Music & Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinken
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Additional Material by Jay Reiss
Age Recommendation: 12+
The Tony Award–winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee is a hilarious celebration of words, competition, and growing up. In the high-stakes world of a spelling bee, six awkward adolescent champions face off as emotions run from A to Z. With each word spelled, the pressure rises and more than a trophy is on the line. Packed with clever wordplay, infectious songs, and laugh-out-loud humour, this fast-paced musical races to the finish with heart and charm. Six competitors enter but only one can be crowned champion of the bee.
RELAXED EXPERIENCE
Relaxed Experiences offer an accessible option to audience members who may benefit from a more relaxed environment in the theatre or those who may have not normally felt comfortable attending a live performance. This may be ideal for people with sensory concerns, autism spectrum disorders, learning disorders, dementia, families with babies or younger children, or those that may need to be able to leave the theatre frequently during the performance.
The theatre will be dimly lit but not completely dark, there is a relaxed attitude toward audience movement and noise, and there may be some changes in production to reduce startling effects or noises. A Relaxed Experience allows you to enjoy the show, to be yourself, and to experience live theatre in a friendly and supportive environment!
At the Citadel Theatre, we use the language Relaxed EXPERIENCE instead of Relaxed PERFORMANCE in case we are not able to adjust as many production elements as are recommended for a traditional Relaxed Performance (for example, when we add the element of a live orchestra it is not always possible for sound levels to be below 80 decibels). We do our best to make all the suggested changes delivered by our Auditors, and we commit to providing as much information as possible about any production or content warnings for audiences to be aware of when purchasing a ticket for our Relaxed Experiences. Please refer to each production’s Visual Story for a thorough explanation of each element of our Relaxed Experience (available 1-2 weeks before our scheduled Relaxed Experience).
Babes-in-Arms (Ages 0-2) may attend the performance at no cost, however every person entering the theatre must have a ticket assigned for safety regulations and seating capacity. Please contact the Box Office at 780-425-1820 to book a Babes-in-Arms ticket.
A quiet space will be available for those that may need to have a break from the performance or lobby crowd. The Citadel Theatre has numerous sensory kits available for audience members to use that include sunglasses, fidget toys, ear plugs and ear defenders.
Join us from 1:25-1:35 p.m. in the theatre to learn about the Relaxed Performance and to see some sneak peaks at moments in the play. Or, if you’d prefer a “Spoiler-Free” experience, enjoy a drink in the lobby and we’ll invite you in at 1:35 p.m. for the performance.
OPEN AND CLOSED CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE
Open Captions use real-time captions to represent spoken dialogue and other important audio elements during the show through screens visible to all patrons.
Closed Captions use real-time captions to represent spoken dialogue and other important audio elements during the show through a personal captioning device (personal phone or a Citadel iPad available in the lobby).
We offer both options to our patrons for our Captioned performances.
There will be an ASL Interpreter in the lobby for anyone requiring ASL to English Interpretation for lobby interactions (ie. The bar, box office, communicating with ushers, etc.).
Captioning by Kim Johnson.
Please visit our Accessible Performances page for more information.