Celebrity surprises at the Bee

MANILA, Philippines - Atlantis Productions’ recently-concluded repeat of the hit musical comedy Spelling Bee brought many surprises.

As those who have seen it now, Spelling Bee is an unpredictable musical due to audience participation and many surprise celebrity guest appearances.

Surprising audiences as guest spellers were Myrza Sison, Rachel Alejandro, Angel Aquino, Karylle, The STAR columnist Scott Garceau, Ryan Eigenmann, Anna Fegi, Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Mari Kaimo, Katrina Legarda, Denise Laurel, Gian Magdangal, Moy Ortiz, Raymund Isaac, Joey Mead, Calvin Millado, Raymond Lauchengco, TJ Trinidad, Phoemela Baranda, Eugene Domingo, Mylene Dizon and on the final show, Erik Santos, Mark Bautista and KC Concepcion.

KC, who appeared as Belle in Atlantis’ Beauty & The Beast, says of her Spelling Bee experience, “As a guest speller with no rehearsals, it was like being on a rollercoaster ride. You don’t know what to expect and everything just happens around you. You’re at the mercy of the whole cast. I loved every minute of it. The cast was fantastic at playing kids, too. Even though I knew all of them, I was really convinced they were kids.” KC hopes to return to her theatre roots soon.

Spelling Bee also brought about a surprise marriage proposal for audience guest speller Sherilyn Siy. At the end of the performance she was called back on stage where the actors said they needed to “rectify an error” as she spelled a word correctly. To her surprise, her boyfriend, Charles McJilton, joined her on stage and asked her to spell the word M-A-R-R-Y. The moment left the entire audience teary-eyed as they cheered the newly-engaged couple.

Directed by Bobby Garcia, more surprises are in store for Spelling Bee as it travels to Singapore this month for a run at the Victoria Theatre and returns to Manila in December for a limited holiday run, which will include a special R-Rated performance for one night of the run. The repeat holiday run is on Dec. 4 to 13, at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati.

For details, call at 892-7078 or 840-1187.