A 'Bee' that spells F-U-N

The North Shore Music Theatre's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is a delightful surprise.

Having seen the musical before, I expected to be entertained but was unprepared for the remarkably fresh eye director Jeremy Dobrish and choreographer Dan Knechtges bring to the show. This creative team, which just finished a run on the Barrington Stage Company's proscenium stage, seems inspired by the NSMT's arena, ramping up the show's energy level by using every inch of the playing area and taking advantage of the stage's elevators for celebratory moments and traps for unexpected exits.

William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's tale of six middle-school kids competing in a county spelling bee has a built-in charm. In addition to the adolescents, four audience volunteers are chosen to compete, a move that gets audience members even more invested in the action as they cheer on their favorites. The script also has been updated with recent political news as well as references to local schools, gambling sites, and, of course, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

But the real reason "Spelling Bee" works so well lies in Sheinkin and Finn's ability to develop the nerdy pre-teen contestants into individuals we grow to love during the 100-minute format of the musical.

The contestants, each with their individual quirks and personal issues, stand up in front of a microphone and spell words as ridiculous as crepuscule and lugubrious. But particular words trigger memories for the contestants. The lonely Olive Ostrovsky (Molly Ephraim) sings a love song to "My Friend, the Dictionary," the home-schooled Leaf Coneybear (Clifton Guterman) admits "I'm Not That Smart," while the nasally afflicted William Barfee (Eric Petersen) crows about his secret weapon, "Magic Foot." Logainne Schwarzandgrubenierre (Hannah Delmonte) sings "Woe Is Me" about trying to live up to the high expectations of her two dads. Last year's winner, Chip Tolentino (Emerson College grad Miguel Cervantes), laments the unfortunate effects of the onset of puberty, and Marcy Park (Emy Baysic) sings about the pressure of being an overachiever with "I Speak Six Languages."

These actors invest enormous personality into their roles. Even though each character has time to show off his or her idiosyncrasies while waiting for a turn to spell, the North Shore's in-the-round staging gives a wonderfully cinematic feel to the proceedings, since something is going on no matter which way you turn. The song "Life Is Pandemonium," which originally involved some seat switching, here becomes an exuberant game of musical chairs that explodes into chaotic choreography where everyone ultimately lands in exactly the right spot.

In addition to the contestants, there are the so-called adults, former bee winner Rona Lisa Peretti (the magnificent soprano Sally Wilfert), who is still reliving her moment of triumph; the slightly twisted vice principal Douglas Panch (Michael Mastro); and comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney (Demond Green), who's working through his parole by giving out juice boxes and hugs when the spellers are eliminated.

"Spelling Bee" is also a musical that appeals to a broad audience, offering jokes and asides appropriate for adults, as well as goofy physical humor the kids eat up. On the way out of the theater, I overheard some adolescent boys repeating some of their favorite lines, while a mom was singing "Life Is Pandemonium." It doesn't get any better than that.