The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

by William Finn, Rachel Sheinkin & Rebecca Feldman

An eclectic group of six tweens vies for the spelling championship of a lifetime.

While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the students spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake.

Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box.

View Show Photos

2019 Performance Dates

March 1, 2, 8 & 9 at 7:30 p.m.
March 3 & 10 at 2 p.m. 

Ticket Information

Adults - $10
Seniors (55 and over) - $7
Non-KSU Students (17 and under) - $7
KSU Students - Free with current ID

• Tickets sales begin February 18 at 8 a.m.
• Purchase tickets online, by phone or in person at the Box Office.
• Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted. Checks and cash accepted in person at the Box Office.
• Tickets purchased online or by phone will be available at Will Call.
• Will Call opens one hour prior to curtain time and closes when the performance begins.
• Kent State Students: Free admission with current Kent State ID. Seats must be reserved in person at the Box Office.
• No refunds for purchased tickets. Exchanges for the same production can be made by contacting the Box Office prior to the reserved performance date.
• Tickets held at Will Call will be forfeited if not picked up by curtain time.

Cast

Morgan Brown: Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere
 
 
 

Matthew Heppe: Chip Tolentino / Jesus
 
 
 

Sarah Marie Young: Marcy Park
 
 
 

Robert Husted: Leaf Coneybear / Carl Dad
 
 
 

Kylie Collmar: Olive Ostrovsky
 
 
 

Robert Trushel: William Barfee
 
 
 

Rachel Pokelsek: Rona Lisa Perretti / Olive's Mom
 
 
 

Allen Cruz: Mitch Mahoney / Dan Dad / Olive's Dad
 
 
 

Brian Jackson: Vice Principal Douglas Panch
 
 
 

Production Team

Jim Weaver: Director
Jim Weaver is a director and choreographer whose body of work includes productions of Next to Normal, In the Heights, David Mamet’s Race, Spunk, Purlie, August Wilson’s Radio Golf, Fences, and Jitney, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Five Guys Named Moe, Guys And Dolls, Once On This Island, Saturday Night, Ain’t Misbehavin’, A Soldier’s Play and several others; including award winning productions of A Raisin in the Sun and Floyd Collins. Mr. Weaver, a Master of Fine Arts recipient from Kent State University, has had his work seen at New York’s Lincoln Center, The American Stage Festival, Maine State Music Theatre, The Weston Playhouse, Cape Playhouse, Porthouse Theatre, The American Stage Company, Bay Street Theatre, and many others in addition to choreographing productions of Ragtime, The Rocky Horror Show, and Legally Blonde for Kent State. Internationally, his work has been presented in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and Austria. In addition to his work as a director and choreographer, Mr. Weaver is an actor and singer who has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, and across Europe. He has been seen on television, in films, and can be heard on several cast recordings and voice-overs. Mr. Weaver is a proud member of SDC with further information available at his website.  

Laurel Seeds: Music Director
Laurel Seeds received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Vocal Performance from Kent State University. She is an Associate Professor in the Music Department at Kent State Stark and teaches applied voice, contemporary voice and class piano. Laurel is a frequent recitalist, performer, accompanist and music director and has performed with The Lyric Theatre Ensemble, Akron Lyric Opera Theatre, Akron Baroque, Canton Comic Opera, Canton Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Festival Chorus and the Concert Series of The English Church of St. Mark’s in Florence, Italy. She has recently music directed The Mikado, Crazy for You, Songs for a New World, I Love You Because and Spring Awakening. She is a member of Delta Omicron, The MacDowell Music Club, The National Association for Music Education, Ohio Music Education Association and is active as a Solo and Ensemble adjudicator in the state of Ohio.

Louis Williams: Scenic & Lighting Designer
Louis Williams is the resident technical director, and scenic and lighting designer, at Kent State Stark and has designed over 200 productions in 30 years in theatre, opera, ballet and rock-n-roll. This includes work with such theatre companies as: The American Ballet Theatre II, The Joffrey Ballet II, The Arizona Theatre Company, The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, The Kenley Players, The Ohio Light Opera, The Cleveland Opera, The Cinncinnati Opera, Southern Arizona Light Opera Company, Carousel Dinner Theatre, The Agora, Cleveland Ohio, The Temple Of Music And Art, Tucson, Arizona, ChildsPlay Inc, of Phoenix, Arizona, and The Scottsdale Civic Center, Scottsdale, Arizona. Read more about Louis Williams.

Ron Jarvis: Sound Designer
You might recognize Ron Jarvis as a performer, producer, music director, and/or composer for such stalwart North East Ohio acts as The Buckeye Biscuit Band, Ital, First Light, Alex Bevan, Pat Dailey and, most recently, Macaw; the American Worldbeat Band. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Kent State where he has taught Art of the Theatre and Theatre Criticism classes as well as the three part series of Sound Design and Technology classes for the Entertainment Arts and Technologies certificates program. Ron has worked with world renowned directors Vincent Dowling (composition for The Winter’s Tale at Kent State) as well as Ping Chong (Blindness: The Irresistible Light Of Encounter at La Mama Theatre in NYC) and has served as a live mix consultant at Geauga Lake and Cedar Point Amusement Parks. Although his first sound design for Kent State Stark was for the 2002 production of Dancing at Lughnasa, since 2007 he has designed many of the Kent State Stark theatrical productions including Oklahoma!, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Into the Woods, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Mikado, Crazy for You, Dating is Tough to Do...and Funny, Too!, Songs for a New World, Plumfield, Iraq, Evil Dead: The Musical and Anton in Show Business.

Stephen Ostertag: Costume Designer
Stephen is excited to be a part of Kent State Stark Theatre’s creative team. Stephen earned his BFA in Theatre Design and Technology from Kent State University in 2015. After graduating in the top of his class, Stephen immediately joined Kent State University Stark as their Costume Designer in residence and adjunct instructor teaching Costume Design and Makeup courses. The proud father of three, Stephen founded the Silver Star Youth Theatre Company with his wife, Tricia. For five years Silver Star provided theatrical opportunities for young performers through collaboration with Stark Parks. Stephen hopes to continue working in theatre instruction at every age level, “Theatre is about community and team work, qualities which are vital to a healthy society.” Some of his favorite design credits include: Spring Awakening, Cabaret, These Shining Lives, Almost Maine, Memphis, Silent Sky, and Sister Act.