Highland High School showcased their play “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on May 6, 2022. The story originates around six spelling bee components ranging from various backgrounds taking their chance at the spelling bee championship of a lifetime.
Throughout the play, the characters go through the process of sharing their personal stories as they attempt to win the title. Each character has their own quirks and interesting background presented in musical numbers as they step up to compete.
Megan Curran plays Olive Ostrovsky in the play, a shy and nervous speller whose mother is off working in India which just leaves her and her father. Curran loved the process of piecing everything together to make her character, but her favorite part of it all isn’t just relating to the show and the part she plays in it but about the people involved in the process.
“Honestly my favorite thing about the performance is the cast members, I just love coming to rehearsal every day and seeing all my friends and getting to make parts like this together,” said Curran.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” ended up being Curran’s last performance at Highland Highschool, and also one of her favorites.
“I’m very proud of how this has come together, I couldn't be happier,” said Curran.
“This is probably my favorite show, and not just because it’s my last but there’s more technique and no hiccups,” Curran continued. “I don’t want to call it perfect, but it really just seems like it’s come together in the best way possible and we’ve all put so much into it.”
The play kept an interesting story with entertainment and comedic twists in correspondence with the cast's overall enthusiasm for the roles they played.
Wilfred Akanbi plays William Barfee who is an uptight character with a mucous membrane disorder with an unexpected change at the end of the show.
Akanbi’s favorite part about the whole process of putting on the show is the rehearsals, no matter how repetitive and annoying they can be at times.
“I feel like they all come into play and every single rehearsal we have comes to make a beautiful show,” said Akanbi. “I think it’s come together amazingly, I think my castmates and I have put together such a good show with our dedication and attendance attending rehearsals and even weekend practices is why we’ve created such an amazing show that’s come together so nice,” said Akanbi.
