"Life is random and unfair," the cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee sings in a number called "Pandemonium." Live theater also proved pretty random Wednesday at the Hippodrome Theatre, where Spelling Bee launched the subscription season as well as the show's national tour.

But this musical -- which began as an improvised sketch and includes audience interaction -- is better equipped to handle pandemonium than most.

The first glitch came when the production's sound board crashed at the start of the performance. To keep theatergoers occupied while the sound system was repaired, Jennifer Simard, who plays the spelling bee host, taught the audience a Putnam Valley cheer. The problem was quickly fixed, but before long the actress portraying a contestant named Logainne was sidelined by a throat ailment. Her understudy, game Dana Steingold, who happened to be sitting in the audience, rushed into costume and was whisked on stage.

In a sense, Spelling Bee -- which has a Tony Award-winning script by Rachel Sheinkin and a score by William Finn -- is a lighthearted examination of America's fascination with "reality" programs and, in particular, with winners. The reality aspect figures in because four audience volunteers are selected before each performance to compete alongside the actors. (On Wednesday, the youngest lasted a full hour.)

As to winning, the show propounds the philosophy that we're all winners, in our own way. And much of the musical's charm stems from watching the spectacle of a half-dozen nerdy adolescents -- portrayed by adults -- come into their own.

Besides Steingold's earnest Logainne -- whose last name, Schwartzandgrubenierre, combines the surnames of her gay, winning-obsessed dads -- there's goofy Leaf Coneybear (likable Michael Zahler), the home-schooled son of hippies. And there's hormonally tormented Chip Tolentino (comically anxious Miguel Cervantes), a Boy Scout whose "Lament" is the only song that strains the limits of family-friendly entertainment, although it will probably go over the heads of most youngsters. And let's not leave out overachieving Marcy Park (intense Katie Boren), who, during her solo, "I Speak Six Languages," twirls a baton, does the splits and pushes the onstage pianist away so she can take over at the keyboard.

However, the standouts in director James Lapine's touring production are determined Eric Petersen as rude, hygienically challenged William Barfee ("it's pronounced "Bar-FAY!" he keeps bellowing at the vice principal) and sweet Lauren Worsham as Olive Ostrovsky, the pink-overall-clad child of a troubled marriage, whose number, "My Friend, the Dictionary," manages to be heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

The Hippodrome has more than three times as many seats as the show's Broadway home, the Circle in the Square, where it is staged environmentally, with the entire theater transformed into a school gym. Nor is Baltimore's theater the largest venue the show will play. Several factors help keep this mini-musical relatively intimate, however. The first is the volunteer spellers, whose participation allows theatergoers to root for one of their own. In addition, the sense of community is reinforced by incorporating local references into the script -- in this case to Cal Ripken Jr., Kweisi Mfume, Calvert School, etc. Finally, director Lapine has the actors use the theater's aisles for many of their entrances and exits.

Part of the challenge of a spelling bee is learning to hold up under pressure. The cast aced that test on opening night, with indefatigable Simard's unflappable host as the standard-bearer.

Incidentally, ever since it moved from off-Broadway to Broadway, Spelling Bee has been performed without intermission -- as indicated in the program. At Wednesday's performance, however, the intermission was restored to give the quick-thinking, hardworking cast a break. It was well-deserved. Spelling Bee won't go down in the pantheon of great musicals, but it's an enjoyable evening, and on opening night, despite the glitches, it was truly a bee without any losers.