leo), and Sarah Rzepecki (Sr. Robert Anne).

I give “Nunsense II” directed by SuSu Sparkman a top rating. for performance, entertainment, and comedy. Try not to miss it. The show runs through February 26, 2012. For reservations, prices, and performances click on icon on the left.

Villages Theatre Company Promises Laughable "Squabbles"



Rehearsal Photo

 The Villages Theatre Company’s upcoming presentation, “Squabbles” takes a plausible family situation that anyone of us may be faced with.

Jerry and Alice Sloan (Glenn DeForge and Nancy Sievert) are a young couple living in a small three-bedroom home in Connecticut. Alice’s father, Abe (Mike Randell), a widower who has recently had a heart attack, is living with them.

When Alice announces her pregnancy along with a plan to move Abe out of his adjacent bedroom to a smaller one, things get testy. Jerry’s mother, Mildred (Linda Siedle), loses her home in a fire and “temporarily” comes to occupy the baby’s room. The forthcoming child will soon be staking claim to one of the bedrooms, so the battle for the remaining room becomes an odd-man-out game between the two seniors.

Noel Carvajal as Hector Lopez, the gold bricking gardener, Abe’s card playing buddy, Wasserman (Walter Martin), and governess Mrs. Fisher (Erica Chenard) fill out the rest of the roles.

Playwright Marshall Karp fashioned this feel-good comedy from his own life as a TV advertising writer. It has become the darling of community theatres throughout the country.

The play directed by Arline Bonner runs February 17, 18, 19 at 7 pm and a matinee Monday, February 20 at 2 pm in the Mulberry Recreation Center. Ticket prices are $15 for residents, $20 for guests. Tickets are available at all Villages Box Office locations or on the box office section of www.thevillages.net.

"...Tenor" Grabs Must-See in Mount Dora



Tito Merelli (Patrick Zaia) captivates Diana (Jennifer Bonner)
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 Give credit to Ken Ludwig for scripting his brilliant farce “Lend Me A Tenor.” It is considered one of only a few classic farces by American playwrights that features at least five doors, mistaken identities, and improbable situations. Give Artistic Director Darlin Barry credit for amassing an outstanding cast and directing them to post the best comedy in North Central Florida this season at the Sonnentag Theatre, IceHouse in Mount Dora.

The set depicts a 1934 hotel suite in Cleveland. Saunders (Ken Rush), the impresario of local Opera society, and his assistant, mild mannered Max (Jacob Waldron), await the internationally renown, flamboyant operatic tenor Tito Merelli (Patrick Zaia) scheduled for a one night benefit performance of Verdi’s “Otello.” For Cleveland this is a landmark event to establish itself as a cultural center between New York and Chicago.

Merelli and wife Marie (Robyn Sennott) arrive. Through a sequence of humorous happenings Tito is mistakenly pronounced dead just before the curtain is about to rise. Saunders sees his night of triumph heading for disaster and convinces the introvertish Max to assume the flamboyant Italian’s identity. After all, Max can sing, knows the music, and the Otello’s blackface, wig, and full costume make a perfect disguise. They make a Faustian bargain.

When Tito revives himself and dons his backup costume, the comedy of mistaken and assumed identities hatches and the farce begins in earnest at a Marx Brothers pace.

Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame with the pseudo star. Maggie (Jackie Prutsman), Saunders’ daughter, is willing sacrifices her virginity on the altar of his aura. Diana (Jennifer Bonner), the opera’s diva, attempts to seduce him, clad only in a bath towel while Julia (Kit Hoffman-Dittner), matriarch of the Guild, seeks to physically relax him. The Bellhop (Rick Breese) grovels in hopes of impressing him with his singing. Max, in disguise, enjoys the adulation and magically morphs from a milquetoast gofer to a magnificent Mediterranean maestro.

It is Rush as Saunders who sets the initial frenetic pace so necessary for this farce to succeed. Others join in and there is not a weak performance in the bunch. Timing and line pick-up are impecable.

Also making this show a cut above the rest is the physical similarity of Waldron and Zaia that, along with great facial makeup, that makes the identity switch seem plausible.

Costuming for the three actresses is right out of Life Magazine. Sound is excellent using a combination of body and overhead microphones. FYI: The whirlwind curtain call which compresses the entire play into an 85 second romp is scripted.

Ken Ludwig is one of America’s leading comedic playwrights. “Lend Me a Tenor,” along with his “Moon Over Buffalo” have had respectable Broadway runs and are very popular on the regional and community theatre levels. “…Tenor” won the 1989 Tony Award for best play and the show just had a revival showing on Broadway. The edition at the IceHouse gets my unqualified top Must-See recommendation.

The show runs Thursday-Sunday through February 12. Prices are $20, $18 for seniors. Group discount prices are available. For reservations and other information click on icon at left.  For area shows for the remainder of the season, click on One Hundred Plays on the right.