S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g B-e-e P-r-o-d-u-c-t-i-o-n Inspired

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Spelling Bee has been a musical I've been fascinated with since I stumbled upon it in 2020. For my birthday last year I got tickets to the off-Broadway run in 2025, and since then I've seen it 5 times. As someone who was very familiar with the script, I was loved the changes that this production had made. I had the chance to see it during their previews, so it was a different show every time I saw it script wise, which I've never experienced before. It made me think, what is the difference between reading the script, watching it, and performing it. While there are a few obvious differences, I was really interested in how I can connect my background in performance studies and apply it to the act of performing. I realized that while most people think of how they would interpret a character, I was able to think about how this character interprets this situation. I was very interested in this concept and thought what better production to explore it with than one I've seen 5 times. So I documented the rehearsals, our performance day, my script and playbills from the off-Broadway production exploring how the role of the director/choreographer, audience member and performer differ.