The word Bill Maltas misspelled was "enchilada," and he remembers it as if it were yesterday.
JEFF KORBELIK / GZO | Posted: Friday, July 3, 2009 12:00 am
The word Bill Maltas misspelled was "enchilada," and he remembers it as if it were yesterday.
The now 39-year-old was among 120 or so fifth- and sixth-graders competing in a spelling bee in Norfolk.
Maltas cruised through the written rounds to reach the oral finals. All was going well until he forgot the next to the last "a" in enchilada.
He wound up finishing fourth behind three sixth-graders.
"I wasn't devastated," he said. "I remember being angry because the word I went out on was easy."
So when Maltas learned TADA Theatre planned to stage the regional premiere of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," the local actor/musician just had to audition.
Maltas plays Vice Principal Douglas Panch, the word pronouncer in the hit musical.
"The script really drew me to this," he said. "It's one of the best-written book musicals. Everybody who comes will identify with somebody in the show."
TADA and director Robert D. Rook open "Putnam" Thursday. The theater is one of the first theaters in the Midwest granted the rights to produce the Tony Award-winning show.
Set in a gymnasium in a school in Putnam County, the musical tells the funny, yet heartwarming story of six anxiety-ridden, overachieving adolescents vying for a spelling bee championship.
With music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin, "Putnam" ran on Broadway for 1,136 performances between May 2005 and January 2008. It won two Tonys in 2005, including the aforementioned book.
In addition to Maltas, the TADA cast includes Cris Rook, Nicholas Soutsos, Matt Works, Claire Frahm, Ashley Anderson, Michael Trutna, Natalie Tavlin and Stuart Richey.
The show will feature audience participation. Four audience members will be selected from those who volunteer as last-minute spelling bee entries.
"It really shakes up how the show is produced," director Rook said. "People who come on a Friday will see a different show from what was staged Thursday."
Maltas said the musical is a crowd-pleaser, noting the similarities between the show and ESPN's coverage recently of the national spelling bee.
"All the archetypes were there," he said.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.