Wherein Nomo SUCKS at Spelling...

Last weekend, the Husband and I flitted off to New York City to catch some shut-eye sans toddler, and see a couple of Broadway shows. The first night, we had tickets to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. For anyone unfamiliar with this little gem, it's a show that started out as a non-musical play (C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E), was turned into an Off-Broadway musical with the help of composer William Finn, and due to enormous success, has now moved up to Broadway.

Any Word Nerds out there? You will love this show. Did you like the movie Spellbound or Akeelah and the Bee? You will love this show. Do you have a heart?? You will LOVE this show. Seriously, the most fun I have ever had at a show that was not Godspell.

Before the show starts, volunteers go around the milling audiences signing up volunteer spellers for the show. Of course, the Husband and I could not resist. At ten to eight, they choose four people out of the crowd who signed up. I was one of them! Guess being pregnant is good for something..

We were taken to the booth for orientation. The main instructions were to follow any directions given by the actors (for our safety), to "be ourselves" (read: don't outshine the actual actors), and whether or not you know how to spell the word, you must ask the following two questions:

1. Can I have the definition please?
2. Can you please use in a sentence?

OK, I thought, I am all set. I am a good speller.... [more]