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wildlife
wednesday, november ,
Your guide to the Tucson arts and entertainment scene
Christy Delehanty Arts Editor 520•621•3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
How fun can ‘Spelling Bee’?
Musical Theatre students act like elementary schoolers in Repertory Theatre play
Phoros by Valentina Martinelli/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Members of the cast of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ rehearse a scene in the Tornabene Theatre on Nov. 2.
By Miranda Butler ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT How can you make a spelling bee into a musical? For the next several weeks, UA musical theater students are showing audiences that one small competition can turn into an explosion of comical satire, eccentric characters, and energetic song and dance numbers. From now until Dec. 5, the UA School of Theatre, Film and Television is putting on a performance of the Tony Awardwinning Broadway musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” This Arizona Repertory Theatre production takes place at UA’s own Tornabene Theatre, and the actors are UA undergraduate students pursuing musical theater and acting. The show follows six quirky elementary schoolers as they embark on comical journeys of self discovery while vying to win a spelling bee. Their stories are entertaining as well as charming because “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” plays off of the eccentric people who we all encountered in our early school days. From the overbearing know-it-all girl
who can speak six languages to the zany and awkward kid who wears a cape to class, the actors in this show do an exemplary job at creating a social satire. In addition, the show is filled with witty and intellectual humor. As the actors participate in the spelling bee, the concepts of words, their definitions, and “Can you use that in a sentence?” create clever jokes out of language and culture. Similarly, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” utilizes improvisation and audience participation to really make the audience laugh out loud. During each performance, a few audience members volunteer to take part in the play. Actors improvise jokes about these people, as well as challenge the volunteers to spell words alongside the other characters. Some of the spelling bee words are easy, whereas others are completely random and bizarre. And any word is reason enough to burst into song. The Tornabene Theatre is a small, intimate environment where the audience sits nearly all the way around the stage, so all the seats in the house are good ones. Tickets are $21 for UA students. For more information, go to www.arizona.tix.com.
Marcy, played by Claire Graham, spells out a word at a rehearsal of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,’ on Nov 2. The show runs through Dec. 5.
Reading life with ‘Asshole’ author Tucker Max By Jake Seliger GUEST CONTRIBUTOR Tucker Max’s sordid tales of debauchery and sex make him an icon to many college students. In one section from his recent book, “Assholes Finish First,” Max drives a rented RV drunk through Harlem, eventually getting arrested and bailed out. He finds his way to a bar where “everyone saw (him) for the hero (he) was, a modern Jesus risen from the dead to drink again.” As a result, “the girls fawned over (him)” and he “went home with a cute girl who worked for Playboy.” Being an unabashed, selfproclaimed asshole evidently has its benefits, but Max’s stories are also peppered with advice (don’t go to law school because you can’t imagine anything else) and allusions (a comparison to bodhisattva — look it up — and another to Roman Polanski ). At the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe , Max
talked about the deeper messages of his writing and how to make sure your life doesn’t suck. He recounted how he was “fired from the legal profession” and then worked for his father ’s restaurant, which “basically ends with me getting fired by my father.”
“When I was 25, five, six nights a week, I would’ve gone through a brick wall at the smell of (women) — I was an unguided missile of debauchery, dude” — Tucker Max author of “Assholes Finish First” But he kept trying to find a way forward, and his way turned out to be through writing autobiographical stories based on what he was
like as a younger person. Now, he knows that “When I was 25, five, six nights a week, I would’ve gone through a brick wall at the smell of (women) — I was an unguided missile of debauchery, dude.” The word “dude” fills his conversation. In recounting how he went from Tucker Max the man to Tucker Max the persona, he said that his friend “PWJ” “was like, ‘Dude, this is what you should be doing. This is really good. This is the funniest shit I’ve ever read. You need to put this stuff up on a website, write a book, whatever.’” He did, and Max said now he’s trying to tell others how to avoid a boring life, which is what most people are set up for, according to Max. “When you’re an undergrad, generally you think you can do two things,” Max said. “You’re gonna have to get a job after you graduate or you gotta go do more school. Because everyone who’s giving you advice or telling you how to live your life are
people who’ve done one of those two things. “You don’t generally have anyone in your life who has gone out on their own and done something entrepreneurial or done something artistic or truly risky or truly taken the path less-traveled.” In his talks with college students, Max said he goes beyond getting drunk and having sex. His books are about more than that too — but only if you know how to read them. Read the complete Q&A at jseliger.com.
WEEKLY FIVE WHY
WAIT
PLEASE
YOU MUST
DON’T FORGET
be boring? Let whatever smart phone app you favor find you a dining spot off the beaten path.
just a little longer — the first installment of the 7th Harry Potter movie hits theaters in fewer than 48 hours.
keep your bong hidden for just another few months. Just because 203 passed doesn’t mean you can light up on the Mall.
check out Physics Phun Nite on Friday to see UA professors perform best-loved demonstrations. Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building, room 201. 7 p.m.
about the Poetry Center! Poets Lisa Gill and Matthew Conley will perform a staged reading of Gill’s “The Relenting: A Play of Sorts,” Tuesday at 2 p.m.