Here we are nearly a month after “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” closed … and I miss it. There are very few shows that I have directed or have acted in that I can say that about. I can probably count them on one hand (well, maybe one and a half).

We (Chuck, the music director, and I) cast the show at the beginning of August. We had a really good turn out … and a little bit of drama about who did or did not get parts in the show. Rehearsals went fairly smooth (except for that one choreography rehearsal). We did have a bit of scare that I was going to have to step in at the final dress rehearsal for someone. But, we made it through that and then suddenly we were at opening night! And then, just as suddenly, we were striking the set.

The show was good … really good. It’s one of the few shows (again let’s count on one and a half hands) I have directed where I watched every single night and was never bored. That’s the sign of the good cast. They kept coming up with new angles and funny bits making the show fresh and exciting to watch.

And the audience volunteers always kept everyone on their toes. Sometimes it was fun and exciting to watch the audience members and sometimes it was just plain scary. Kudos to the cast for not totally loosing their shit with the peskier of the volunteers.

Sure, I wish the audience attendance had been better. Is it the time of year (September/October) that causes that? Or is it the fact the the show is relatively unknown outside of theater-minded circles? Or maybe the economy played a factor? Probably a combination of all three. Regardless, we didn’t have quite the ticket sales that we had hoped for. Oh well … it’s their loss. The people that came had a really good time.

We sang. We danced. We made with some really funny and entertaining theater.

Three weekends didn’t seem like enough. I cried during the final number at the final performance.

To quote Olive Ostrovsky … “Good Bee.”