#rona Lisa perretti

[paper-land]

The Amazing Karnak is to Jane Doe as Rona Lisa Perretti is to Olive Ostrovsky

[cecelovegood]

I’m literally living on a diet of lemon tea and cough drops right now

[thebuckblogimo]

It feels good to feel nervous again.

April 29, 2024

Well, I went and did it this time.

I auditioned for a role in a community play, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," to be performed by the local theater group next month, and was offered a part in the production. I'll play Vice Principal Doug Panch, the "word pronouncer," in the musical comedy that originally ran on Broadway in 2005.

I'm the only performer who doesn't have a singing role, perhaps because when I auditioned--the instruction was to sing 16 bars of any Broadway tune--I wound up forgetting the words to "On The Street Where You Live" and spontaneously broke out in the James Brown slide in self-mockery of my obvious screwup.

Still, I was offered a part thanks, I suspect, to an ability to "sound like an announcer."

I'm the only senior citizen in the cast. The spellers are mostly high school and college-age kids (playing roles as middle-schoolers); they have all been on stage before. And, this is the fifteenth play for the thirty-something woman who sits next to me at a desk during much of the performance in her role as Rona Lisa Perretti, the spelling bee's host.

Truth be told, after the first few rehearsals, I spent several restless nights thinking I'll never be able to go "off book" like the young actors. As it turns out, however, I'll have the script in a notebook--disguised as a prop--in front of me during the play as I fire off words for spelling such as "omphaloskepsis" and "xerophthalmiology," as well as the words' definitions and use in a sentence.

I haven't worked at a major advertising agency for almost 25 years now, and one of the many benefits has been the fact that I rarely feel a sense of pressure. There's none of the anxiety I occasionally felt associated with making presentations to our Chrysler clients and others when I was in the business. I don't feel any of the doubt that I used to experience when explaining creative concepts to senior management in the Ross Roy board room. No more being "out front" for me.

Until now.

Sometimes I get butterflies before rehearsing with the cast. Sometimes I feel anxious when I haven't delivered a line on time during practice. Sometimes I drive home from the theater at night with a thank-God-that's-over sense of relief.

But in some strange way I take pleasure in those feelings, too, as they bring to mind the way it was during the years I was making a living and doing what I did because I loved it so much.

And, of course, there is the fact that I enjoy the feeling of delivering a line that elicits a few smiles or even laughter among those in the audience. Also, I enjoy the feeling that the old guy (me) still has a little something left in the tank.

Counting the dress rehearsal, there will be six performances of the play. I'm probably going to feel happy, hopefully pleasantly satisfied, when it's all over. Will I ever try out for a play again? I can't say at this time. I can only say that it feels good to feel nervous again. And, as I am forever exhorting my children, that I bit off a little more than I thought I could chew.

[pubtheatres1]

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Drayton Arms Theatre 29 May - 16 June 2018 ★★★★★ ‘Sharp, funny, slick and humane, if only all days in class could be this life-enhancing.’ Watching high school kids spelling words out loud may sound like watching paint dry but THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE proves there’s joy in the most unlikely of settings. A Broadway hit in the 2000s, it’s a musical about 10 geeky kids competing for the prize in the title, with three pretty equally geeky adults supervising. One of the twists is that four of the kids are randomly pulled from the audience, and it’s no spoiler to say that none of those will be making the final three. It’s sweet, it’s funny and, for all its sly references to the shady pasts of the teachers and imperfect homelives of its often hot-housed children, it’s thoroughly warm-hearted, too, as the competing kids find enough in common to make them friends of an awkward sort. MKEC’s production hits loads of high notes with some superb comic timing from its ensemble cast and a few topical gags thrown in (one kid is asked to spell Windrush, and the definition is worth waiting for). It’s quick, inventive, and a brilliant use of the small but versatile space the Drayton Arms has to offer. And the songs are fun, too (any musical that can rhyme Nietsche with Cristina Ricci is doing something right). On press night at least, the piano, though well played, was too loud for all the cast to be heard above it, but there isn’t a weak performance on the stage even if the singing honours go to Rona Lisa Perretti as the head-mistressy compere and the acting ones to Lottie Johnson as a relentlessly cheerful and energetic Logan and TJ Lloyd as the slobby genius Barfee. The music, in truth, isn’t that great or distinctive, but the lyrics and book are terrifically funny, and it’s impossible to get through the first 10 minutes without laughing out loud. Sharp, funny, slick and humane, if only all days in class could be this life-enhancing. Photo credit : ALEX HARVEY-BROWN at SAVANNAH PHOTOGRAPHIC THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Music and lyrics by William Finn Book by Rachel Sheinkin - Conceived by Rebecca Feldman Director/choreographer Adam Haigh Presented by MKEC Productions Drayton Arms Theatre 29 May - 16 June 2018 Box Office: thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk. Reviewer David Weir’s plays include: Lions of England (Powys Theatre, Newtown, 2018), Confessional (Oran Mor, Glasgow, 2017), Better Together (Brockley Jack, London, 2016), No Occasion To (Hayman’s Theatre, Perth, Australia, 2015), Music from a Distant Shore (Apollo Theatre, Newport, Isle of Wight, 2014), Bitter Looks (Brockley Jack, 2012) and Murdering the Truth (Greenwich Theatre, London, 2009).

[mat-havre]

Congratulations to the cast of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" Chip Tolentino: Caroline Tuss Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere: Audrina Williams Leaf Coneybear: Ethan Davison William Barfee: Brandon Bergren Marcy Park: Katelyn Maloughney Olive Ostrovsky: Allie Messinger Rona Lisa Perretti/Olive’s Mom: Hannah Bricker Vice Principal Douglas Panch: Clayton Twombly Mitch Mahoney/Dan Schwarz/Olive's Dad: Trevor Buckley Carl Grubenierre: Brandon Matte Leaf’s Mom: Rory Everingham Leaf’s Dad: Grace Crantz Leaf's Sister: Nevaeh PhillipsJesus Christ: Dever Everingham http://ift.tt/2qU2SRm