It’s easy to spell everything —
Our 2010 season-opener has:
H-U-M-O-R…M-U-S-I-C…and H-E-A-R-T!

The Tony Award-winning show puts us in a middle-school gym, where a group of offbeat young misfits will compete for the county prize. We feel the angst and pain of these quirky and nerdy (but endearing) teens as well as the idiosyncratic adults overseeing the contest as they awkwardly and determinedly come into their own.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is under the direction of Beth Bonnabeau and the musical direction of Daniel Koch.  The cast includes: Tony Saracino, Vicki Sosbe, Priscilla Squiers, Billy Dempster, Cat Crocetto, Michael Wright, Jaclyn Blythe, Dave Anctil, and Jerrial T. Young.

The Washington Post called it “the funniest thing in seven consonants”…the Wall Street Journal said, “it’s spelled W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L”…and the New York Times called it “irresistible” …and we’re sure you’ll agree.

Re-live those awkward, poignant moments of adolescence… without actually having to go through them again! Join us this Friday, February 26th at 8PM, for our traditional opening night gala – featuring “school-themed” food and drinks for everyone in attendance, exclusively for opening night theatergoers. Our way of giving a “gold star” to all our treasured patrons!

Wanna join the Bee?  If you want to join the cast onstage during the performance, please arrive early!  We are looking for a few brave souls each night! 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW LOCAL THEATRE VETERAN, BILLY DEMPSTER

Re-live those awkward, poignant moments of adolescence… without actually having to go through them again! Join us this Friday, February 26th at 8PM, for our traditional opening night gala – featuring “school-themed” food and drinks for everyone in attendance, exclusively for opening night theatergoers. Our way of giving a “gold star” to all our treasured patrons!

Billy Dempster (Leaf Coneybear) is no stranger to TheatreWorks having appeared as Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Forum and Howard in Moon Over Buffalo. Billy has a BA in Theater Arts from WCSU and has toured the country with several children’s theatre companies.  He is currently an employee of Danbury Hospital where he's been for 20 years.

When asked about his role in Spelling Bee, Billy notes that he is excited to play a “kid” after having kids of his own.  He had a great deal of fun pulling inspiration from his three girls Sabine, Delaney and Isabelle as he developed the role of Leaf. He also finds the amount of improvisation in this show and having the audience on stage with the cast to be quite challenging, in a good way!

"The audience spellers are what really make the show.  When I saw it on Broadway, everyone in the audience was really rooting for the audience spellers. It’s like cheering for the home team. They are also going to love how each of the words are 'used in a sentence'!"

Speaking of challenges, the music of William Finn is not an easy undertaking either. "I have loved William Finn ever since I heard March of the Falsettos and have enjoyed listening to Spelling Bee for years, but I never realized how difficult it was.  It is a worthwhile challenge and I hope the hard work the cast and Dan are putting into it will pay off with a great sounding show."

Billy admits that he has wanted to play the role of Leaf since he saw Spelling Bee on Broadway in 2008. In fact, there is no other role right now that he would want to play more. Of his past performances, his two favorite roles were that of Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound at the Sherman Playhouse and Ellard in The Foreigner at the Brookfield Playhouse.

 

FUND DEVELOPMENT ON TRACK AT THEATREWORKS

We’re having wonderful results from our fundraising efforts, thanks to our growing list of supporters!

TheatreWorks was just awarded another grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation; a sponsorship grant for our 2010 Senior Night Program. Our partnership with CCF just keeps on growing…and giving. Did you know that for 40 years, TheatreWorks has offered a free night of theatre during every production to our senior citizens?  It’s often a full house, and why wouldn’t it be? It’s Broadway-quality theatre right here in their own backyard! Many thanks to CCF for their support of this program.

Our Annual Fund Appeal has been a great success, too, raising more than $15,000 to date. We’re still hoping to reach our goal of $20,000! To join in on the success, just click here to make a donation or send in your appeal card. Every donation matters.

Thanks to a generous bequest, we will be able to purchase an audio system to increase access to live theatre for our hearing-impaired patrons. A special thank you to all who contributed to this worthy cause.

If you’d like to contact our Fund Development Committee, please write to Kay Abella, Chair, at kabella@theatreworks.us.

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©2010 Creative Arts Center of New Milford, Inc., dba TheatreWorks New Milford