Spelling Bee at JYM theatre co.

JYM theatre co. brings to life the quirky and energetic world of competitive spelling with The 25th Annual Putnam Counting Spelling Bee from August 20 - 27, 2011 at the Phoenix Theatre in Elwood (Victoria).

The six-time nominated Tony Award winning musical is a comedy about a group of middle school kids hoping to win their state Spelling Bee, with a coveted spot at Nationals on the line. The show takes its audience through the surprisingly touching and sometimes painfully funny moments of prepubescence and exposes the idiosyncrasies of each competitor.

With music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin, The New York Times has calledSpelling Bee "irresistible, riotously funny and remarkably ingenious", with its unique live participation element giving audience the chance to impress with their own spelling skills and to engage on-stage with the nerdy, awkward, manic and at times neurotic characters.

Director Jem Splitter has taken part in many previous JYM shows saying that, “having acting and backstage experience in past productions has really given me the skills to direct this show. Coming from a mostly acting background, I’m very much an actor’s director and with such vibrant characters I’ve got a lot to work with.”

When asked about how the cast and crew were feeling with opening night quickly approaching, Jem said, “with every show there’s a certain nervous energy... we intend to use every bit of it. Opening night is the main event where all our hard work comes to fruition and we invite our audience to enjoy and celebrate it with us.”

Spelling Bee opens on 20 August 2011 . For more information or to buy tickets online visit http://www.jymtheatre.com.

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