Plum senior wins Gene Kelly Award for supporting role in 'Putnam County Spelling Bee'

There were only four awards given out at the 2021 Gene Kelly Awards this year and a Plum Senior High School senior brought home one of them.

Ellie Tongel won the Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Logainne “Schwarzy” SchwartzandGrubenierre in school’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

Tongel becomes the first student in PHS history to win a best actor/actress or best supporting actor/actress in the Gene Kelly Awards. Her win is also the first time a PHS musical has won a Gene Kelly Award since “Shrek the Musical” won the Best Lightning Design, Best Costume Design and Best Musical awards in Budget Category II in 2015.

“Honestly I still can’t comprehend it,” said Tongel. “It’s just surreal. I met all the other girls who were nominated and they were all so talented. And the award is spoken so highly of, so I just went into it for more of the experience. Finally, watching it live and it showing my name, I was in shock.”

“I’d love to say that I had a huge part of it, but my style is to find the best people and let them make their roles their own,” said director Nick Mitchell. “We have a deep talent pool at Plum and over the seven years I’ve been here I’ve learned that I can trust the students to make strong choices.”

The musical pits six adolescents against each other in the titular spelling bee. All six are seen as outcasts, with unique traits to their own personality and background. The spelling bee is run by three adults, each with their own unique background. Logainne, spoiler alert, comes in third in the competition when she misspells the word “vug.”

As well as speaking with a lisp and being politically aware for a middle schooler, Logainne is the daughter of two gay fathers. In the PHS production, this was switched to two mothers due to the cast having more girls than boys.

“It’s pretty kooky,” said Tongel about the musical. “It’s a comedy. And it’s a spelling bee, in essence that’s all it is.”

“We chose the musical specifically because it has a lot of elements of inclusion in it,” said Mitchell. “To the best of my knowledge that’s the first time we’ve had a same-sex couple on stage. If one student in the student body saw that and said, ‘oh my God, that’s me,’ we’re all about representation on that stage.”

The win puts Tongel in a unique group of past winners that includes Emmy-nominated actor Zachary Quinto among others. Quinto, who has appeared TV shows like “Heroes” and “American Horror Story” and the most recent Star Trek movies. He won the Gene Kelly Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1994 for his role as Maj. Gen. Stanley in Central Catholic’s production of “The Pirates of the Penzance.“

Despite the history associated with the award, acting isn’t Tongel’s career of choice. She does hope to continue acting in college, but plans to major in law or business.

“I’m looking to pursue (acting but) not as my major,” said Tongel. “The colleges I’m looking at are for the surrounding area, like New York City. I’m going to audition professionally.”

“I made it absolutely clear that I would support any student who opted to submit for the individual awards,” said Mitchell. “And I know how much of a fierce competitor Ellie is, so I had little doubt that she’d be one of the ones. I think there were several performances in that play that would’ve gotten recognized. I am exceptionally glad that she got herself on film and gets the recognition that she deserved.”

Tongel received the award over the summer, but wasn’t honored by Plum until the Oct. 12 school board meeting where she was presented her trophy.

Tongel’s Best Supporting Actress win beat out four other nominees from across the Pittsburgh area. Elaine Gombos (Shady Side Academy), Isabella Gricar (Westinghouse Arts Academy), Katarina Hudock (Pine-Richland), Leah McConnell (Hampton) and Jay Puff (Baldwin) were the other nominees in the category. Desmon Jackson (Woodland Hills), Tyler Guinto-Brody (Elizabeth Forward) and Audrey Logan (South Fayette) received the Best Supporting Actor, Best Actor and Best Actress awards respectively.