Lost In Lust: Play Analysis

Lost in Lust The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, with music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, and conceived by Rebecca Feldman, explores a lighthearted event, as the play title suggests, a middle school spelling bee. I watched the production on February 7, 2016 at 2:00 PM at the University of Washington’s Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse. This production was directed by Brandon Ivie, musically directed by Jordyn Meeker, and choreographed by Steven Sofia. This musical consists of an eccentric cast, even with audience participation incorporated into the story. Each individual character, both adults and spellers, has quite an intriguing backstory, with many of the spellers having a fair array of either impressive experience with spelling bees or strange life problems. However, the character I will focus on is Charlito “Chip” Tolentino, who was played by Mikko Juan in this production. I will discuss how Mikko’s decisions in his acting conveys our understanding of Chip, Chip’s relationships with others, and what Chip desires in the world of the play through a thorough analysis of the “World of the Play”, Mikko’s physical and vocal choices, Chip’s relationship with others, the play’s structural elements, and lastly, elements of production design that supports our understanding of Chip. As I first …show more content…
Because of Chip’s sense of entitlement because of his win in the spelling bee of the previous year, Mikko spoke in a boastful tone and even spoke down to one of his fellow spellers. He had great projection and was easily heard. He even was able to convey other feelings that Chip felt, such as the lust for Leaf Coneybear’s sister, to the nervousness of having to be eliminated from the bee. Lastly, considering Chip’s solos, they were in a tenor range, typical of a main or confident character. Thus, just like Mikko’s physical actions, his vocal actions fairly portrayed his