Audience members took the stage for the winter musical performance of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

The comedic play focuses on a spelling bee in a small town middle school and the students’ awkward struggles associated with growing up. After the more serious production, “Infinite Black Suitcase,” stage director Jamie Johnson wanted to shake things up.

“You definitely want to balance the seasons so you’re not just doing a bunch of bummers,” Johnson said. “And I try to… make students feel like they have had a variety of experiences on stage. Giving students the opportunity to explore different sides of themselves in acting.”

A unique element to the production was audience involvement and the use of improvisation by the cast. Four volunteers each night were chosen to participate in the spelling bee and become the center of the play’s jokes. The cast had to practice their improvisation skills and deliver off-script jokes on the spot based upon who came up from the audience.

“There were some times where they would just say lines that weren’t in the script,” senior cast member Jackson Maher said. “I struggled to maintain my character. I wanted to crack up the entire time.”

Audience involvement in the show was fun for everyone in the theater and brought positive challenges for the actors.

“Every show was great,” Maher said. “Each one we got a little something different. The little improvs we do change every night, so it’s really a different show each night.”

The musical was set in a gym, with only a few props, such as bleachers, a table and microphone. Senior Liam Romano was the student technical director for the set, helping to create bleachers that could spin for one of the musical’s songs.

Romano’s responsibilities went further than just designing and building.

“During the dress rehearsal we kind of program them in, so all we really have to do is press go, but if something does go wrong and the spots, I’ve got to make sure they’re doing it right,” Romano said.

Such preparations led to successful performances, Johnson said.

“When people come to see productions, they don’t really see the hours and hours and hours of work that go into it,” Johnson said. “I’m super proud of all our students because, as busy as they are with a million other things, they devote themselves. The proof comes out in the great performances.”