Every summer, members of the Episcopal School of Dallas’ alumni community return to campus to showcase their lyrical talents in the annual Alumni Musical. This year’s performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by Lauren Redmond from the Class of 2001, attracted alumni parents and students, as well as current parents, students, and faculty and staff members to the Bray Performance Hall on the evenings of July 19 and 20.
“Spelling bees are as unique and diverse as the community that hosts them, so I was excited to add the ESD community into the mix,” Redmond explained. “When we chose this year’s show, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was my first choice and luckily for us, it was a perfect fit.”
Redmond had help directing the musical by ESD’s Middle and Upper School choir teacher, Joe Snyder, as well as a team of ESD alums including technical director, Bryan Barnett ’01 and assistant technical director, Tommy Sisson ’10. Ashley Carter Johnson from the Class of 2001 served as the team’s assistant director and guest-speller during one of the group’s performances.
“I really enjoyed getting to work and bond with such talented alumni," Barnett said. “Being part of the musical gave me a chance to renew old friendships and meet other ESD alumni that I wouldn’t have otherwise known.”
The performing cast, spanning 14 graduation years, included Alex Beane ’13, Britani Bulloch ’11, OJ DeSouza ’02, Jonathan Dewbre ’99, George Graves ’01, Donna Marie Knight ’10, Victoria Knight ’12, Michael Said ’06, and Emily Marie Stephenson ’06. Other members of the creative and technical team included Ross Terada ’10 and Joshua Vahala ’10.
The Tony Award-winning musical chronicles the trials and tribulations of a group of adolescents as they try to fit in with the student body while also studying for the county’s Spelling Bee. As the Spelling Bee progressed, four members of the live audience were called on stage to put their own skills to the test. Between the two performances, ESD’s Head of School, Meredyth Cole, and Director of Outdoor Education, Peter Lutken were both called upon to demonstrate their superb spelling skills. Alumni Morgan Harrison ’00, Ashley Johnson ’01, Alex Jarzemsky ’01, David Price ’99, Alan Neuhoff ’89, and Jeff DeSouza ’01 were also put on the spot by their former classmates.
Leading up to their first performance, the group spent more than 75 hours in rehearsal through June and early July; the tech crew spent an additional 20 hours perfecting the lighting and sound when the actors were off stage.
“It was just amazing to be back on the ESD campus and work in the new Susan M. Frank Center for the Arts and Humanities because it wasn’t there when I was a student,” Redmond said. “I got to reconnect with old classmates and get introduced to the new alumni. I’m already looking forward to next summer.”