A-LISTS theatre
Your word is
“hilarious”
Jason
Graae
of The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee
by bill biss
this part?’ and I said ‘Would I!’ That’s how it came to be. I saw it on Broadway and it’s
one of the hardest that I’ve ever laughed in the theatre in my life. Hands down…
it’s definitely the top three experiences of laughing my ass off. So, I was thrilled
and I’ve worked with William Finn before who wrote the music and the lyrics. I did
Falsettos on Broadway with him and the national tour as well. Any chance to do
anything of his, I jump at.”
The character of Vice-Principal Douglas Panch is somewhat neurotic. Jason
elaborates, “I think so. There is definitely a secret to Vice-Principal Panch. He got
banned from the spelling bee. He’d been calling out the words and doing the
definitions and then some incident happened (laughter) and he was banned from
doing it anymore until now. We’re not quite sure what the incident was…but let’s
just say that it involved a gerbil. I made a gerbil joke today and the young cast didn’t
know what I was talking about (laughter).
Portraying the moderator over the bee, Graae has to be aware of the intricacies
W
ith the ever-increasing onslaught of texting and abbreviations used
of the correct spelling of the words used. He laughingly explains, “Yes! And the
nowadays, (just think “bff,”) in 2005, composer of The Falsettos, William
pronunciation, I’ve been online figuring out how to spell these things and how to
Finn wrote the music and lyrics in a spin on the national tradition of the spelling bee.
say them. There are some doozies.”
His Tony Award-winning musical production focuses on six very brainy and very
What comes out in the show is that even though the children are somewhat
adolescent students in an innovative way that evokes hilarity and truth of heart. As
brainiacs or nerdy, they all have their own personal issues, which makes them
with every spelling bee, there must be a moderator. In this production set to land
more three-dimensional. This is where the heart of the show progresses. “I think so.
at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts from February 5 through February
You do look at everybody at face-value. You put a stamp on them and then you find
21, Jason Graae is bringing to life the role of Vice-Principle Douglas Panch. Graae is
out their stories and they are all really sweet. Of course they have a lot more going
no stranger to show business as he has countless television, theatre and film roles
on than these nerdy types who are standing up and learning how to spell.”
under his belt. The Rage Monthly took a lunch break with Jason at the beginning of
At this point, Graae gives me a word to spell. Even though I’ve been in several
rehearsals to spell out more about the b.e.e. and his attraction to this role.
spelling bees in grade school and am an avid reader…I blew it. The word was “ha-
Just what is going on for Jason at the beginning of rehearsals? Graae explains,
senpfeffer.” I only got as far as “h.a.z.” “Ding!” Jason laughs. I remembered it from
“Well, I’ve just spent my first hour and a half in rehearsal. So, you’re getting me very
Bugs Bunny cartoons and at least realized it was a rascal. Wrong again. As Jason
fresh. I actually just flew in from Toronto, where I’d been doing Six Dance Lessons
puts it, “It’s a highly seasoned rabbit stew.” Hence, the hilarity and the internal aspi-
in Six Weeks with Constance Towers. I missed the first day of rehearsal so I’m ex-
rations of winning The 25TH Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are shot down.
periencing everything for the first time. We just did this big group number. I don’t
really sing much in this show. I get to sit back and listen to this cast and they are
spectacular and their voices!”
The 25Th AnnuAl PuTnAm CounTy SPelling Bee
Jason Graae has a tremendous resume of work in all fields of the entertainment
The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
industry and this is just another feather in his cap of work in the theatre. Sometimes
February 5-21
a new job is just a call away… “Well. I got a phone call. They said, ‘Do you want to do
Lamiradatheatre.com
10 RAGE monthly | February 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80