‘Spelling Bee’ musical stirs middle school memories

A night at the theater to enjoy a musical or play is not unlike going to a movie or sports event. It’s a few hours to lose yourself in the enjoyment of watching highly skilled people work at their craft.

Sometimes a theatrical production can stir specific memories, and that was the case last week when enjoying two hours of high-energy music and very funny “kids” and school administrators toiling in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the Copley Theatre in Aurora.

The musical, which runs through April 27 as part of Paramount Theatre’s series of productions at Copley, looked oh, so familiar. No, I’m not a former spelling bee champion, but was in one at my Catholic school that I’ve never forgotten.

In what they must have thought would be fun, the nuns in charge of a classroom spelling bee for sixth-graders pitted 10 boys against 10 girls. You had to have good grades in spelling to qualify and, somehow, I qualified. If I had tried to qualify for a math or science contest, they’d still be laughing today.

But I could spell. So, the contest went on, with boys dropping like flies and far more girls staying in the bee. At the end, I stood alone in the boys’ line against about four or five girls. I’d like to think I battled until only three were left, but I honestly can’t remember. I do know I was outnumbered.

Then the “fix” was in.

The nuns gave me a tough word, something like “rickettsiosis,” and the girl got an easier one like “temple.” (Not the actual words, but you get the idea. It was a “stolen” bee.)

It all came back as the players in “Putnam” had moments in which they protested easy words being given to certain players. It just added to the fun of this popular musical.

The entire cast was convincing as troubled middle school youths facing pressure from all angles to succeed in the bee — and they could sing and dance as well as they could spell.

My favorite was Elizabeth Stenholt as Olive Ostrovsky, a girl with a few more problems at home than others — to the point you weren’t sure she had parents. Turns out, her mom was never home and her father too busy to care (or even give Olive the money to pay for the bee entry fee).

Stenholt’s interactions with Teddy Gales as William Barfee were so typical of youngsters’ minds, and each cast member had their moment to express desires, fears and dreams. They all hit the mark through words and songs.

The cozy Copley Theatre is the perfect setting for this particular play, which has been around since a Broadway production in 2005, because the players in the bee often interact with the crowd.

In fact, three members of the audience became participants in the spelling bee. On this particular night, one audience member was doing so well it was throwing off the timing of the play.

It forced the terrific Veronica Garza as bee master Rona Lisa Perretti to say it was time for this player to “get the ‘h’ out of here” to a huge laugh from the audience. A tough word to spell followed, and the audience member was back in his theater seat.

In the end, it was one of those “thanks for the memories” moments for me and the realization that even though my spelling bee was small potatoes, it had the same highs and lows.

More, importantly, for everyone else, it was a “thanks for a great time” moment.

Information, show times and tickets for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” are available at ParamountAurora.com or the box office at (630) 896-6666.

By the way, it’s a good way to test your spelling skills.

They were swift to nest

After letting me know she enjoyed reading the item in my column a few weeks ago about the new chimney swift tower in Geneva’s Wheeler Park, reader Margaret Siuda reminded me a tower exists along the west side of the Fox River in Batavia, across from the water treatment plant.

This was important to note, because Siuda mentioned chimney swift birds have nested inside this tower each year since it was put up. The story about the Wheeler Park tower noted that sometimes the birds take a couple of years or more to find a tower and deem it suitable for nesting.

The tower in Batavia was built after a limestone building more than 100 years old at 120 First St., for many years housing Batavia Bowl, was demolished after Batavia Enterprises received city approval to do so in the summer of 2009.

The action uprooted the chimney swifts that made the chimney on that building their nesting spot.

Batavia Enterprises was aware of that situation and sponsored, along with the city and park district, the creation of the chimney swift tower by the river in 2009.

The tower was built in memory of Linnea C. Miller, who was active in historic preservation and community festivals such as BatFest and Art in Your Eye, among other groups and events.

“The birds have come here for as long as I can remember,” Siuda said of the Batavia tower along the Fox River.

Get ready for tulips

The Illinois Farm Bureau last month informed its members of some interesting festivals taking place throughout the state this spring, and they hit on one that we (should) know all about in the central Kane County region.

The Midwest Tulip Festival hosted by Kuipers Family Farm in Maple Park is again expected to unfold when the tulips bloom over the months of April and May.

This colorful festival invites attendees to walk around the 7 acres of tulip fields on the property, where an estimated 500,000 tulips in 31 varieties are expected.

The festival operates on a “you-pick-them” setup in which people can cut and purchase the tulips.

Like most festivals, the event offers family-friendly activities, live entertainment, and shopping for treats and decor at The Farmstand.

The kuipersfamilyfarm.com website showcases a “bloom-o-meter” that indicates what percentage of the tulips have blossomed as you are planning to visit. The site also provides festival dates and admission costs.

Did you know?

This is the first of occasional items in this column titled “Did you know?” because I couldn’t come up with a better name.

Basically, they will be short notes about the Tri-Cities’ past, some culled from past history projects I worked on for newspapers, others from research at the local history museums.

Here’s the first shot at this.

Local residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the paddleboat rides along the Fox River that start in Pottawatomie Park. The St. Charles Park District has operated those boats most recently, but for more than six decades it was the business and passion of Capt. Chet Anderson, his wife Barbara and their family to offer paddleboat rides. The family lived in the home set along the Fox River, near the paddleboat docking areas.

Anderson got into the paddleboat business in the 1930s when he bought a boat he fixed and later called the “Honeymoon Queen.” Eventually, Anderson had two paddleboats in operation at Pottawatomie Park — the St. Charles Belle, and Fox River Queen.

Individuals, businesses and organizations enjoyed the rides Capt. Anderson offered for many years, and it continues today through the park district.

• dheun@sbcglobal.net