Winning revival: Aurora’s Paramount delivers four-star ‘Spelling Bee’

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” — 4 stars

On winter’s last raw and rainy night, Aurora’s Paramount Theatre delivered a breath of spring with its delightful revival of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a charming tuner about middle-school students vying for a chance to compete at The National Spelling Bee.

That’s not to say the gently satirical, unabashedly sincere coming-of-age tale is all sunshine and rainbows. Only one speller triumphs, but everybody wins, emerging from the competition more compassionate, more self-aware and with a newfound friend or two.

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with additional material by Jay Reiss, and featuring a tuneful, buoyant score by William Finn and a saucy book by Rachel Sheinkin, 2005’s “Spelling Bee” is a chamber-style musical with an arena-size heart.

Director Stephen Schellhardt’s production is clever with Morgan DiFonzo’s choreography referencing the musical “Six” and director/choreographer Busby Berkeley among its visual flourishes. It’s also current (there are fleeting references to the Gulf of Mexico, “Beetlejuice”-loving politicians and Jan. 6 insurrectionists). But the strength of Schellhardt’s sensitive but not overly sentimental revival is its truthfulness; its personable cast accompanied by conductor Cameron Tragesser’s tight, bright quintet and its good humor, of which Schellhardt’s production has an endless supply.

“Spelling Bee” is laugh-out-loud funny, as evidenced during Wednesday’s opening where persistent guffaws accompanied both scripted and unscripted moments. The latter come courtesy of cast members Veronica Garza and Jason Richards, amiable actor/improvisers who — with help from audience volunteers — provide much of the show’s impromptu humor.

But it’s the quirky contestants — smart, awkward, occasionally arrogant and altogether endearing — who are “Spelling Bee’s” beating heart.

Among them is last year’s champion Chip Tolentino (Nic Dantes), whose raging hormones threaten to deny him a second title. Newcomer Marcy Park (Shelbi Voss) — an A-student, dancer, athlete and multilinguist — struggles with the burden of being perfect. Spelling savant Leaf Coneybear (the lovably goofy Ben Broughton) strives to match his exceptional siblings.

The youngest contestant, budding activist Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere — played by the terrific Ann Delaney, whose crooked smile and stilted stance tells us everything we need to know — contends with a pair of victory-obsessed dads. Masking his insecurities with arrogance, tart-tongued William Barfee (Teddy Gales) uses his “magic foot” to best his opponents. Last but not least, there is the soft-spoken Olive (a sweetly guileless Elizabeth Stenholt), the lonely only child of an absent mother and a workaholic father.

Former spelling champ turned real-estate agent Rona Lisa Perretti (Garza, a gem) and vice principal Douglas Panch (Richards) serve as judges. Fulfilling the conditions of his court-ordered community service, parolee Mitch Mahoney (a silky voiced Naphtali Curry) serves as comfort counselor, sending disqualified contestants away with a hug and a juice box.

Staged in the intimate Copley Theatre — where the walls are adorned with inspirational posters reminding students at the fictional Putnam Valley Middle School that “Kindness is Everything” and encouraging them to “Strive for Excellence in All You Do” — the action unfolds on designer Lauren M. Nichols’ cheery, authentic re-creation of a junior high gymnasium that includes a giant image of a goat, the school mascot. Lighting designer G. “Max” Maxin IV nicely underscores the characters’ intermittent and revelatory flights of fancy that are the show’s best numbers.

There’s the frenzied “Pandemonium,” a perfect reflection of pubescent chaos; Broughton’s gleefully self-aware “I’m Not That Smart”; Voss’ effervescent “I Speak Six Languages” (with its nod to the aforementioned “Six”) and Gale’s glitzy “Magic Foot.” But the highlight is “The I Love You Song” a beautifully sung chimera featuring Stenholt’s Olive and her absent parents (Garza and Curry), which offers a solitary girl the kinship she craves, which she finds at the Bee.

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Location: Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com

Showtimes: 1:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday; 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday through April 27

Running time: About 2 hours, including intermission

Tickets: $40-$55

Parking: Limited street parking, paid lots nearby

Rating: For teens and older, contains some references to mature subject matter, including in the improv