The Performing Arts department has changed the Spring Musical to Pippin, which it will perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next summer instead of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
The rites for Spelling Bee were pulled since the musical will have a world premiere in London in summer 2011 on the West End; therefore, no other productions of Spelling Bee could happen in Europe at the same time.
“I was neck-and-neck between Pippin and Spelling Bee, so I knew it was going to be one of them,” said Laura Lang-Ree, K-12 Performing Arts Department Chair and director of the musical.
Initially, she wanted to direct Spelling Bee because it was light and would be a nice contrast to last year’s production of Les Miserables, which was a very intense show, she said.
“I’m over it,” she said of Spelling Bee. “At first I was disappointed, and it was hard to pull myself out and rethink it.” As of now, she plans on doing Spelling Bee next time at the Fringe.
Nevertheless, Lang-Ree is more than excited to be directing Pippin. “The entire production staff is really excited to do Pippin because it tells the story of a youth journey trying to figure out who they are, and it’s a little bit of intrigue and mystery and darkness, and it’s very edgy and compelling, which the Fringe festival kind of is too,” Lang-Ree said. “They have a lot of rich shows there, and I thought it would be a perfect fit.”
Lang-Ree says that Pippin is particularly a good fit for our school. “This is a very intellectual school, and our students like to have something they can sink their teeth into.”
Other shows she considered were South Pacific, Candide, and A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. According to Lang-Ree, Pippin in particular has a strong ensemble that requires a team of players who are talented, diverse, and ready to play different characters throughout the show.
Auditions will take place on the week of September 20, and the audition process remains the same despite the change. The cast size is also going to remain small as planned, around 29 students.