Monmouth College

Time to L-A-U-G-H

Monmouth College to stage season-ending musical in Wells Theater, April 10-12

by Barry McBamara

Monmouth, Ill. (04/07/2026) — The two basic genres of theatre are comedy and tragedy. When one of the production's characters is named Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, there's a pretty good chance the work in question is the former.

And that is indeed the case for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which will be performed at Monmouth College April 10-12 in Wells Theater.

"The actors have been wildly creative. They make me laugh every night," said Vanessa Campagna, the Monmouth theatre professor who's directing the show.

Campagna has some personal experience with Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, as she played the character around 15 years ago under the direction of Nick Padgett, an award-winning producer, director, choreographer and actor who's been nominated for a Tony Award.

"It's such a fun show," said Campagna. "It's really character-driven with incredibly quirky characters" who are living their awkward pre-teen years. "They're going through growing pains and learning how hard it is to be young and vulnerable."

For Campagna's production, the role of Logainne is being played by Hannah McGhee '26 of Morris, Illinois.

"This show has really pushed me further than I believed possible, as Logainne is totally wacky and weird and passionate in ways that push me as an actor to be totally unreserved and in the moment," said McGhee. "It's freeing to get to be that weird middle schooler again, because I was totally a dork at her age, too, but this time instead of worrying about being laughed at, laughs are what I'm after."

McGhee is one of three senior theatre majors in the nine-member cast who'll be making their final appearance on the Monmouth stage.

"This show has been truly meaningful to me as a senior because it's highlighted just how much I've grown as an actor and a person throughout my time at Monmouth," she said. "As a STEM major, theatre has served as a place to express myself and be creative while still pursuing my passion for optometry, and through the theatre I've learned to be more confident in myself and more expressive."

The other senior theatre majors are Edrass Chavez-Alvarado of Chicago (playing William Barfee) and Eric Pio of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (playing Vice Principal Panch).

"It's a hard class to let go of," said Campagna, who said the class also includes microphone engineer Calista Lythgoe of Lafayette, Colorado. "It's been awesome watching them grow. This is a musical about kids coming of age, and these students are coming of age in real life, too."

The rest of the cast includes spellers Ray Shaul '27 of Bourbonnais, Illinois (Olive Ostrovsky), Ivy Johnson '26 of Galesburg, Illinois (Leaf Coneybear), Maya Blackmon '27 of Chicago (Marcy Park) and Robert Robison '27 of Island Lake, Illinois (Chip Tolentino), as well as Abby Zayas '27 of Bloomington, Illinois (host Rona Lisa Peretti) and Rowan Love '29 of Monmouth (comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney).

A caveat to that nine-member cast is that Campagna has added ensemble roles, which pushes the total to 23. Included in that group are two 2025 graduates, Vea Vavrosky and Kiersten Fuhr. She's also added another layer with the set design, as she easily could've settled for a no-frills stage, which is how many real-life spelling bees are contested. Instead, she opted for a gymnasium set to allow her stagecraft students to build something.

"It's a really robust design, and the gym brings us into the world of competition and winning and losing," said Campagna, who noted The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee "is a true musical comedy with very vibrant songs, very up tempo."

"I think the audience will be able to see themselves in this cast of characters, because we all remember being that awkward, anxious kid, and I think the audience will really resonate with that," said McGhee.

That word is "resonate" - R-E-S-O-N-A-T-E. And during all that resonating, there will be plenty of opportunities for the audience to L-A-U-G-H.

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Monmouth College will present "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at 7:30 p.m. April 10-11 and at 2 p.m. April 12 in Wells Theater on campus. Tickets can be purchased online at www.purplepass.com/organizer/61829.

Media Attachments

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SEASON-ENDING PRODUCTION: "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is a Tony Award-winning musical with a book by Rachel Sheinkin, music and lyrics by William Finn, and additional material by Jay Reiss, based on a play by Rebecca Feldman.

Edrass

Chavez