Get ready for a Broadway musical and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet — even before the new academic year has begun.

The musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, is the product of a Department of Theatre and Dance summer program. Romeo and Juliet is from the newly formed Davis Shakespeare Ensemble, which will be staging the play in the UC Davis Arboretum.

Each production is set to open Sept. 16 and run through Sept. 26.

Spelling Bee

The Department of Theatre and Dance describes The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as a quirky comedy that captures the carefree spirit of youth while bringing out the nerd in all of us.

The director-choreographer is two-time Granada Artist-in-Residence Mindy Cooper (Urinetown: The Musical and Oklahoma!).

The cast comprises UC Davis undergraduates (including one who is due to graduate Sept. 10) and a Master of Fine Arts recipient.

Oh, and audience members will also have a chance to participate in the spelling bee — provided they are selected during an interview process before each show.

The entire audience is invited to join in “talk-backs” with the cast and other creative artists after two performances. See details below.

The 2005 Tony Award-winning musical, including such songs as “I’m Not That Smart,” “The I Love You Song“ and “Pandemonium,” is set in a junior high auditorium, where six pubescent misfits learn that winning isn’t everything and that defeat doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. The competition is riotously out of control — with supernatural trances, magic body parts, ulterior motives, and peer and parental pressure.

The characters include reigning champ Chip Tolentino, who has every intention of taking gold if his hormones will allow it; Leaf Coneybear, the home-schooled savant who makes his own clothes; Olive Ostrosky, who worries that her toughest rival will push her out of spelling altogether, while hoping that her mother will someday come to a spelling bee; and Vice Principal Panch, who has returned to the competition after a long hiatus and apologizes for the “incident” at his last bee.

This tale of overachievers’ angst while vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime is told through hilarious and charming song lyrics.

Music director Pete Nowlen, conductor of the UC Davis Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, said: “The lyrics are incredibly clever and cleverly set. Each speller has a beautiful, personal song that reveals some important part of their character.”

The music and lyrics are by William Finn, described by Nowlen as “one of the greatest living composers for the stage.”

“Finn is a master of character development in song, and we end up loving each of these characters for their qualities and their flaws.”

For example, lonely Olive sings “My Friend the Dictionary,” while Chip sings “My Unfortunate Erection,” bemoaning the time his arousal cost him a victory. In singing “I’m Not That Smart,” Leaf confesses that his family does not consider him to be particularly intelligent.

Finally, in a series of epilogues revealing the fates of the characters, we learn how their experiences during the spelling bee shaped each of their lives.

Cooper noted that Spelling Bee originated in improvisational acting — and improv remains an important part of the production, with the actors required to be in the moment and on their toes when working with a different set of audience participants in each show.

“I structured rehearsals to reflect this kind of piece,” Cooper said. “We started with two weeks of improvising on themes from the show, mock spelling bees, character exploration and relationship — all through improv-based exercises. By the time we started staging, so much of the work was already developed.”

Cast members said they appreciate this improvisational freedom. Senior Esteban Gonzalez, who plays Coneybear, said: “Mindy knows what she wants, but allows our individual interpretations of character. She permits us to experiment and go for it. For me, it’s like being a child again.”

James Marchbanks, who portrays Mitch Mahoney and Dan Dad, received his MFA in acting last June and returned to work with Cooper. “She has taught me that nothing is ever wrong in creative choices, to always take chances for the best possible results.”

Cooper led the UC Davis productions of Urinetown in the spring of 2007 and Oklahoma! in the spring of 2009. She is due back in the spring of 2011 for another Granada stint, this time as director of The Who’s Tommy.

Rounding out creative artist team: Thomas J. Munn, professor, lighting designer; Roxanne Femling, costume shop director, costume designer); and students Karyn Noel (scenic designer) and Daniel Jordon (properties designer). Undergraduate Maria Castro is the stage manager.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

WHEN: 8 p.m. Sept. 16-18 and 23-25, and 2 p.m. Sept. 19 and 26. Talk-backs after the Sept. 17 and 24 performances.

WHERE: Main Theatre

TICKETS are available through the Mondavi Center box office: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.

DISCOUNTS: A 10 percent discount is applied to orders for 15 or more tickets for a single performance. Groups of 25 or more receive a 10 percent discount plus two free tickets.

For high school and youth groups of 10 or more, tickets are available for $10 apiece, at the request of teacher s and group leaders. To make arrangements, call the Department of Theatre and Dance publicity office, (530) 752-5863.

ADVISORY: This production is rated PG-13. The Motion Picture Association of America’s rating system defines PG-13 as “parents strongly cautioned; some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Romeo and Juliet

The Davis Shakespeare Ensemble has chosen the Bard’s classic tale of young love and family rivalry, as the company’s first production ever.

The company is not affiliated with UC Davis, but eight of the nine founders are connected with UC Davis, and they have partnered with the arboretum for Romeo and Juliet, which will be staged in the arboretum’s gazebo.

Rob Salas, who is directing Romeo and Juliet, said: “Almost the entire cast has worked with the UC Davis theater department and were behind Studio 301’s most recent productions, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Hair, two of which were in the arboretum as well.”

Studio 301, the only student-run theater company on campus, presented Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the Wyatt Deck in the arboretum and Hair in the gazebo.

Salas, who serves as the company’s primary director, is the only one of the founders without a UC Davis connection; however, he is a UC graduate student, in his last year of the theater directing program at UC Irvine.

He has directed at UC Irvine and Harvard University, New Village Arts (San Diego), South Coast Repertory (Orange County) and the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

His Davis Shakespeare Ensemble co-founders are all UC Davis students or graduates, or staff.

“Though it's our first show, we're experienced, confident and will impress our audience with a high level of skill and execution,” Salas said by e-mail.

“Our ensemble's mission is to share appreciation of classical theater with the Davis-area community. We are all passionate about Shakespearean text, and believe it deserves to be performed as frequently as possible.

“We decided that our first order of business would be to put all of our focus around one project that would show audiences how great Shakespeare done with love and care can be. We chose Romeo and Juliet because it is an extremely special piece. It's not only that almost all of us have studied it in school at some point, but it has the substance to make it worthy of being an eternal text.”

Company co-founder Gia Battista is playing Juliet; most recently, Battista played the female lead, Sheila, in Studio 301’s Hair. Before that, she directed Studio 301’s Macbeth.

She played Perdita in UC Davis’ A Winter's Tale and Isabella in UC Davis’ Measure for Measure.

Romeo is being played by Ian Walters, a UC Davis student. He “doesn’t boast the resumé of some of our other alumni,” Salas said, “but he is a fantastic actor and skilled athlete who just hasn't been able to fit theater into his busy schedule.”

The gazebo is an intimate performing space, Salas said, “so we wanted our cast to have an intimate relationship with the audience to match.” Therefore, the cast comprises only seven actors, each of whom will assume one to three roles.

“Each actor's multiple roles make sense for the storytelling, and we think will shine a new light on some characters.” Salas said.

Salas said the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble’s long-term goal is to continue to perform and produce classical work in different spaces throughout Davis.

“As we do so, we will also be developing a series of workshops and classes for kids. Many of us have a lot of education experience, so we are looking forward to using our skills to make Shakespeare accessible for young people.

“Next summer, we hope to not only produce another professional level show with our ensemble, but also have events and programs to offer children in the area.”

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, co-presented by the Davis Shakespeare Ensemble and the arboretum

WHEN: 8 p.m. Sept. 16-19 and 23-26

WHERE: Gazebo, at the west end of the arboretum. Chairs will be provided, but audience members are advised to dress warmly and even bring blankets.

TICKETS will be sold at the venue; you can make reservations by calling (760) 310-0323 or sending an e-mail to davis.shakespeare@gmail.com.