KEY POINTS:
Strabismus, omphaloskepsis, cystitis, zoonosis and chromataphore - not the sort of words usually found in the score for an award-winning musical, except when it's about spelling.
Given that everything from menopause to witchcraft has been put to music in recent years, it should come as no surprise that spelling takes its turn in the spotlight in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
The Broadway musical, by William Finn, has won multiple awards around the world and been described by various critics as "warm-hearted ... irresistible ... endearingly deranged".
Local audiences get their chance to judge whether it is an "h-i-t" when the Auckland Theatre Company opens its production next week with Jackie Clarke in the lead role as spelling bee organiser Rona Lisa Peretti.
Madeleine Sami, Semu Filipo, Christina Cusiel, Kristian Lavercombe, Ester Stephens and Cameron Douglas play the deliciously geeky 12-year-olds from across the county participating in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives.
Eryn Wilson and Jason Te Patu round out the cast, playing the spelling bee caller and an ex-con completing community service.
Clarke was intrigued when asked if she wanted to star in a musical about spelling but was convinced as soon as she read the script. It also helped that she had seen the 2002 documentary film Spellbound which loosely inspired the play.
The film focused on eight weird but wonderful teens and pre-teens as they worked their way towards the finals of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington DC. An American institution since 1925, each year the spelling bee attracts millions of competitors who enter regional contests followed by state and finally the national competition.
"You couldn't have dreamed better and more appealing characters up if you tried," says Clarke. "The kids were so charming that you quickly became totally fascinated by their commitment, the hours they devoted to practising, their parents and what they wanted for their children.
"Ultimately, it was about hopes and dreams and fitting in - which is exactly what the musical is about. I thought the script for the musical was incredibly funny and I could see how an audience would be charmed and get swept along with the characters as they compete in the Putnam County Spelling Bee."
Along the way, the contestants have to cope with spelling words most of us have trouble pronouncing as well as over-ambitious parents, sabotage attempts, teenage crushes and puberty. Clarke's character, Rona Lisa Peretti, is the all-American No 1 real estate agent in Putnam County and former winner of the Putnam County Spelling Bee. Determined to keep the memory of her greatest triumph alive, Peretti organises the annual contest.
"She kind of reminds me of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, because she's so bright, breezy, folksy and relentlessly upbeat about America," says Clarke. "Even her suit is red, white and blue. You can't help but be buoyed along by her unbridled enthusiasm and passion."
While Clarke's character is not a contestant, she knows what it's like to be spelling in the glare of the spotlight. She took part in the 2006 television series The Great New Zealand Spelling Bee hosted by Mark Leishman and eventually won by Jim Mora.
"It is incredibly difficult to stand up in front of people and spell without being able to write a word down," she recalls. "I kept thinking to myself, `If only I could see the word on paper'.
"In the musical, each of the kids has a quirky way of spelling out their words. One traces the letter with his foot and ends up doing all these crazy dances."
Audience members will get the chance to test their spelling prowess, too. Volunteers are being called for each night to compete onstage in the spelling bee.
They may include Hamilton Boys' High School student Thomas North, who represented New Zealand at the 2008 Scripps Howard competition.
