Dramaturgy Note | THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

by Emie Yizhen Liu

Did your school or community theater ever put up The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as their seasonal musical? I bet many of you, before stepping into this very lobby of the Paramount Theater, have seen this production somewhere else. To be honest, when I first saw the 2025-26 EmStage season plan, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee seemed like the definite outlier of the pack. It’s the classic “school musical,” a show that’s almost too popular for Emerson Stage’s lineup. 

However, Spelling Bee’s popularity doesn’t affect its ability to have every audience’s heart. It’s a show that teaches us to have hope, be receptive to our mistakes, and be able to have some grace in moments that require self-compromising. 

At first glance, …Spelling Bee may appear somewhat silly, or even peculiar on the surface, as it doesn’t fit into a conventional idea of what a musical should be. This precious quality of breaking musical tradition is what makes it so special with its own flair of charm. With no big opening choreography numbers or grand narrative, Spelling Bee is a heart-warming musical that tells the story through the unique lens of young children. Following the narrative of the show, I invite all the audience to re-learn the philosophy of kids again, to be messy, and to have fun. 

The show is about a spelling competition with 6 contestants and 3 adult supervisors, all of them quite “unusual.” Every kid in this show is completely different from the mold of what one imagines an elementary school student to be. And every adult in this show has their own “rather odd” personalities. Despite not fitting into worldly expectations, each character sparks a radiant and irresistible charm of their own. As the story unfolds, I invite our audience to join this world in Putnam County. Sink yourselves into the story, to really feel the beauty of those characters’ spirits, and to form a special bond with the precious qualities that define their personality. Pay attention to Rona’s dedication, Panch’s adherence to principles, Mitch’s soft heart beneath the tough exterior, Chip’s unyielding resilience towards his goal, Logainne’s absolute fierce sense of justice, Marcy’s hard-earned self-reconciliation, Olive’s tender compassion towards her peers, Barfee’s steadfast conviction, and Leaf’s endless love for life. 

In the show, every character receives some growth by making peace with themselves, and as the audience, we grow with them. This is a story about growing up and dealing with the changes that come along with said growing. Most children who participate in these bees are standing in the gap between childhood and adolescence, which is nothing but a turbulent one. Through this spelling bee, they each discover how to make peace with life and approach challenges in their own way. Watching this show, audiences will cry with them for the hardships in their life, as much as laugh and celebrate with them for each accomplishment they achieve. 

At its core, this show is about reconciliation and finding calmness among chaos in our lives. The spelling bee is less about spelling words correctly; It is more about spelling out the messy, hilarious, and poignant truths of adulting. Growing and facing changes is never so easy – it is tangled, unruly, and almost unbearably raw. To grow is to learn to make peace with the very mess that is life; To find one’s rhythm again, and to continue moving forward. In 2025, it’s so important to learn to live within the known (or upcoming) imperfections in life, and embrace the unpredictable challenges brought up by this world with courage in one’s heart. Let us resemble more of the spirit of these characters by learning to forgive ourselves for our mistakes and never giving up on the hope to make this challenging world a little bit better. 

I would love to introduce a duality of perspective for this show. Here, I invite you to try to see it from two completely different angles. In the gaze of a child, this show tells a story about how to achieve victory and defeat. This show is always filled with laughter, delight, and a flare of suspense, with children’s eyes brimming with playfulness and passion as they compete for a winner. Yet, through an adult’s eyes, this same story becomes an entirely new thing, a reflection on life and its many forms, the unspoken search for the meaning of one’s life, where the curtain falls with everyone being a true winner. If you wish to wander your way back to childhood, to taste the sweetness of a carefree and bright heart, see the beauty of playing, I would advise you to see this story through the eyes of a ten-year-old kid. But if you are a person who seeks insights and wisdom, watch this show through the eyes of your own adult age. Watch it while listening, truly, what these children’s hearts are trying to tell you and what they want to say.  

In these uncertain times, may this beautiful story offer each and every one of us a small piece of grace. A reminder that reconciliation, whether with ourselves or with the world around us, is an act of courage itself.

Emie Liu