Maramara, who is also the current president of Philippine Theater Actors Guild, and one of the musical's stars, Kapamilya artist AC Bonifacio, appeared on ANC's "Headstart" on Friday morning to talk more about Sandbox Collective's latest offering.

"This piece is so good because it's so universal. It's speaks to a lot of what young people are going through, especially now that there's a lot of social media, there's a lot of pressure of being always scrutinized... It's now a little bit upscaled to something that is highly multimedia where the young ones feel the pressure all the more but at the same time it's a lot of fun, it's a lot of joy," Maramara said.

"And I think that is very Filipino. 'Yung ang saya-saya natin kahit ang dami-dami nating pinagdadaanan. So we see the resilience of the young people. But not only the young people but also the grown-ups in the room how they deal with these interactions and exchanges, nakakatuwa talaga," she said.

The interactive aspect of the musical will come, among others, from the four guests spellers from the audience.

"Hindi sila ni-rehearse. With a lottery, they get to sit up and in front with our actors like AC. And they get to the whole round of spelling also, that's one. Another is the advocacies that the audience will be invited to put into a box that one of the actors will be picking out and will be speaking passionately about. Another, the audience gets to decide, for example, an accent of one of the characters. And then we have videos on the stage where the live feed will be or some ideas will be. So nakakatuwa na multimedia din po siya and a lot of improvisational components," Maramara said.

For her part, Bonifacio said that when it comes to doing improv, the show's director really helps her.

"Honestly, Missy has been such a big help obviously in trying to figure out my character, because this is my first musical theater po talaga. So it's really just been an honor to be in their environment and to be able to just learn from everyone. And everyone’s so welcoming and they’re just really helping me throughout the whole show. So I’m just trying to do my best po," Bonifacio said.

Asked of the challenges she encountered transitioning from being a screen actress and dancer to theater performer, Bonifacio said: "One thing is for sure wala pong take 2. Dito po ay live na live po tayo. Dire-diretso the whole musical. So that’s what I’m trying to work on. Trying to do the singing acting and dancing all in one take. 'Yun po hindi po ako sanay. That’s what I’m trying to practice every day with our director and the rest of the cast."

The one-of-a-kind interactive musical comedy from The Sandbox Collective will open on February 24 at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater in Circuit Makati.

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is about six spellers vying for the championship of a lifetime, while also navigating puberty, friendship, family and love.

Tickets for "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" will be available via Ticket2Me at bit.ly/spellsandbox2024.

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