Paige Osgood is “Super Intense” as Marcy Park in Spelling Bee

Paige Osgood (speller #7) plays overachiever Marcy Park in the youth cast of Spelling Bee

Overachievers often internalize the pressure they put on themselves.  They hide their emotions behind a tough exterior and overcompensate for their own insecurities by projecting a false bravado to others.  Such is the life of Marcy Park, one of the six teenage characters portrayed in the Farmington Players production of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  Marcy is played by Paige Osgood (14) in the youth cast and Jordan Gagnon (16) in the adult cast.  (Jordan will be featured in a future edition of Playing the Barn.)

Paige describes Marcy as “a super intense girl with overbearing parents.”  In Marcy’s signature song “I Speak Six Languages,” we also learn that Marcy plays Mozart and hockey, and when she stretches, she “stretches without getting sore.”  Paige says, “Marcy has been one of my dream characters, so every single thing from dancing, to singing and acting is so enjoyable for me.  Marcy is a quite demanding role and it's been hard to force myself to stretch everyday (for the splits) and to maintain a straight face throughout the funniest of lines.  Spelling Bee has got humor in it for everyone. Occasionally, I'll tell my parents and friends lines from the show and we'll spend five minutes cracking up over it.”

But life is not all laughter for Marcy, or Paige. As she says, “Marcy struggles with what makes her happy and what her parents want from her. I feel that in a similar sense as I put so much pressure on myself to excel in school and at theatre. The way Marcy acts is a lot like how I act so I've basically grown up as the character. I have huge social anxiety when it comes to public presentations, so anything from book talks to debates makes me feel sick to my stomach.”  Despite this occasional anxiety, Paige projects confidence on stage, and gave a standout performance as teenage mother America in The Amish Project, the Barn’s AACTFest entry this year.

Paige loves sharing the role of Marcy with Jordan Gagnon, saying “Jordan is so amazing at what she does and she has completely inspired me to take the challenge of harmonizing (which I've never had to do before). I'm so grateful for being cast with someone as amazing as her.”  Paige lives with her family in Brighton, Michigan and is a 9th grader at Brighton High School. She describes her hobbies as “flute, piano, tennis, and eating.”  Paige also mentors elementary school children under the B.I.T.E program at her high school and participates in Model UN.

The Farmington Players production of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is proudly sponsored by Mall, Malisow & Cooney, PC.  Four audience members (including some local celebrities) will be selected as spellers at each performance.  The show includes 12 performances (the three Saturday matinees feature 12-to-16 year-old spellers along with the regular adult cast) from December 4 – 20.  Tickets are available online at farmingtonplayers.org or by contacting the Barn box office at boxoffice@farmingtonplayers.org or 248-553-2955.