The Jefferson choir performed the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee musical on Friday, May 3.

The musical follows the progression of a spelling bee while delving into the backstory of certain competitors and organizers through flashbacks as well as dreams peppered with songs and humor. TJ choir’s performance continually drew laughs from the audience, including freshman who attended after being at school for the 2019 Freshman Lock-In.

“[I decided to come to the musical] because it was really good and everybody said to watch it,” freshman William Graf said. “It was hilarious. I laughed a lot and the whole thing was really funny.”

Although watchers ultimately appreciated the musical, the Jefferson choir was given limited time to prepare the show.

“We started rehearsing after Spamalot, so mid-March. Not a ton of time to put on an entire show,” senior Robert Greene said.  “We’ve had rehearsals after school and during 8th period, but due to the limited time, everyone practiced a lot on their own as well.”

Yet, through leadership from drama teacher and chorus sponsor Mr. Andrew Reid and captains, seniors Avi Urbach and Sarah Gold, the Jefferson Choir managed to pull through despite the time constraints. Additionally, the relatively low-movement nature of the musical gave them a boost.

“Spelling Bee is a super silly and fun musical, and a perfect choice for a musical in concert because it requires little blocking,” sophomore Jenalyn Dizon said.

The low awareness of TJ Choir and the lack of people in the program prompted the decision to put on the musical. Due to a low number of signups, Jefferson’s choir class was discontinued last year with just its eight period choir remaining.

“We decided to do the musical to publicize TJ’s awesome choir and to get people to sign up for the curricular choir class. It’s also a really fun show, so we’re putting it on to have a good time with it,” Greene said.