At The Schoolhouse, ‘The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ gets a solid production from Sasquatch and Parker Arts.

Twenty years after its quirky book won a Tony, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continues to charm audiences as perhaps the nerdiest musical comedy ever made. The production now up at Parker’s Schoolhouse Theater is a faithful, nicely done outing directed by Tanner Kelly featuring spot-on casting and enough dorky energy to power several Comic-Cons.

The premise is relatively straightforward: A local elementary school hosts a spelling bee, and over the course of the competition we get deep dives into the personalities of the six contestants through musical numbers and how they respond to the pressures of the bee.

But what could have been a cutesy, family-friendly musical soon reveals the usual human complications beneath the surface. The result is a mix of perfectly PG humor with some darker elements that give Putnam a lot more spice than the title suggests.

Kelly, working with Sasquatch Productions for this one along with Parker Arts, has become a go-to director for musical theatre around Colorado. Often doubling as the music director and sound designer (as he is here), his productions stand out for their brisk pacing and symmetrical visuals ranging from the set design to the choreography.

Here, he’s got a particularly strong cast to flesh out the complex characters involved in the spelling bee. And since its held in Parker Arts’ smaller Schoolhouse Theater, there’s plenty of opportunity to see these exemplary performances up close.

Choreographer Timmy Pamintuan does a nice job balancing the silly with well-crafted dance numbers that make the most of the small stage and the athletic actors. The show also has the great Trent Hines on keys and conducting the small band.

Cooper Kaminsky as William Barfeé. | Photo: Sasquatch Productions

Highly developed characters

One of Colorado’s most versatile and fearless actors has to be Cooper Kaminsky. From straight roles like Johnny Cash in Ring of Fire at Miners Alley to his memorable Miss Trunchbull in Matilda with Parker, Kaminsky is an actor’s actor who gives 100 percent. Here, they’re tasked with portraying the supremely obnoxious pedant William Barfée. Channeling Groucho Marx, the Cowardly Lion and Seinfeld’s Newman, the character is that quintessentially American jerk — the kind of guy who smugly says “I know” when they tell him he’s spelled the word correctly yet still must endure the indignity of having his name pronounced wrong repeatedly (“It’s BarFAY!”).

Were it not for the strength of the rest of the cast, Kaminsky could’ve run away with this one — but there’s plenty more to love in this ensemble. As Olive, the other speller who makes it to the end, Sarah Holmes is a delight as the shy girl and humbly great speller who manages to connect with Barfée despite his abrasive exterior. Olivia Kisicki as the brainy Marcy is also a lot of fun to watch as she negotiates a crowd of kids she sees as intellectually inferior.

And there’s plenty more nerd action from the likes of Leaf (Sean Davis), who sees the world through a hand puppet and seems to think he’s in some kind of cosplay event. He pushes the obnoxious needle to 11, and when he’s eliminated it comes as something of a relief not just for the other spellers but the audience as well.

Clad in a Boy Scouts uniform, Chip (Andrew Hensel) is perhaps the most pathetic of the group — a former contestant who’d done well but is eliminated partly due to an untimely male protuberance at the top of Act Two. This is well documented in “My Unfortunate Erection (Chip’s Lament),” which Davis nails. Rounding out the spellers is Chloé Barnes as Logainne, the daughter of two gay men and the focus of her poignant, funny number “Woe is Me.”

Sarah Holmes as Olive Ostrovsky. | Photo: Sasquatch Productions

The adults in the room

At the top of the show we meet the winner of the Third Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Rona Lisa Peretti, who’s returned to host No. 25. This is an excellent Nicole Cherecwich, who brings some serious soprano chops to the role as well as strong comic sensibility to the most adult of the adults. Joining her at the judges’ table is the word pronouncer and vice principal Douglas Panch, a wonderfully sarcastic Taylor Speer whose character is returning to the role after a few years following an unspecified “incident.”

Panch is far less interested in the spelling bee itself than he is in Rona, who doesn’t give him the time of day. He vents his frustrations by giving ludicrous or unhelpful definitions and uses of the spelling words, which fuels a good deal of humor throughout. Rounding out the cast is Mitch, an ex-convict “comfort counselor” played with max elan by Mosés Brown.

Set Designer August Stoten’s school gymnasium is well rendered — complete with basketball paint on the floor and locker room doors on either side. The only technical issues I noticed were with the sound mix, which didn’t address places where the drummer (an otherwise excellent Christina Smith) drowns out the singing. And while “school gym” lighting is expected to be harsh, Brett Maughan’s design also leaves the players in partial darkness at times. Maughan is a veteran lighting designer, so I assume it was meant to convey some sort of effect — but for me it was a glitch in an otherwise tight show tech-wise.

There’s a good reason why The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continues to be a popular small-cast musical produced on a regular basis. It’s a ton of fun and has some interesting things to say about the relationship between children and their parents and among themselves. Goofy throughout, it also conveys a sweetness as the characters come out of their shells and come to appreciate one another. This production in Parker is a great chance to see a nicely produced show that’ll leave you smiling throughout.