Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...With the risk of xenophobia, I'd say this Chicago cast is generally better than the group I saw in New York. This isn't surprising, or even a fair comparison. Some of the New York actors went all the way back to when "Spelling Bee" was merely a comedic sketch, so they weren't all cast for their singing skills. The Chicago cast--especially Lucia Spina and James Earl Jones II--warble like champions. And by now, Lapine knows exactly what type of actor he needs for what role."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...judging by the enthusiasm of those in the audience for Tuesday's opening night performance of "The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee" -- the playfully literate little Broadway musical now neatly housed in the intimate Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place -- both the power of words and the pain of competition (where the prize can be either a glitzy trophy or for that more elusive thing, love) are alive and well."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Fast-moving, fun production is a clever and tender two-time Tony Award-winning musical that touches the heart as much as it prods the funny bone. Audiences weaned on Saturday Night Live should embrace this play because it has lots of built-in improvisational humor. It is laugh-packed and the musical interludes delve into heart-tugging dilemmas."
SouthtownStar
- Highly Recommended
"...Directed smartly by James Lapine, the engaging show has an upbeat musical score by William Finn, which, I believe, is his best musical composition to date...While "Spelling Bee" is a hilarious romp for adults, especially for those of us who can identify with the nerds, it is tailor made for families who have teens searching for their place in the world."
Chicago Reader
- Not Recommended
"...Dissonant is the word for this Broadway hit, now receiving its Chicago premiere from a local cast. The spelling-bee contestants inhabit a no-man's-land of age: the adults playing the kids, who unaccountably seem to range from 8 to 14, never come across as either flesh-and-blood nerdy grade-schoolers or witty adult takes on them. The setting is a homogenous small town, though audience-pandering jokes refer to Chicago. Worse, cartoonish characterizations by writers Rachel Sheinkin, William Finn, and Jay Reiss clash with attempts to tug at our heartstrings. Making up for all the weird disconnects, I guess, are the predictable parts: a monotonous contest format, racial and gender stereotypes, Finn's forgettable songs, and simplistic backstories and emotions. At this spelling bee, nobody wins."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...Do you like to laugh at the humiliations and catastrophes of adolescent children? Yeah, me too—which is why I really like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This quirky, good-natured musical follows six teenage ( or nearly so ) competitors at a regional spelling bee, each one an oddly brilliant misfit and most of them hormonal."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Praising the cast is an arbitrary game of playing favorites, but moderator Lucia Spina owns her role as a former bee champ, and Cristen Paige and Derrick Trumbly, as a lonely girl whose folks are absent and a home-schooled weirdo, respectively, make big impressions. Yeah, we didn’t get Bee first, but it’s here now so—God, forgive me—we’re all still winners."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Spelling Bee does everything superbly. This is a polished flawless show, long on laughs with gobs of heart. The audience enthusiastically responds to each scene. This is an entertaining good time show that families will want to see over again. Once word of mouth take hold, Spelling Bee will have a long successful run here."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...laugh-out-loud, rib-tickling hilarious, based on the kind of universal recognition and inherent terror of standing up in front of a large assembly and having to prove one's intelligence by spelling a ridiculously esoteric word. In fact, the only thing that prevents "Spelling Bee" from being an unqualified treat is the bland, ho-hum score by William Finn. The composer/lyricist has never quite realized the potential of his brilliant "Falsettos" cycle, and there are moments here when you wish they would just chuck the songs and play the wonderful comedy by itself."
