Tag Archives: Lebanon Theatre Company

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Directed by Rachel Brown

Audition Dates:

• Sunday, April 13 at 2:00pm and
• Monday, April 14 at 6:30pm
• While in-person auditions are strongly encouraged, if you cannot attend on the audition dates please reach out to submit a video audition. All submissions must be received by Monday, April 14 at 6:30 pm.
• Click here to request video submission information

​Production Dates: July 25 – Aug 3

Audition Details

• Please bring a 32-bar cut of a song in the style of the show (please do not sing music from the show). An accompanist will be provided.
• You will be asked to do cold readings from the script
• Auditions will last between 1-2 hours depending on the number of people auditioning
  You may be asked to read for multiple different characters
• All people 16+ are encouraged to audition

Synopsis
An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves a champion! At least the losers get a juice box.
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Character Descriptions
Spellers should be able to convincingly play children. People of all races, ethnicities, backgrounds, and body types are encouraged to audition for all roles.

• Chip Tolentino – An athletic, social, boy scout and champion of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, he returns to defend his title, but he finds puberty hitting at an inopportune moment. C4 – B5
• Logainne Schwartzandgrunenierre (Schwartzy) – Logainne is the youngest and most politically aware speller, often making comments about current political figures. She is driven by internal and external pressure, but above all by a desire to win to make her two fathers proud. She is somewhat of a neat freak, speaks with a lisp, and will be back next year. A3 – F5
• Leaf Coneybear – The second runner-up in his district, Leaf gets into the competition on a lark and finds everything about the bee incredibly amusing. He is home-schooled and comes from a large family of former hippies. He has severe Attention Deficit Disorder and spells words correctly while in a trance. A3 – A5
• William Barfee – A Putnam County Spelling Bee finalist last year, he was eliminated because of an allergic reaction to peanuts and is back for vindication. His famous “Magic Foot” method of spelling has boosted him to spelling glory, even though he only has one working nostril and a touchy, bullying personality. He develops a crush on Olive. E4 – B5
• Marcy Park – A recent transfer from Virginia, Marcy placed ninth in last year’s nationals. She speaks six languages, is a member of all-American hockey, a championship rugby player, plays Chopin and Mozart on multiple instruments, sleeps only three hours a night, hides in the bathroom cabinet, and is getting very tired of always winning. She is the poster child for the Over-Achieving Asian, and attends a Catholic school called “Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows.” She is also not allowed to cry. C4 – E5
• Olive Ostrovsky – A young newcomer to competitive spelling. Her mother is in an ashram in India, and her father is working late, as usual, but he is trying to come sometime during the bee. Having found comfort in its words and vastness, Olive made friends with her dictionary at a very young age, helping her to make it to the competition. She starts enormously shy, and shyly blossoms. B3 – F5
• Rona Lisa Peretti – The number-one realtor in Putnam County, a former Putnam County Spelling Bee Champion herself, and the returning moderator. She is a sweet woman who loves children, but she can be very stern when it comes to dealing with Vice Principal Panch and his feelings for her. Her interest in the competition is unflagging and drives it forward. B3 – F5
• Douglas Panch – This actor should have strong comedic improv skills. The Vice Principal. Frustrated with his life, he finds the drive of the young spellers alien to him. After five years’ absence from the Bee, Panch returns as judge. There was an “incident” at the Twentieth Annual Bee, but he claims to be in “a better place” now, thanks to a high-fiber diet and Jungian analysis. He is infatuated with Rona Lisa Peretti, but she does not return his affections. This is a non-singing role.
• Mitch Mahoney – The Official Comfort Counselor. An ex-convict, Mitch is performing his community service with the Bee, and hands out juice boxes to losing students. He has no idea how to offer comfort, but does find himself wishing he could find a way to make the kids feel better. E4 – A5

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THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST

Auditions: March 10th and 11th at 7:00 at LTC

Show Dates: May 2nd -11th

Synopsis
The place is the small Mississippi town of Brookhaven, the time a few days before the Fourth of July. Carnelle Scott (known locally as “Miss Hot Tamale”) is rehearsing furiously for the Miss Firecracker Contest—hoping that a victory will salvage her tarnished reputation and allow her to leave town in a blaze of glory. The unexpected arrival of her cousin Elain, a former Miss Firecracker winner, (who has walked out on her rich but boring husband and her two small children) complicates matters a bit, as does the repeated threat of Elain’s eccentric brother, Delmount, (recently released from a mental institution) to sell the family homestead and decamp for New Orleans. But, aided by a touchingly awkward seamstress named Popeye (who is hopelessly smitten by Delmount) and several other cheerfully nutty characters, Carnelle perseveres—leading to a denouement of unparalleled hilarity, compassion and moving lyricism as all concerned finally escape their unhappy pasts and turn hopefully toward what must surely be a better future.

Characters

• Carnelle Scott- (Age: 20s-30s)
  The play’s central character, Carnelle is a vulnerable and self-conscious young woman. She longs to receive the respect and admiration that her cousin Elain won with the community years ago. Kind, generous, and a little bit naive, she hopes to wipe away her scandalous past in Brookhaven by winning the Miss Firecracker Contest and leaving town in a blaze of glory.
• Elain Rutledge- (Age: 30s-40s) Carnelle’s cousin and Delmount’s older sister, Elain is a former beauty queen desperately trying to hang
  on to her youth and looks. As a former Miss Firecracker winner, Carnelle worships the ground she walks on. Her
  confidence and elegance conceal a terrible secret: she is trapped in a marriage she has come to resent.
• Delmount Williams- (Age: late 20s-late 30s) Delmount is Carnelle’s first cousin and Elain’s younger brother. He deeply loves his family, but
  suffers from an extremely volatile temper. Recently released from a state mental hospital, he intends to sell his
  deceased mother’s home and leave town forever. Delmount is a true romantic and a connoisseur of beauty. His obsession haunts him in the form of strange nightmares.
• Popeye Jackson- (Age: 20s-30s)
  Popeye is a quirky young seamstress hired by Carnelle to make costumes for the contest. She wears massive Coke-bottle glasses as the result of a childhood accident and keeps strange habits like sewing tiny outfits for frogs. She is kind and loyal and almost immediately falls madly in love with the fiery Delmount.
• Mac Sam- (Age: 30s-50s)
  Mac Sam is a local carnie currently peddling balloons at the Miss Firecracker Contest. A former lover of Carnelle’s, his “magnetic eyes” hold a great power over women. He is quite the ladies’ man, but has always carried a special torch for Carnelle. Mac Sam suffers from a number of medical maladies including alcoholism, tuberculosis, and
  venereal disease which he contracted from Carnelle during her checkered youth.
• Tessy Mahoney- (Age: 20s-30s)
  Tessy is one of the coordinators of the Miss Firecracker Contest and the ugliest girl in town. Conniving and manipulative, she once had a brief fling with Delmount and seeks to rekindle that flame.