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ERI Jams News
Bulletin
H-Y-S-T-E-R-I-C-A-L!
By Dan and
Alison Tingley
The 25th Annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee is
now playing at
the Erie
Playhouse.
Conceived by
Rebecca Feldman
with music and
lyrics by
William Finn,
the book by
Rachel Sheinkin,
The 25th Annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee was
originally an
act called
“C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E”
performed by the
improvisational
group “The Farm”
in New York.
From there it
was developed
into a two-act
musical and
performed
off-Broadway and
then on
Broadway, under
the direction of
James Lapine,
where it won two
Tony Awards.
The 25th Annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee
takes place, as
you may well
have guessed, at
a spelling bee.
There are six
contestants in
the throes of
adolescence.
Chip Tolentino
is last year’s
local champion.
Leaf Coneybear
is not the
smartest in his
family and is
only able to
spell when in
some sort of a
trance. Logainne
Schwartzandgrunenierre
(that should
have been one of
the spelling
words) is the
youngest
contestant and
has quite a
lisp. Marcy Park
speaks six
languages and is
successful in
whatever she
attempts.
William Barfee
is a nerd with a
magic spelling
foot. Olive
Ostrovsky had to
take the bus to
the bee as her
parents aren’t
very attentive.
In addition,
four audience
members are
selected each
night to
participate in
the competition.
There are three
adults at the
bee as well.
Rona Lisa
Peretti was the
3rd annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee
champion and now
hosts the bee.
Douglas Panch is
back from a much
needed hiatus
and assures us
that he’s fine
now and able to
announce the
words for the
contestants
without
incident.
Finally, Mitch
Mahoney is
serving his
community
service as the
comfort
counselor. The
action takes us
through the ups
and downs of the
spelling bee
where the
spellers learn
two valuable
life lessons:
winning isn’t
everything and
Jesus doesn’t
care that much
about spelling
bees. (He
probably doesn’t
care that much
about football
either, if
that’s any
consolation to
the Penn State
fans out there.)
The 25th Annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee at
the Erie
Playhouse is
presented
through special
arrangement with
Music Theatre
International
and is directed
by Almitra
Clerkin. This
perfectly cast
production stars
Domenic Del
Greco as Chip,
Chad Gauthier as
Leaf, Christine
Carmichael as
Logainne, Kate
Amatuzzo as
Marcy, Patrick
McGuire as
William, Carrie
Thomas as Olive,
Diane Hardner as
Rona, Patrick
Thiem as
Douglas, and
Jasse Camacho as
Mitch. It’s
difficult to
know where to
begin with the
accolades. Every
single actor was
phenomenal. Del
Greco, Gauthier,
Carmichael,
Amatuzzo,
McGuire, and
Thomas were
excellent in
their
challenging
roles as
adolescents.
Their costumes,
voices, facial
features, and
gestures were
perfect. Del
Greco’s
wonderful
singing shines
at the beginning
of Act II in
“Chip’s Lament.”
Amatuzzo
impressed us
with her various
talents in “I
Speak Six
Languages.”
McGuire and
Gauthier were
hilariously in
character
throughout the
show. Carmichael
was adorable,
and Thomas was
so sweet.
Camacho was
lovable and just
creepy enough.
Hardner, with
her beautiful
singing voice,
was great as a
spelling bee
lover and
promoter. Thiem
had the best
lines and was
absolutely
perfect in his
delivery,
practically
stealing Act I.
We should also
give credit to
the four
audience members
who were willing
to go on stage
and spell.
Though we didn’t
catch all their
names, we just
want to say well
done. It must
have been a hoot
to sit up there
and watch the
first act.
The music and
singing were
brilliant from
beginning to
end. If The 25th
Annual Putnam
County Spelling
Bee turns out to
not be the most
enjoyable show
we see this
year, then we
are indeed very
lucky.
S-E-E the B-E-E.
The 25th Annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee
runs through
September 25.
For more
information and
tickets call the
Erie Playhouse
box office at
814-454-2852 or
go online to
www.erieplayhouse.org.
POETRY SEASON
WELL-UNDERWAY
by Chuck Joy
Not just
football season
and
almost-autumn
but Poetry
Season is
well-underway
here in Erie
again.
Poets’ Hall,
1136 East Lake
Road, in the
Wayne Park
section of the
city, is up and
running with
open mics for
poetry on
Fridays, 7-9,
and various
special events,
especially on
Saturdays. Cee
Williams,
proprietor, is
pleased to point
out this
season’s
enhancements.
Try it this
Friday.
Monday,
September 19,
Erie County’s
Poetry Committee
produces a
Celebration of
Poetry at the
Erie Playhouse,
7PM. Free and
open to the
public. This
celebration
includes
previous
Finalists from
Erie County’s
Poet Laureate
competition,
members of the
Poetry
Committee, Poet
Laureate Tom
Forsthoefel
(recently
re-appointed for
a second year),
and concludes
with an open mic
for poets
present. Greg
Brown hosts.
Publications
will be
available for
sale by the
authors.
Experience
top-shelf poetry
from the big
Erie Playhouse
stage.
Opening Night at
the Phil
Opening Night at
the Phil has
become a
signature Erie
event. This year
will be no
exception as we
open with
Richard Strauss'
daring tone poem
about the
infamous lover,
Don Juan.
 From
the virile
fanfares of our
"hero" off on
another
conquest, to the
seductive music
of Dulcinea, Don
Juan impresses
from the first
flurry of notes
to Don's final
palpitations. We
then offer a
unique pairing
of two
outstanding
guest artists:
one is our own
Concertmaster
Ken Johnston,
and the other is
newly-appointed
Principal Cello
of the Cleveland
Orchestra, Mark
Kosower. They
will share the
stage in
Saint-Saëns'
charming duet
about the poetic
spark. To close
our Opening
Night, Mark will
return to
perform Dvořák's
beloved Cello
Concerto. A work
of symphonic
proportions,
this music has
tested the
mettle of great
cellists
throughout
history, and
Mark is sure to
bring his innate
musicianship and
stunning talent
to this amazing
work.
Classics in the
Evening with
WQLN's Wally
Faas, a
pre-concert
discussion, will
be presented in
the First
Niagara
Community Room
adjacent to the
Warner Theatre
beginning at
7:15 pm. It is
free to ticket
holders.
Tickets prices
for the show
range from $20 -
$50. Discounts
are available
for students and
groups of 20 or
more; please
call our box
office for
information.
Doors open at 7
p.m.
The 2011-2012
season is
presented by
Scott
Enterprises. The
Symphonic Series
is sponsored by
Lincoln Metal,
WQLN and JET1400
Radio. This
Saturday's
performance is
presented by the
Bel-Aire and is
in memory of
Pauline Scott.
Ken Johnston is
sponsored by
Christie and
Robert Ferrier,
and Mark Kosower
is sponsored by
Edward Jones.
Tickets can be
purchase by
calling our Box
Office at
814-455-1375
ext. 10
Earlier that
same day,
September 24,
join us for the
second annual
Beat Beethoven
5K. This unique
race begins with
the downbeat of
Conductor Daniel
Meyer's baton in
front of the
Warner Theatre,
811 State
Street. Racers
follow a scenic
downtown course
(USATF
certified) to
the sounds of
Beethoven's
Fifth Symphony.
Volunteers will
line the course
with their
stereos and car
radios tuned to
Jet Radio 1400
so racers can
hear the
Symphony from
start to finish.
Cross the finish
line before the
final note
(approx 30
minutes, 17
seconds) and you
will receive a
voucher for a
ticket to an
Erie Phil
concert! The
race begins at 9
am.
Advance
registration is
$15 without a
t-shirt and $20
with a t-shirt
(you must
register by
Friday,
September 16th
to be guaranteed
a shirt).
Race day
registration is
$20 and begins
at 7:45 am
(t-shirt is not
guaranteed). All
racers will
receive a
commemorative
water bottle.
All proceeds
benefit the
education and
community
outreach efforts
of the Erie
Philharmonic.\
2011 Great Lakes Film Fest-Review
I Am
By Kevin Schultz
Indian
independent
filmmaker Sonali
Gulati shares
her unresolved
pain of never
having the right
opportunity to
come out to her
mother prior to
her death.
Sonali's means
of coping led
 her
to research and
record the
testimonials of
many families of
her
socially-stricken
and
old-fashioned
homestate,
Delhi, where
laws like
Section 377
scare the pants
off Prop 8 by
simply
criminalizing
homosexuality
altogether, let
alone fight for
basic human
rights such as
marriage.
Through the
community's
interwoven
stories of love,
heartache and
downright
denial, an
emotional
healing tapestry
is draped over
Sonali's pain as
she learns that
her mother's
reaction to her
coming out could
have taken any
road; parents
who relied on
the ancient
traditional (or
“natural”) ways
of their
shunning society
to parents who
wept with
happiness that
their child
spoke with an
independent
level of
honesty. (“Who
decides what's
normal..?
Many of the
stories brought
me to tears as I
recollected my
own coming out,
wondering how
much different
it all could
have been.
Equally
emotional, (if
not, more
heartrending)
was the fact
that the
contrived
citizens of
Delhi appeared
to be set back
in the gay
rights movement
about 10 to 15
years, forcing
me to look back
on the years of
trials and
tribulations
homosexuals in
America have
overcome, from
AIDS to
Stonewall to
Melissa
Etheridge to
Matthew Shepard
to Kathy Griffin
- all the way to
New York's
legalization of
gay marriage, a
landmark in
history to all
gays, despite
being the 6th
United State (so
far) to do so.
Sonali's message
is to show that
there should be
no fear in one's
coming out, but
a complete
familial
embracing of a
new era; and
also to
highlight that
other countries
around the world
suffer the same
stuffy
traditions that
make a society
so dangerously
repressed to the
point of
incarceration,
or even death.
The film speaks
as a documentary
of sorts - a PSA
to parents
worldwide - with
Sonali narrating
between
interviews and
candid clips
between mother
or father and
gay son or
lesbian
daughter.
However, its
powerful message
to parents all
over the world (cuz,
ya know, this
ain't just a
local issue)
demands that
they support the
ones they've
borne,
regardless of
who steals their
beloved
offspring's
heart during
coming-of-age,
the tenderest
time of any
adolescent's
life.
2011 Great Lakes
Film Fest-Review
I Need You
By Kevin Schultz
I Need You is
the story of two
young women in
love who
seemingly become
entangled in a
ransom-turned-murder
that looks to
tear them apart
during their
stay in a hotel
room just
 off
the gambling
district with
their unexpected
blood money in
tow. Alexandria
is the
raven-haired
vixen who
persuades her
lover, the meek
and bored record
store clerk,
Alex, into a
fake kidnapping
plan against
Alex's abusive
father that
could garner
them riches and
put them on a
plane to
wherever their
heart desires.
It appears that
nothing goes
according to
plan (except for
the shoebox full
of cash) as
Alex's father
ends up killed,
resulting in the
potential
destruction of
this young and
somewhat
deranged love
between Alex and
Alexandria.
The film is
ultimately about
Alexandria and
her apparent
inability to
cope without the
comfort of Alex
as her protected
plaything. The
mothering
sociopathic
tendencies
Alexandria
displays towards
a traumatized
Alex creepily
accentuate her
need to be able
to get away with
it while having
the Bonnie to
her Clyde at her
side. Bizarrely,
she never quite
unhinges to the
point of full-on
psychotic, which
could leave some
viewers a little
cheated. We
witness this
unraveling
through the
handheld camera
perspective,
loaded with POV
shots and fuzzy
lighting, yet
hampered a great
deal by
counter-productive
dark lighting
that makes the
viewer unable to
determine if
what can barely
be made out as a
face, is even
important to
look at.
Soft focus
(sometimes too
soft) makes way
for sharp
close-ups
(sometimes too
sharp) with a
splashes of
natural imagery
jammed in
between to
induce a state
of slight
depression as we
watch this
relationship’s
test of strength
over a crime
from which both
of them are
shaken in their
own different
ways. The film
has the
potential to
startle with the
outcome of the
mutual choice
made by the
lovers at the
end, throwing it
into a category
that befits as a
chilling prequel
of sorts to the
life and times
of a pair of
lesbian serial
killers.
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