MARQUETTE -- The Forest Roberts Theater at Northern Michigan University is going back to the basics with its upcoming performance of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."
A small group of mostly colleged-aged students make up the cast of young kids trying to spell their way to victory.
"If you've ever watched the national spelling bee on TV, the kids are always a little bit quirky," said Paul Truckey, director of Spelling Bee. "So what we've got here is a musical about literally a spelling bee in which the kids compete to see who's going to win."
Production of the Broadway-inspired musical has been underway since early January and the ensemble has been working working around the clock for weeks building a worthy show and subsequently a strong bond between the castmembers.
"It's the smallest cast I've ever worked with, and it's the best cast I've ever worked with," reflected Erin Powley, an actor and first year student at NMU. "Everyone is completely focused and dedicated to this show, and we just have had a lot of fun together."
The musical runs an hour and a half long and is billed a family-fun performance.
"Everybody who comes to see it right now is laughing like crazy, so they're having a good time."
The Spelling Bee is the final production for NMU this semester. It premieres next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and will run through next Saturday.
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