The Janesville Performing Arts Center partners with the Beloit Memorial High School (BMHS) Theatre program. Students from BMHS will premiere “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” in the JPAC Gallery on July 22nd and July 23rd at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10 for Students and $15 for Adults and can be purchased at the Janesville Performing Arts Center Box Office at 608-758-0297, in person at 408 South Main Street, or online at JanesvillePAC.org.
This is an opportunity for JPAC’s Education and Outreach Program to give students from Beloit Memorial High School a chance to practice their performance in front of a live audience before taking it on the road to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 5th – 10th in Scotland. The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a musical with a story surrounding an eclectic group of mid-pubescents competing for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake.
These same 13 students will then perform this same production in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the largest theatre festival in the world, the Festival Fringe. These students have been working hard over the last 16 months raising funds to take this show overseas, knowing that this trip will be an opportunity of a lifetime.
BMHS was selected for the 3rd time since 2010 to perform at the American High School Theatre Festival, a smaller, invitation-only festival under the umbrella of the Festival Fringe, which is the world’s largest arts festival. In 2010, BMHS Theatre performed The Servant of Two Masters, and in 2013 they performed the musical, Zombie Prom.
Proceeds from both productions will benefit JPAC’s Education and Outreach Program as well as help raise funds for the cast members traveling to Scotland. Please note that The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is considered PG-13, for some adult language and content and some lyrics are not appropriate for children under the age of 13.
