A Spelling Bee Play & A Home Store Opening

“It's a marvelous memory if you win the spelling bee,” the character of Rona Lisa Peretti reminisces to start the musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

About Town watched the Hoboken Children's Theater perform the Broadway one-act show in a dress rehearsal Wednesday afternoon as the company prepared for its four-day run last weekend at the Monroe Theatrespace.

The plot features an assortment of awkward middle schoolers competing in the fictional Putnam County spelling bee. Peretti is a former spelling bee champ turned vigorous real estate agent who moderates the competition along with a slightly sleazy Vice Principal Panch and an ex-convict “comfort counselor” who hands juiceboxes to the defeated contestants and escorts them offstage. The spellers also experience flashback scenes with family members, including some parents who are domineering and others who are too apathetic.

Director Chase Leyner, who runs the Hoboken Children's Theatre, thought the show was a good fit for her cast of teenage actors, many of whom she's worked with since they were small children.

“I liked the music, thought the show was hilarious and that it suited so many of my performers,” she told About Town.

Many of those of performers successfully portrayed their quirky characters, the smart but awkward sort who dominate spelling bees. There are kids in the show who speak with lisps, fidget, suffer from nervous tics and dress like clowns.

But the show involves more than just finding out which of the characters wins the spelling bee. Like any story about young adolescents, it deals with each of the boys and girls maturing and learning how to be comfortable with themselves.

“It's about growing up and self-realization,” Leyner said.

One prodigious girl learns that its okay if she doesn't win. Another girl realizes she wants to be honest when given the opportunity to cheat. A boy finds its okay to like girls.

These adolescent themes come alive early in show as the cast sings a rousing song with a chorus that realizes that “life is pandemonium.” The cast rips through several more energetic songs, and the colorfully costumed actors vibrantly fill the stage with choreographed dances.

The show is also very funny, with scripted lines but also room for improvisation. Just like with the original Broadway production, Leyner and the cast will ask for audience members to participate in the spelling bee. Before going onstage each guest participant will answer a questionnaire about themselves, which will help lead to some witty ad-lib exchanges between the guests and the cast.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will enjoy a four day run at the Monroe Theatrespace from June 2 to June 5, with nightly 7 p.m. shows, plus matinees Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Audience members can book $12 tickets at www.hobokenchildrenstheater.com or call 646-339-8485.

Later on Wednesday About Town attended the grand opening party for the recently relocated William Howard Home furniture and home décor store.

Owner Caren Rankin moved her upscale and vintage wares from the corner of Park and Second Streets to her new spot at 120 Washington Street. She has joined forces with Karen Nason, who moved her plant and garden landscaping business from New York City to Hoboken and rechristened it Hoboken Hot House.

Rankin and Nason share the storefront, with Nason's lush plants and flowers lending a green pallor over Rankin's cozy display of Victorian head boards and pine dining tables. The place smells great too, with scented soaps, lotions and candles for sale.

“We both decided to do it together,” Rankin said about sharing the space. “It's a great location, and we each cut our rent in half.”

Rankin also said she hoped the store would help the local economy. “We felt there was a need for this kind of store on Washington Street,” she said. William Howard and Hoboken Hot House will participate in the city's initiative the weekend of June 11-12.

Nason said she was excited about her move to Hoboken. “Once I came here, I loved it,” she said. She's since camouflaged her stretch of Washington Street sidewalk with plants and other greenery.

“I want to show everyone in this city that they can enjoy a garden,” she said.

Alan Skontra was a big dork who never went anywhere. Then he started writing the About Town column for Patch, and now he's everywhere. Have a hot tip on an event in Hoboken? Send an invitation, questions and comments too, to alanskontra@hotmail.com. And if he gets enough followers he might actually post his first tweet @ twitter.com/alanskontra.