"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"

The Players Guild of Dearborn announces its first M-U-S-I-C-A-L of the season, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a TonyŽ-award winning production that follows a group of misfit youngsters vying to be the top speller in Putnam County. The fun begins with bee moderator Rona Lisa Peretti (Leah P. Cooley of Taylor), a past winner and Putnam County-s top realtor, and Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Kenyada Davis of Detroit), ...who has a bit of a crush on Ms. Peretti and suffered a bit of a breakdown a few bees ago. The contestants, as well as their ?comfort counselor? Mitch Mahoney (Kenneth Gibson of Detroit), call up a few volunteer spellers from the audience each night, which makes for an exciting and different show at each performance! Each of the six youngsters has his or her own unique back-story to share. There-s Chip Tolentino (Eric Floetke of Brownstown), a Boy Scout and the 24th Annual winner, who meets puberty head-on during the bee. William Barfée (Jeff Ostrowski of Dearborn) is a past finalist who uses his ?magic foot? to spell out his words and would like it to be known that his last name is pronounced Bar-fay. The final boy is Leaf Coneybear (Michael Bollman of Dearborn), a home-schooler who makes his own clothes, is slightly distracted, and spells while in a mysterious trance. Sweet little Olive Ostrovsky (Julienne Kobylasz of Flat Rock) is an avid dictionary reader, and Marcy Park (Christina Brown of Farmington) is the classic over-achiever who speaks a whopping six languages and is not allowed to cry. Rounding out the group is youngest speller, Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre (Sara Mayne of Redford), who uses both of her father-s last names, has a very distinctive lisp, and a very mature outlook on politics. Other characters in the show, such as parents and siblings, are played by the contestants and audience volunteers. The show is directed by Dianne Bernick of Dearborn and assistant directed by Frann Stempek of Taylor. James Mayne and Ron Williams, both from Redford, are producing the show. Music direction is by Steve Woznicki of Royal Oak and is choreographed by Dearborn-s Jen McPherson. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee opens at the Players Guild of Dearborn on Nov. 12 and runs for four weekends, with Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Come join us for what is sure to be a F-U-N, I-N-T-E-R-A-C-T-I-V-E, and of course, E-D-U-C-A-T-I-O-N-A-L show! For reservations or more information, call the ticket hot line at 313-561-TKTS or visit http://www.playersguildofdearborn.org/. The Players Guild of Dearborn is located at 21730 Madison in Dearborn and is handicap accessible.