Cameron Nye, Contributing Photographer

Life is pandemonium for the cast and crew of the Yale Dramatic Association’s 2025 commencement musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” which opened Friday night at the University Theatre. In a gymnasium where puberty, pressure and perfectly spelled words collide, six elementary schoolers — and a few brave audience volunteers — compete not just for a trophy, but for a little dignity in a world that often casts them aside.

With just ten days of preparation, Director Emiliano Cáceres Manzano ’26 and his production team delivered a faithful adaptation of the Broadway staple — with music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin, and originally directed by James Lapine.

The vibrant set evokes a school gym, complete with banners from bygone athletic glories. Combined with delightfully chaotic costume choices that felt handpicked by each character and an equally playful lighting design, the show captures the epic highs and lows of youth spelling competitions.

The show follows a collection of kooky characters as they battle for the prestige of becoming the spelling bee champion. Shenanigans ensue as they are slowly eliminated, fumbling through words such as omphaloskepsis, elanguescence and boanthropy, until only one speller remains.

For such a goofy show, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” has a remarkable amount of heart. The actors are tasked with portraying tween-aged children, a daunting task for those who have already escaped the throes of puberty. However, some actors rose to the occasion in impressive ways.

Both Abram Knott ’27 and Hannah Kurczeski ’26 — who played William Barfée and Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, respectively — maintained character voices with the charming consistency of kids who’d never met a speech therapist. Their performances capture the tender awkwardness of children stumbling — loudly and nasally — into selfhood. 

Nneka Moweta ’27 brought warmth and poise to the role of Rona Lisa Peretti, the spelling bee’s host and onetime champion, through the soothing timbre of her voice. Isabella Walther-Meade ’25 played the rugged comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney, bringing the house down with powerhouse vocals and jaw-dropping riffs during her showstopper, “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor.”

The standout performance came from Olivia Ridley ’26, who brought Olive Ostrovsky to life with a breathtaking vocal performance and quiet, compelling depth. Shel balanced vulnerability and strength, making each of her moments onstage feel intimate and real: the comedic one liners, the reverence for spelling and the ache that comes from a turbulent home life. 

Her rendition of “The I Love You Song” — capturing the anger and profound sadness of a child longing for her mother — sent shivers through the audience. It was one of the most moving performances I have seen on a Yale stage.

The audience spellers deserve a special shoutout. Four volunteers joined the spelling shenanigans alongside the cast. One by one, they were eliminated, leaving just one standing: Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis, who made a cameo appearance on opening night.

The audience cheered as he donned a rainbow-sequined cowboy hat and walked up steps to the stage. Standing idly at the microphone, he revealed an uncanny talent for spelling entirely made-up words. Ultimately, he was eliminated after using what he joked was his native “Canadian spelling” of “zuuzuu” — namely, “zuzu.”

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is not Caceres Manzano’s first foray into directing at Yale. His previous productions, such as “Company” and “West Side Story,” were well attended and incredibly polished. Given just ten days to rehearse and stage a full production, this team achieved an impressive amount. Still, some thoughtful tweaks and refinements could have elevated the show.

At times, the line between the childlike and the over-the-top blurred, leaving some characters teetering on the edge of caricature. Moments that could have revealed depth instead leaned into spectacle, making certain portrayals feel more grating than endearing. Some characters peaked too early, lingered in bits that ran long enough to lose their comedic punch or reused jokes that had already run their course.

That said, performers like Knott and Kurczeski found a strong balance, capturing not just the quirks but also the emotional nuance of their roles.

Others struggled to maintain that consistency. Loud voices and big gestures alone don’t fully evoke childhood. These roles call for a layered understanding of what it means to be young, uncertain and hopeful, with more varied ways to react to things happening on stage. Still, it’s clear that with more rehearsal time, those performances could have grown into more complete and compelling portraits.

As the opening number tells us, the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is “a very big, very fraught, simple but it’s not” kind of event. With a whole lot of feeling and just enough absurdity, the show proves that even in a school gymnasium, life can be both hilarious and genuine. That’s what makes this musical a winner.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” was first performed on Broadway in 2005.