Laura Marano makes a word-perfect debut in 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'

Once an Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? cast member and later a Disney star, Marano now plays a precocious spelling whiz in the award-winning musical revival.

Summary

• Laura Marano (Disney Channel's Austin & Ally) makes her Off-Broadway debut as Logainne in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee through September 7
• She talks about her connection to the role; her background as a child actor; and her own history with spelling bees and as a student on the game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

"Doing Spelling Bee, I'm now so aware of so many words," said actress Laura Marano. "Every time I say a new word I haven't used before, I have the instinct to spell it. That's definitely because of this musical."

She's referring to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, in which she's making her Off-Broadway debut through September 7 as 10-year-old spelling whiz Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre. Lisp-afflicted but politically savvy, and the youngest of the bee's student contestants, Logainne's ahead of her age. Marano, now 30, knows something about that, having gotten her start as a child actor in decidedly grown-up shows like Dexter and Without a Trace. She then became one of the original featured students on the game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? and later a Disney Channel star, her best-known role being Ally in Austin & Ally.

Theatre was in her blood all the while: Throughout her upbringing, Marano performed in shows at an L.A. children's theatre her mom ran. She'd even had a passing brush with Spelling Bee by way of her onetime TV co-star Josh Gad, who was in the original production.

She's been "dying, dying" to do theatre professionally, Marano said. "I had told my team, 'Please put me in, coach!'" When she booked Spelling Bee, she was dropped in alongside a majority of co-stars who'd been with the 20th-anniversary revival since it opened last fall. Like Logainne, Marano was joining the ranks of some formidable talent — but also like Logainne, she's had no trouble holding her own.

"It was very intimidating because everyone is so good," Marano admitted. "I am learning things every single day, but I'm so thankful for everyone because they're just so on their game. It forces me to be as much on my game as I possibly can."

Get The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee tickets now.

Congrats on your Off-Broadway debut! How did you get this opportunity?

When this opportunity came about, they sent it to me and they're like, "Can you get a tape in in a day?" And I was like, "I guess I'm going to have to." And I did. I met with the director and the team literally that afternoon. The next day, I was heading to a bachelorette in Temecula, and on my way, I found out I booked it and had to reroute my life to New York.

Did you know Spelling Bee well before taking this role?

I worked with Josh Gad when I was 11 years old [...] on a show called Back to You, and he was just coming from Spelling Bee at that point. So I knew of the musical through him.

In fact, one of my favorite New York memories is, we were watching the last Knicks game at Glass House Tavern, and Josh Gad was there with his family. Josh also knows Kevin [McHale, who played William Barfée in the current production]. He was like, "Wait, I did Spelling Bee!" And I was like, "I know!"

How did your experiences as a child actor inform your acting career?

When you're doing Disney Channel projects, especially Austin & Ally, which was a music show, you're using your voice in all aspects. You're doing recording sessions, you're performing, you're acting. To figure out how to do all of it safely was a learning curve. I've definitely brought that knowledge into doing the musical because you have to make sure you're conserving your voice and taking care of yourself.

What do you connect to about Logainne?

Logainne is a perfectionist and really wants to get things right — and get things right in the right way. I really do identify. Even doing this musical, I'm hyperfixated on doing it as perfectly as I can.

It's interesting coming in as a replacement because almost everyone around me has been doing this musical since September, October. [I've] had to up my game because I'm coming in not knowing the show as well. And gosh darn it, I'm going to do my best to absolutely put my best version of myself out there every single night the way the whole cast is.

Spelling Bee is interactive, with audience members joining the contest each night. Have you had a memorable onstage interaction with a guest speller?

My opening night, we had one of the guest spellers say something about how spelling isn't a good determinator of someone's intelligence, which I actually loved, but I also loved the opportunity to react to that as Logainne. Anytime someone has decided to, maybe, go into a topic that seems slightly political, Logainne's political activism gets to come out and react accordingly.

Before Disney, you were also on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. Is playing a smart kid in Spelling Bee full-circle?

Actually, little fifth-grade Laura has a lot in common with Logainne. It was funny because I'd been acting maybe five years at that point, and none of my friends were able to see any of the stuff I was in. They didn't believe I was an actress because they couldn't watch Dexter. They couldn't watch Without a Trace. 5th Grader was the first time my friends were like, "Oh my god, you actually are an actress."

I was really intimidated by that experience as well, only because you didn't know if you have the right answers or not. The night before, we would get all the questions we would get in the game show, but we didn't have the answers. You had to do your homework.

There was one traumatic time when the question [...] was, "Who was the president before Franklin D. Roosevelt?" I now know it's Herbert Hoover. I did not know that in that moment. I could not think of a name, and I thought it was "President Delaney." There is no President Delaney, in case you were wondering.

What's a theatre experience you've had that really moved you?

Two come to mind. One: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. I saw that musical in the perfect time in my life that, as someone who also pursues music, it was so inspirational.

And then I saw Death of a Salesman with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. I don't think I've ever cried that much. Liquid was coming [from] every part of my face. I just remember being like, "Oh my god, how do they do that every night?" — because it is emotionally exhausting watching as an audience member!

What are your dream roles?

Maureen from Rent has always been one of my dream roles. I love, love, love Rent. It's one of my favorite musicals — I first knew about it through the movie musical, and then I actually got to see it in New York.

I did do some musicals in school: I played Rizzo in Grease, and I played Miss Hannigan in Annie. I love any of those supporting — not villains, but complex female characters. Those are always my favorites.

What's your favorite word?

"Indubitably," because it's my dad's favorite word, and I love when he tries to put it into a sentence.

What is the hardest word you can spell?

If you gave me the chance, I could probably do [pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis]... I'm messing up the end, so maybe I wouldn't. But "lugubrious," which is a big Barfée word. Even "cystitis," which is a Logainne word. C-Y-S-T-I-T-I-S.

I was in a spelling bee when I was younger, and then I got out on the word "braille." I ended up, not that year, but the next year, going to my regional spelling bee. I don't remember what word I went out on, but I went out pretty early.

Get The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee tickets now.

Photo credit: Laura Marano in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. (Photos by Joan Marcus)