I’ve already labeled Jasmine Amy Rogers as the rare theater chameleon. 

Which isn’t to imply that stage actors lack range. But when it comes to their corporeality, thespians are generally consistent, and at least recognizable from role to role. Obviously they perform external contortions, but in cinema, screen stars like Christian Bale revel in radically transforming their IRL bodies (think: The Machinist).

Jasmine Amy Rogers might be New York theater’s closest counterpart. In Boop, she looked like a pin-up. But in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, she’s the spitting image of a frumpier middle-schooler. The change could be due more to costuming and posture, but it got me thinking…

I can’t remember the last thespian to alter their weight for a character. Is it because the physical endurance demanded by eight performances per week — especially in a musical — requires their healthiest natural size?

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These thoughts brought to you by my second visit to Spelling Bee, during which I decided to keep my eyes peeled on Rogers for the entire show, even when she’s on the mere periphery of the primary action.

I highly recommend experimenting with this locked-in approach on a repeat viewing, because you’ll realize just how much attention the great ones put into every moment.

And Rogers is becoming a great one, utilizing every second to shade in her arc.