I didn't expect a lot, student productions being what they are. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge. U of T's Trinity College Dramatic Society acquitted itself well with its opening night performance on Wednesday of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on a spare set at the George Ignatieff Theatre.
The show I saw was energetic and good fun. I didn't notice any fluffed lines, no stepped on cues, no ghastly hamming it up - ok, there was some scenery chewing going on - and the direction was tight enough. I could have done without a couple of characters rushing up and down the aisles during a brief intermission - what were they doing? - although Boy Scout character Charlito "Chip" Tolentino, (Sheridan College musical theatre grad Andrew Case) selling candy from a tray, also during the break, worked perfectly well. Case also had potentially the most embarrassing number in the show, having to hide his scripted "hydraulic miracle", as it's been called, while he sang. No embarrassment for him or us, however, as Case smartly played it for laughs.
A trio of other performers also stood out. Annelise Hawrylak (a Randolph Academy graduate) certainly knew how to sell her Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere character with a bit of business here, a bit of jump there, and she was the actor to watch in the first half, but some more bitterness as she clashed with her two dads would have helped develop Logainne more. Hannah Lazare, who's all of 19 and a Trinity first year student, seemed reluctant to dig deeper into her character Olive Ostrovsky - a child of absent parents - to find some more pathos in the first half, but she more than made up for it later. Her soulful solo in the second half was the best song of the night. Last but not least comes Nick Chilton. Yes, let nepotism reign. My younger son was one of four audience members to be called on stage to play one of the spelling bee contestants. He nailed "cow" but flunked "chutzpah", according to the script anyway, and was sent packing. Too bad, but that's showbiz.
The show I saw was energetic and good fun. I didn't notice any fluffed lines, no stepped on cues, no ghastly hamming it up - ok, there was some scenery chewing going on - and the direction was tight enough. I could have done without a couple of characters rushing up and down the aisles during a brief intermission - what were they doing? - although Boy Scout character Charlito "Chip" Tolentino, (Sheridan College musical theatre grad Andrew Case) selling candy from a tray, also during the break, worked perfectly well. Case also had potentially the most embarrassing number in the show, having to hide his scripted "hydraulic miracle", as it's been called, while he sang. No embarrassment for him or us, however, as Case smartly played it for laughs.
A trio of other performers also stood out. Annelise Hawrylak (a Randolph Academy graduate) certainly knew how to sell her Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere character with a bit of business here, a bit of jump there, and she was the actor to watch in the first half, but some more bitterness as she clashed with her two dads would have helped develop Logainne more. Hannah Lazare, who's all of 19 and a Trinity first year student, seemed reluctant to dig deeper into her character Olive Ostrovsky - a child of absent parents - to find some more pathos in the first half, but she more than made up for it later. Her soulful solo in the second half was the best song of the night. Last but not least comes Nick Chilton. Yes, let nepotism reign. My younger son was one of four audience members to be called on stage to play one of the spelling bee contestants. He nailed "cow" but flunked "chutzpah", according to the script anyway, and was sent packing. Too bad, but that's showbiz.
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