The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005 Original Broadway Cast) [Soundtrack]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When was the last time you heard a musical with a truly hilarious book? Rachel Sheinkin has concocted such a thing for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, one of the most unexpected hits of 2005. Unfortunately, Sheinkin's wit is mostly lost on a cast album; fortunately, the show's songs are by the great William Finn. Set at the titular event, the musical never looks down on the competiting kids (played by adult actors), instead portraying them as endearingly nerdy but also smart, and endowing them with real personalities rather than predictably spelling-bee tics. The cast is uniformly superb, although personal faves include Sarah Saltzberg, playing Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre with a delicious lisp ("Woe Is Me"); Jesse Tyler Ferguson, bringing sweet innocence to Leaf Coneybear ("I'm Not That Smart"); and Dan Fogler, in a breakout comic performance as William Barfee ("Magic Foot," sounding like a sly tribute to Kander & Ebb). This show may be small in scale, but it's a huge winner. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Other Great Musicals of the Season


Spamalot
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The Light in the Piazza

Little Women
All Shook Up
Altar Boyz



The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005 Original Broadway Cast), Music, William Finn, Rachel Sheinkin, Derrick Baskin, Dan Fogler, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Deborah Craig, Lisa Howard, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Llana, Jay Reiss, Sarah Saltzberg, Cast Recordings, Music Theater, Musical Theater, Pop, Showtunes / B'way
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Great fun, but not for the little ones!
  • Love it!!!!
  • Good but not great
  • Charming musical
  • TERRIBLE.
 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
William Finn , Rachel Sheinkin , Derrick Baskin , Dan Fogler , Jesse Tyler Ferguson , Deborah Craig , Lisa Howard , Celia Keenan-Bolger , Jose Llana , Jay Reiss , and Sarah Saltzberg
Manufacturer: Ghostlight Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. The Light in the Piazza (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
  2. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
  3. Monty Python's Spamalot (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
  4. The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Original Broadway Cast)
  5. Little Women The Musical (2005 Original Broadway Cast)

ASIN: B0009A1AMS
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Tracks:

  1. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
  2. The Spelling Rules/My Favorite Moment Of The Bee 1
  3. My Friend, The Dictionary
  4. The First Goodbye
  5. Pandemonium
  6. I'm Not That Smart
  7. The Second Goodbye
  8. Magic Foot
  9. Pandemonium Reprise/My Favorite Moment Of The Bee 2
  10. Why We Like Spelling
  11. Prayer Of The Comfort Counselor
  12. My Unfortunate Erection (Chip's Lament)
  13. Woe Is Me
  14. I'm Not That Smart (Reprise 2)
  15. I Speak Six Languages
  16. The I Love You Song
  17. Woe Is Me (Reprise)
  18. My Favorite Moment Of The Bee 3/Second
  19. Finale
  20. The Last Goodbye

Amazon.com

When was the last time you heard a musical with a truly hilarious book? Rachel Sheinkin has concocted such a thing for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, one of the most unexpected hits of 2005. Unfortunately, Sheinkin's wit is mostly lost on a cast album; fortunately, the show's songs are by the great William Finn. Set at the titular event, the musical never looks down on the competiting kids (played by adult actors), instead portraying them as endearingly nerdy but also smart, and endowing them with real personalities rather than predictably spelling-bee tics. The cast is uniformly superb, although personal faves include Sarah Saltzberg, playing Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre with a delicious lisp ("Woe Is Me"); Jesse Tyler Ferguson, bringing sweet innocence to Leaf Coneybear ("I'm Not That Smart"); and Dan Fogler, in a breakout comic performance as William Barfee ("Magic Foot," sounding like a sly tribute to Kander & Ebb). This show may be small in scale, but it's a huge winner. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Other Great Musicals of the Season


Spamalot
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The Light in the Piazza

Little Women
All Shook Up
Altar Boyz

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Great fun, but not for the little ones!.......2007-03-15

We thought this was great fun, very engaging in the tradition of the modern musical. Just be careful, there are a couple of cuts that are not for "the wee ones". But, my 2nd and 4th grader love all the other songs. They love "Magic Foot" in particular. We just skip past the "mature" material. I suggest you listen to it first so you know what to skip.

5 out of 5 stars Love it!!!!.......2007-03-08

This is a great cd. I loved it when I listened to it, but loved it more after I saw the show.

3 out of 5 stars Good but not great.......2007-02-06

I'd heard the opening number as well as "The I Love You Song" upon which I decided I'd like to listen to the entire soundtrack. I liked the concept behind the musical and thought it would be fun.

Upon first listening I have to say I was slightly disappointed. The style of singing is all the same: strong and loud and the melodic movement of the songs is generally all the same with lots of long notes that generally get prety annoying after awhile.

Some positives though...The songs move through the progression of the bee quite nicely with the "Goodbye" Songs and "My Favourite Moment From the Bee" songs adding a nice theme to the whole score.

"The I Love You Song" is still a personal favourite but "Woe is Me" is also a strong song and parts of "Pandemonium" with it's upbeat rhythm are toe tapping and enjoyable.

The characters are varied but their songs don't really do them justice.

Good but not great.

4 out of 5 stars Charming musical.......2007-01-10

Spelling Bee has a cute score with a number of memorable tunes. While the overall theme is quite comical, there are a few more serious moments when one of the characters talks about her absentee mother. "Magic Foot" is a total scream. This should be on the shelves of all lovers of musical comedy.

1 out of 5 stars TERRIBLE........2007-01-04

I am a huge fan of musicals and I was really excited to go see this one. I'd heard good things about it and I enjoy nothing more than sitting down in a theater and watching a good musical.

Sorry guys, it was AWFUL. The music was semi-decent, there weren't really any standouts although the I love you song tugs at your heartstrings a bit. But the heart of the matter is, there was NO STORY and NO PLOT whatsoever! I was so disappointed! It stayed in act 1 the entire show and never climaxed. The plot was "once there was a spelling bee. A bunch of kids competed until one of them won" (and really, nothing more happens than that.)

In comedy, things are more flexible and you don't necessarily have to have any structure to your story (although it generally makes for a better and more memorable show) but in this case, it wasn't even funny! I think I laughed twice throughout the whole show, and they were sort of halfhearted chuckles, like, wow, I can't believe they just told that overused joke... again.

I think that's the only reason they bring people in from the audience to improv a little bit (but don't leave much room for improv, anyway) - because if they didn't it would be so boring and pointless that people would be leaving the theater. I only stayed around because I kept thinking, "there has to be some point to this. There has to be some interesting twist at the end that makes it all worthwhile. Maybe nobody wins, and somebody learns something." And then it ended, and I was sorely disappointed.

Again, the music wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't anything special. Most of the songs just blend together and sound the same. William Finn doesn't understand the concept of musical variance. The majority of the songs describe the characters' history but NOTHING EVER HAPPENS to any of them. That's not a story.

Anyway, enjoy the music if you're into it, but don't go see the show. It's a waste of time and money.

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