MTR prepares for comedy musical

If watching adolescents engage in Marshall-esque competition, suffer at the hands of pesky hormones and ponder troubles more difficult than spelling the word “qaimaqam” sounds like a fun way to spend a weekend night, look no further than Musical Theatre Repertory’s upcoming student-run production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

The Tony award-winning musical opens at the Massman Theatre this Friday and is the first show of MTR’s 15th season. 

As director Tyler Ellis, a senior majoring in theatre, describes it, “Spelling Bee” follows six spellers trying to win a local high-stakes spelling competition and three adults asking themselves why they bothered to work the event — the result is pure comedic delight.

Despite the absurd premise, Ellis believes the show is relevant to USC students, including tongue-in-cheek refereneces to campus landmarks like Tommy Trojan and Parkside. 

“It’s present day,” Ellis said. “It’s not some weird period piece where people are confused … There’s USC student stuff that only we would understand.”

In addition to actor improvisation, audience participation is a unique feature of the show. Members of the audience are encouraged to sign up as “spellers” and directly interact with the performers on stage. 

“The show changes every night a great amount just because it depends a lot on the people that you call up from the audience,” said Lily Castle, a freshman majoring in theatre. 

Castle, who plays speller Rona Lisa Peretti, said she is most excited about interacting with the audience

“[I’m excited] to make snide comments about [audience members] and having to think on your feet is one of my favorite things that I’ve done so far,” Castle said.

The cast members have bonded over the story’s core message: Kids want to grow up but are unsure how to. 

“As incoming freshmen, we like to think that we’re adults,” Sam Avila, a choral music major who plays Chip, said. “But getting to come to the theater every night to rehearse and just letting all that go and becoming a kid again, tapping into what made childhood so much fun, was one of the highlights of this process.”

The score, written by “Falsettos” composer William Finn, features songs like “Pandemonium,” “My Friend, the Dictionary,” “I’m Not That Smart” and the childishly vulgar “My Unfortunate Erection (Chip’s Lament),” which all explore pubescent woes of uncertainty in identity and societal belonging. 

Ellis credited the nine-person cast as well as the crew and band, saying their common goal of creating a good piece of theater on their own has contributed to the show’s success in just three weeks of rehearsal. 

“See it for laughs, for surprising, touching moments and just to be brought back in time to when you were a kid, when the stakes were so high for something seemingly insignificant,” Ellis said.

Tickets for the show are currently sold out, but students who wish to join the waitlist are encouraged to arrive early.