This is part of an ongoing series of theater reviews of local high school productions, written by high school students, that will appear on AnnArbor.com. This week, Greenhills School's Katherine Krauss (see bio at end of story) reviews Pioneer High School's "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," which opened this past weekend.

Cast members in Pioneer High School's Theatre Guild production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

It would seem unusual to base a musical on a spelling bee. However, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" demonstrates the ability of the musical to range from comic to quirky.

Set in the fictional Putnam County, "Spelling Bee" tells the story of 6 student competitors, and 3 teacher judges, who each portray a different stereotypical misfit, in addition to 3 competitors chosen from the audience. These stereotypes range from the “comfort counselor” (a prisoner forced to do community service for his parole) to the little miss perfect know-it-all middle school student. Can these students transcend their stereotypes, or will they be forced to live forever under their labels?

The script deals with this in a series of lighthearted song and dance numbers, as well as through side comments from other characters, of course. From beginning to end, this script cracks comic jokes. Yet because the jokes tended to be on the sensual and racial side of the humor spectrum, I did not find myself laughing until well into the second half of this one-act musical.

This was partially due to problems in the writing of the script; Rachel Sheinkin's book includes too many jokes of a particular type that I did not find funny, until she started making fun of everybody. Plus, I felt the manner in which these jokes were presented could have been exaggerated more on the part of the actors to clarify this at the beginning.

Particular acting performances that stood out to me on opening night were those of Vice-Principal Douglas Panch (played by Tim VanRiper), and the comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney (played by John Spalding). It was VanRiper’s snappy delivery of lines that got me laughing in the beginning, and kept me laughing throughout the entire show. He also played many parts in the competitors’ musical vignettes, including an overly-involved homosexual father. He distinguished these parts from each other beautifully, and was equally brilliant in all.

Spalding, VanRiper’s equally overly-involved partner, as well as the jailbird "comfort counselor," also had several roles to play, which he distinguished very nicely as well. He also belted forth song after song, demonstrating an impressive vocal range, from tenor to bass, with equal talent in each part.

The entire cast should be proud of their work, both vocally and in terms of character; I did not see a single out-of-character movement, or hear a single actor whose voice was hard to listen to. I did not have much trouble hearing anybody, either.

"Spelling Bee" was staged in the smaller of the 2 theatre spaces at Pioneer. Because of this, I did not see the need for the microphones the actors were using. It would have been nice to see them challenged to project the songs instead of relying on technology that sometimes brought too much noise into the smaller space. Also appropriate to the space, the set was simple in its design, consisting of nine chairs for the students to sit in, and a desk for the judges. Because "Spelling Bee" was stripped of PTG's normally professional technical grandeur, I was able to see the talent within the group, as opposed to the distraction of its expensive and often-overdone sets. The display of close-knit chemistry between all the actors and musicians alike reminded me of the strong base of talent that the Pioneer Theatre Program is built on, making "Spelling Bee" one of those little things that count.

"Spelling Bee" continues its run at Pioneer High School this weekend, with shows on Friday, February 19th at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, February 20th, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 pm; and Sunday, February 21st, at 2 p.m. All performances happen at Pioneer's Little Theater, at 601 W. Stadium, and tickets are $12 ($9 for students and seniors), available at the door, or in advance (additional fee may be added) through the ShowTix4U web site, or 866-967-8167.

Katherine Krauss is currently a Greenhills School sophomore. She has performed in numerous plays and musicals, her favorite being "The Crucible," and has been a member of her school’s competitive public speaking team for 4 years.

The aim of AnnArbor.com's student-review program is to recognize, and provide more coverage for, the accomplished theatrical work that's happening in our schools while also providing opportunities for student writers with an interest in arts criticism. To encourage objectivity, our student writers will always review shows from schools other than their own. To learn more about the student-review program, contact Jenn McKee at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546.