Wilton students will sing, dance and spell

WILTON — Reaching into their not-too-distant past, Wilton High School seniors will channel their inner, anxiety-filled children as they sing, dance and spell their way through the award-winning musical comedy “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Directed by theater teacher Kathryn Luckstone with music direction by AnnacDeMasi with assistant direction by junior Ryan Lynn and choreography by senior Sasha Sypher, the show about a fictional regional spelling bee will be presented Jan. 23-25 at the Wilton High School Clune Center for the Arts. The tale of several socially awkward youngsters finding joy, heartache and a purpose in competing at the regional spelling bee features a score by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. Each performance also includes four audience participants joining the cast onstage in spontaneously spelling words of wildly varying difficulty and sometimes questionable validity. The cast of characters includes the previous year’s champ, Boy Scout Chip; Schwarzy, the most politically aware of the group; Coneybear, who only made it to the bee when his school’s first and second-place finishers had to attend a bar mitzvah; Barfee, whose spelling success is due to a “magic foot;” the over-achieving Marcy; and Olive, a lonely girl whose only “friend” is her dictionary. They are aided in their attempts at achieving spelling glory by Rona, the bee’s veteran hostess; the vice principal, brought in at the last minute to pronounce words; and a scary ex-con who is fulfilling community service as a “comfort counselor.” The cast and crew include: Katie Buse, Evan Charney, Hunter Driscoll, Danielle Favarolo, Brielle Flavin, Brooke Gardner, Emma Gardner, Isabel Gouveia, Caroline Hess, Ryan Lynn, Will Maggio, Peyton Matik, Ashley Merkle, Devin Moran, Rachel Nadel, Tess Nobles, Rishabh Raniwala, Jack Santomero, Nicole Saxon, John Shiller, Casey Shu, Brennan Smith, Teagan Sullivan, Sasha Sypher, Evan Timnev, Christopher Tovar, Jake Vitarelli, Olivia Vitarelli and Eleanor Winrow. Performances: Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 25, at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for adults. All tickets will be sold at the door before each performance. For group information or questions, call 203-762-0381, ext. 6205. Kathryn Luckstone Artistic Director & Producer luckstonek@wiltonps.org 203-722-9564

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