September 26, 2006

F-U-N-N-Y

Remember when I talked about a little musical called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee? Well on Friday, I was lucky enough to see the national tour kick off at Baltimore's Hippodrome.

It was such fun!

Of course, my only point of comparison is the Broadway soundtrack (which I've listened to approximately 50 bejillion times). And like my experience with Assassins recently, there were things I liked better on the soundtrack - the actresses who played Rona and Logan. But other things were definitely better in what we saw - particularly the actor playing Leaf. Best moment (which ALMOST made me cry) was "The I Love You Song." Such amazing 3-part harmony.

But the funniest moment? One of the guest audience spellers was supposed to get out on an obscure word (which may have been made up) - and he got it right! It was a very Carol Burnett moment up on the stage as the actors tried to figure out what to do next. They followed up with an even harder word, which he then got wrong. Still - the audience was ROLLING.

It's great fun, and if you can make it there in the next week, I highly recommend it! Worth every penny. (And the traffic jam on the way home.)

2 comments:

Stef said...

Sounds good, I should pick up the soundtrack. I'm interested in Assassins, too, especially since I just read that Assassination Vacation book. Ah, the love of musicals!

ScottE. said...

LOVED IT! Such a fun, simple show.