What to prepare: All actors are asked to prepare a 32 bar selection of a musical comedy song; one that shows personality and vocal range. An accompanist will be provided and you must have a copy of the sheet music (in the correct key) for your audition. Please have your music clearly marked (where you begin and where you end) when you hand it to the accompanist. Your sheet music MUST be double sided, three hole punched and in a 3 ring binder. It is always a good idea to bring other songs with you in case you are asked to sing something else. You might not be asked to sing an additional song but if you have other music it is a good idea to bring it with you.

**A good site for buying/downloading sheet music online is: www.musicnotes.com

Available Roles

THE SPELLERS

Chip Tolentino: The reigning spelling champion of Putnam County, relatively athletic and social, he expects things to come easily to him. Lately though, he’s been going through some weird changes and things are slipping out of his control.

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere: Younger than most bee participants, she is driven by internal and external pressures – but above all by a desire to win to make her two fathers proud. She lisps, is a little uncomfortable in her body, has some tics but still manages to strike a strong presence with her political awareness and keen sense of justice. Having drilled words for hours a day, she is aware of everything that passes in the room.

Leaf Coneybear: A second alternate, he never expected to compete in the bee. Home-schooled with his many siblings, everything about everything is an adventure for him. He may have Attention Deficit Disorder but he delights in his own wandering focus. Leaf doesn’t expect to win or even spell one word correctly but he finds absolutely everything incredibly amusing. His mother made him wear his protective helmet to the bee.

William Barfee: He has a lot of health problems and has a lot to prove. Loud and combative as a defensive posture, he is the fat kid who becomes a bully to avoid being picked on (though he often gets picked on anyway so he gets into a lot of fights). His parents are divorced, his father remarried a much younger woman; he does not expect kindness from anyone except his mother. So friendship takes him by surprise. He is noticed on the spelling circuit for his remarkable technique – “Magic Foot” - spelling words out on the floor with his foot. Taken out of last year’s competition because of an ill-timed allergic reaction, he’s here for vindication. The journey he doesn’t expect is one of coming to care about someone else – when he sees outside his own needs for perhaps the first time, it shakes him fundamentally.

Marcy Park: The ultimate over-achiever, Marcy has never been given another option. She comes from a family where excellence is expected and so simply produced. A parochial school student, she assumes God too, expects perfection. She sees herself as a mass of problems but she keeps them to herself. Having moved often because of her parents’ work, she knows she can beat the local competition. Her many talents include piano, dance, martial arts and baton twirling.

Olive Ostrovsky: A word lover, Olive has a fairly quiet life. An only child with often-absent parents, Olive spends a lot of time alone. She fills some of the time reading the dictionary – the words bring her comfort, as does the idea of the vastness of the world the book contains. During the first half of the bee, she often peers into the audience to see if her father who is delayed at work, has made it yet. She starts enormously shy and shyly blossoms.

THE ADULTS

Vice Principal Panch: He is frustrated with his life. He fell into education, less out of love than a general ability uncoupled to a particular passion. The drive of young spellers is alien to him. He never found anything that important. Stuck in his current job, endlessly awaiting a promotion that isn’t coming, he was not happy to get a call this morning that he was needed to substitute, but he starts the bee eager to do well, to redeem himself for past mistakes and to impress the local hostess Rona Lisa Perretti who impressed him long ago.

Mitch or Miss Mahoney: An imposing physique and demeanor. He/She appears to be an odd choice to be the bee’s comfort counselor but it is part of His/Her community service assignment. The outsider who in a way gets to inhabit the audience’s perspective, he/she wonders about the wisdom of putting kids through this at all. He/She has no idea how to offer comfort but does increasingly find him/herself wishing he/she could find a way to make the kids feel better about losing and perhaps misspelling in a wider perspective.

Featured Roles

Carl Grubenierre: One of Logainne’s dads. He is her main trainer the more intense and competitive of her fathers. (probably a cop)

Dan Schwartz: One of Logainne’s dads. He is the more laid back and ineffectual of her fathers. (probably a yoga instructor)

Mrs Coneybear: An artistic spirit, Leaf’s mom.

Mr. Coneybar: A physics teacher, Leaf’s dad.

Marigold Coneybear: Leaf’s sexy and well-developed sister.

Olive’s Mom: A fantasy version of Olive’s mom at her Ashram in India.

Olive’s Dad: A fantasy version of Olive’s Dad coming to the Bee from work.

Jesus Christ: A fabulous and dashing deity.

Off-Stage Singers (4 to 6 strong singers)

Dancers: 4 to 6 dancers

If you have any questions contact Nick Anselmo at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it