I knew Spelling Bee would be fun. Everyone tells you Spelling Bee is fun. But I was not prepared for how much fun I'd have while actively battling food poisoning. That I spent nearly the entire show distracted from real physical distress is the highest compliment I can pay the book, the cast, and the concept.
The concept is deceptively simple: kids in a spelling bee, audience members pulled onstage, chaos ensues. But what really makes this work is how much the performers clearly love the unpredictability of it. The three adults — Lilli Cooper, Jason Kravits, and Matt Manuel — looked like they were having the time of their lives, and that energy is contagious.
Kevin McHale, who I only know as the kid in the wheelchair from Glee, has absolutely no business being as convincing as a middle schooler as he is. Whatever age this man is now, you forget immediately. Justin Cooley as Leaf brought the same irresistible goofball charm he had as Seth in Kimberly Akimbo, perhaps even turned up a notch. Maybe even a notch too high?! I didn't think I'd ever say that about this adorable genius.
Philippe Arroyo's Chip is perfectly calibrated.
By the time each actor took their individual bow, I felt like every one of them had earned it.
We missed Jasmine Amy Rogers as Olive, which stung — I knew Wild Party rehearsals might have pulled her but I was still hoping. That alone is reason enough to go back, especially since my partner missed this one too (soccer, again).
I have to talk about the fake intermission. Chip is tossing candy into the audience, and at the end throws a packet hard at my friend, but she catches it and rips it right back at him. It hits his shoulder, and he sells being wounded beautifully. He retaliates by showering her with a juice box. But my friend, who does comedy, had brought an umbrella because it had been raining — so she pops it open and shields herself. The audience lost it. Ten seconds of pure standoff.
Then, right after she finally put away her umbrella, Chip gets the last word on his big final note by showering her with a second juice box. The eye contact they shared before he left the stage was something special. That's what live theater does that nothing else can.
The songs are fine but will leave your head immediately. A couple towards the end you'll wish had left halfway through. Even as someone who loves musicals, I found myself wanting to get back to the characters rather than sit through another verse of an obligatory song. But that's a minor complaint in a show that's this warm, this funny, and this committed to making sure everyone in the room is having a good time.
I couldn't wait to leave to reach the restrooms. But for most of the show I totally forgot my digestive distress. And that's saying something.
84/100.