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Tag: TUTS

  • Putnam County: A Spelling Bee Unlike One You’ve Ever Seen – Houston Press

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    The snarky, wonderful The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee began as an improv sketch conceived by Rebecca Feldman, then as a play written by her called C-R-E-S-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, then as a  musical when composer and lyricist William Finn (Falsettos, A New Brain, Little Miss Sunshine) was added to the zany troupe. Along the way, young choreographer and Broadway gypsy Dan Knechtges was added to the mix, and the show, after workshops at the Barrington Stage Company, Massachusetts, opened off-Broadway in 2005. A cult hit, it quickly transferred to Broadway that same year where the show ran for three years, winning two Tony Awards: Best Book (Rachel Sheinkin) and Best Supporting Actor (Dan Fogler as “magic foot” William Barfeé.).

    The musical is small, perhaps too intimate for the mighty Hobby Center, but the charismatic performances, the detailed school set by Beowulf Boritt, and the inspired direction and movement by Knechtges enlarges this little tale. We love these misfits who can toss off words like capybara, cystitis, and tittup while suffering from dysfunctional families, the feeling that they are dumb, or an overachieving Marcy (Gemini Quintos) who speaks six languages. These little fellows just want love and acceptance for the nerds they are. Winning the spelling bee will be their validation. When they don’t win, they get a hug and a juice box from parolee Mitch (deep-dish JD Houston), who’s doing community service, and are quickly ushered off the stage.

    The Bee is officiated by Putnam County’s lead realtor and former winner Rona Lisa Peretti (beautiful- voiced Julia Krohn), who is lusted over by assistant principal Douglas Panch (Tony-nominee Kevin Cahoon from Shucked), who has returned after a suspect “incident” at the Bee a few years ago. They pronounce the word, give the definition, and use it in a sentence. Like the one given to Logainne SchwwartzandGrubenierre, she of two dads (adorable Abigail Bensman) – “strabismus,” a squint caused by a defect in the eye muscles. She asks Panch to use the word in a sentence. He replies in perfect deadpan, “In the schoolyard Billy protested that he wasn’t cockeyed. ‘I suffer from strabismus,’ he said, whereupon the bullies beat him harder.”

    Sheinkin’s book is so wondrously wicked and non-PC, the audience lapped it up.

    Finn’s music is easy on the ear, Broadway-bound, and does its job with neat efficiency, even if the tunes are instantly forgettable. This isn’t Sondheim, Rodgers. or even Herman, but the jaunty songs mesh with the fun of watching adults play kids. And the “kids” are most memorable indeed, all Broadway babies who can sing their heads off and act up a storm.

    Mark Ivy, as allergic, acerbic Barfeé, steals the spotlight like the pro he is. When he melts under Olive’s spell (a radiant Adell Ehrhorn), a collective sigh washes through the Hobby. It’s just what we want for him. Marco Camacho’s Leaf Coneybear, who goes into a trance when he spells, is innocence personified, and our hearts rush to him as he sings “I’m Not That Smart.” Yes, you are, we think, just under-appreciated. Michael Alonzo, as hormone possessed Chip, has a field day with “Chip’s Lament,” when an errant erection stymies his turn at the competition. The first to be eliminated, he ends up hawking candy in the aisle, hiding behind his tray. Adding to these follies, are the audience participants in the Bee, selected before the performance and then coached by the cast during the show. It’s great fun.

    Everyone shines in this musical, thanks to Knechtges’ prowess and utter theater professionalism. This show is teen spirit on steroids with a grand wash of sweetness. There’s no social significance, no great message, just a fun time in the theater. Nothing wrong with that. Spell it “S-a-t-i-s-f-a-c-t-i-o-n.”

    The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continues through November 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Theatre Under The Stars at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit  tuts.org. $46 -$195.

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    D. L. Groover

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  • TUTS Debuts a Powerful Dear Evan Hansen at the Start of a National Tour

    TUTS Debuts a Powerful Dear Evan Hansen at the Start of a National Tour

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    After the superlative production of Spring Awakening at Rec Room Arts, if you still need to sniff teen spirit then turn to the touring reprise of another Tony-winning Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen, presented by Theatre Under the Stars.

    This second national tour, starting here in Houston, is an exact duplicate of the original Broadway production (2016-2022) and uses non-equity actors, but you’d never know. Many of these pros-to-be are making their professional debut, and some are veterans of other touring productions such as Beauty and the Beast or In the Heights. All are just right.

    Most impressive is Michael Fabisch as teen Evan, who suffers from some form of hyper social anxiety. Fabisch has nervousness down to a science. When cornered, he rambles incoherently, his arms flying about, while he constantly wipes his hands on his pants. He’s wondrously neurotic. And can he sing!

    Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s music and lyrics are soft rock-inspired and extremely conversational. There are no great hooks to catch your ear, yet the show’s two anthems, “Waving Through a Window” and “You Will Be Found,” have become cult classics of a sort. Fabisch’s high tenor purrs then suddenly wails in emotional release. It’s a most inspiring performance throughout. A recent graduate of University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance, Fabisch bursts onto the professional stage with fireworks not seen since Macy’s Fourth of July celebration.

    This intimate musical has its own pyrotechnics. It strikes a chord in all of us, no matter what age. Who doesn’t relate to Evan’s heartache of “Wanting to be on the outside, always looking in/Will I
    ever be more than I’ve always been?…Waving through a window I try to speak, but nobody can hear…Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me?”

    Evan’s only friend is Jared (Gabriel Vernon Nunag), a peripheral family acquaintance, who’s another class nerd who compensates for his own awkwardness by rampant sex talk, of which he knows nothing. Like Fabisch, you’d never realize that Nunag is making his professional debut. Another perfect casting decision. Evan dreads school, spends all his spare time in his room on his computer, and fears any type of personal interaction. He’s a bundle of tics, twitches, and sweaty palms. He’s a wreck. His father has walked out of the family when he was a child, and his mom (Bre Cade), working as a nurse’s aide while taking classes to become a paralegal, is often absent and unable to connect to her ailing son. As one of his therapy assignments, Evan writes self-help letters to himself, addressed to Dear Evan Hansen. This is what kick-drives the musical.

    School bully and social outcast Connor (Alex Pharo, on his national tour debut, another winner) steals Evan’s letter which is later found in his pocket after he commits suicide. Everyone now assumes Evan was Connor’s best friend. Suddenly Evan is the life of the party. The subterfuge lures in classmates, Connor’s family, and Zoe, Evan’s crush from afar (Hatty Ryan King, making her tour debut, is also phenomenal).

    Likes and clicks rise exponentially. A national movement is started by opportunistic students with Evan as its president. But the guilt is too much. Besieged, Evan has to crack. In the show’s best number, “You Will Be Found,” Evan realizes the damage he has done – to himself and those close to him. When he confesses to his mother, all his defensive walls collapse, and we are left in tears as she forgives him.

    This cleansing musical works so well because it’s an original, not based on some cartoon, film adaptation, or a musician’s catalog of past hits. The staging is slick and modern as panels slide on and off, on which are Evan’s writing or computer screens binging and bonging. The look is very efficient and clean, impersonal, sterile, although with Broadway power lighting. A perfect metaphor for social networking and its seductive siren song. If you spend hours online, will you be found?

    Dear Evan Hansen continues through September 22 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Theatre Under the Stars, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit tuts.com. $34.50-$143.50.

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    D. L. Groover

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