Not letter-perfect

THE word that best describes “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is one that wouldn’t stump any of its contestants -- “cute.” In fact, it’s so awfully, awkwardly, adolescently cute that I’m tempted to spell it with a capital “k.” But then I wouldn’t want to give my spell-checker any more work that it already has.

If the world is divided into two categories -- those who are good spellers and those who need a dictionary to write a birthday card -- then it’s also split between those who think winning is everything and those who comfort themselves with the notion that losing builds character (yeah, right!).

The show, which opened Sunday at the Wadsworth Theatre with the original Broadway cast, understands why Americans are fascinated by spelling bees and those pint-size champs who seem immune to alphabetical error. Steeped in the world’s most competitive culture, we all want to be triumphant at something, even if we can never quite find the time to memorize that annoying list of spelling demons that would allow us to get “embarrassed” and “mischievous” right on the first try.

With a Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by William Finn (the man who gave us “Falsettos”), “Spelling Bee” is both a satire of our victory-at-any-cost mentality and a celebration of all things nerdy, which is how it should be, given that real-life spelling bees are one of the few forums where brainy pubescent outcasts can swan in the spotlight.

The production, directed by veteran James Lapine with a freewheeling jauntiness that only occasionally seems prepackaged, is part of a new wave of gimmicky musicals (including “Avenue Q” and “Altar Boyz”) that get a lot of mileage out of their one-joke jalopies. The trick of these shows is balancing parody with genuine affection. “Avenue Q” pays homage to “Sesame Street” even as it irreverently adapts its educational routines for Gen Y slackers, and “Altar Boyz” is as much a valentine to boy bands as a lampoon of their puppy-dog silliness.

Sheinkin and Finn make no secret about their love of language and the misfits who find self-esteem in knowing the orthography of words you have about a zero chance of bumping into outside of one of the creepier aisles of a science bookstore. (“Strabismus,” anyone? Hint: It’s a vision problem that will have you looking cross-eyed.) The humor is at its sharpest when it revolves around vocabulary -- a delirious assortment of oddball obscurity that’s taken to hilarious heights when the kids ask for definitions and sentences employing the unheard-of terms, which vice principal Douglas Panch (Jay Reiss), an unstable guy with increasingly thin patience, is required by the rules to provide.

Trying to keep things orderly is the host, Rona Lisa Peretti (Lisa Howard, corporately coiffed and attired, and pitch-perfect throughout), a former first-place finisher at the bee whose will to win has been channeled into real estate sales. Rona can’t help reliving her former triumph when she correctly spelled “syzygy” and proved to herself, albeit momentarily, that she had champion mettle.

The spelling whizzes, as you might expect, have at least a humorously sympathetic character tag if not a full-scale back story. Leaf Coneybear (the talented Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who’s getting a little long in the tooth for the role, I’m sorry to say) is out to prove to his large crunchy-granola family that he’s not as dumb as his home-schooling performance has suggested. Chip Tolentino (Jose Llana), last year’s victor, who has come to conquer again in his neatly pressed scout uniform, is waylaid by powerful and slightly humiliating hormonal waves. Marcy Park (Deborah S. Craig), the stereotypical overachieving Asian girl who can speak six languages, karate-chop a board in two and play the piano like a professional, contemplates what it would be like to let somebody else win for a change. And Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Sarah Saltzberg), the radical lefty with two gay dads, must decide whether pleasing her avid parents is worth compromising her ethical conscience.

A romance unexpectedly flowers between William Barfee (Tony winner Dan Fogler), the nasally challenged science dork who scrolls out the spelling of words with his “magic foot,” and Olive Ostrovsky (Celia Keenan-Bolger), a shy and fresh-faced innocent whose parents are too busy avoiding each other to realize that their daughter’s only companion is the dictionary. The youngsters’ discovery of tenderness for each other helps soften the blow of the inevitable elimination of all but one of the contestants, which comes with a juice box and hug from Mitch (Derrick Baskin), a thug with a soft spot who’s forced to do community service.

Yes, the comedy eventually begins to peter out. The laughter noticeably dwindles at about the one-hour mark, and with 45 minutes still to go you might start to feel a bit restless. The production pulls out all the stops to amuse us, including audience participation (a few daring spectators are brought onstage at the top of the show to round out the competition) and the boundless antics of Chip, who after losing early, angrily flings junk-food concessions at spectators. But it can feel, as the famous actor sitting behind me muttered to his companion, like “they’re throwing the kitchen sink at us.”

The musical, conceived by Rebecca Feldman, loses steam as Sheinkin’s book grasps for drama amid all the shtick. And Finn’s score, more memorable for its spry lyrics than for its negligible melodies, tickles more than it diverts.

But overlong though it may be, “Spelling Bee” still leaves you smiling at the end. It’s fun to inhabit this make-believe auditorium (decorated with banners and assembly accouterments by set designer Beowulf Boritt) and re-experience that awkward-age striving to be considered special. Even the non-champion spellers among us should be able to relate.

charles.mcnulty@latimes.com

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‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’

Where: Wadsworth Theatre, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

Ends: June 17

Price: $28 to $83

Contact: (213) 365-3500

Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Derrick Baskin...Mitch Mahoney

Deborah S. Craig...Marcy Park

Jesse Tyler Ferguson...Leaf Coneybear

Dan Fogler...William Barfee

Lisa Howard...Rona Lisa Peretti

Celia Keenan-Bolger...Olive Ostrovsky

Jose Llana...Chip Tolentino

Jay Reiss...Douglas Panch

Sarah Saltzberg...Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre

Music and lyrics by William Finn. Book by Rachel Sheinkin. Directed by James Lapine. Choreographed by Dan Knechtges. Conceived by Rebecca Feldman. Sets by Beowulf Boritt. Costumes by Jennifer Caprio. Lights by Natasha Katz. Sound by Dan Moses Schreier. Orchestrations by Michael Starobin. Music supervisor/dance arrangements Vadim Feichtner. Vocal arrangements Carmel Dean. Music director Jodie Moore. Production stage manager Brian J. L’Ecuyer.