25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Why see 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee?
Six young people on the edge of puberty strive to become adults in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee--the funny, tender, sardonic musical by the composer of Falsettos. These outsiders use competition to define themselves, apart from their crazy families, while their struggle to escape childhood is overseen by grown-ups who never completely succeeded in escaping it themselves.
Key Information
Audience
25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee is approriate for children of all ages. Children under 4 years of age will not be admitted into the Circle in the Square Theater.
Run Time
1 hour 45 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Dates
Finished Jan 20, 2008
Cast
Derrick Baskin, Mitch Mahoney
Deborah Craig, Marcy Park
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Leaf Coneybear
Josh Gad, William Barfee
Lisa Howard, Rona Lisa Peretti
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Olive Ostrovsky
Jose Llana, Chip Tolentino
Greg Stuhr, Douglas Panch
Sarah Saltzberg, Logianne Schwartzandgrubenierre
Deborah Craig, Marcy Park
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Leaf Coneybear
Josh Gad, William Barfee
Lisa Howard, Rona Lisa Peretti
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Olive Ostrovsky
Jose Llana, Chip Tolentino
Greg Stuhr, Douglas Panch
Sarah Saltzberg, Logianne Schwartzandgrubenierre
Creative
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Directed by James Lapine
Set Design by Beowulf Boritt
Costume Design by Jennifer Caprio
Lighting Design by Natasha Katz
Sound Design by Dan Moses Schreier
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Directed by James Lapine
Set Design by Beowulf Boritt
Costume Design by Jennifer Caprio
Lighting Design by Natasha Katz
Sound Design by Dan Moses Schreier
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Awards
TONY AWARDS 2005
Nominations
Best Musical
Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin)
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre (William Finn)
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler)
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Celia Keenan-Bolger)
Best Direction of a Musical (James Lapine)
Reviews
Customer reviews
9 reviews, average rating: (3.8 Stars)
Tyler
Way funnier than I expected!!
Seeing that I saw it in Chicago and not NYC, I'll just do a review on the show. I'm a teenager who loves musicals but I didn't know if I was ready to see a bunch of nerds spell in one. I was baffled by how they preformed and loved how the whole show was put together. They stayed in character the whole time! Marcy kept a straight face through all of the funny words, Logainne's gay dads were hilarious and Will Barfée and Leaf Coneybear were both funny! The audience interaction was pretty neat! Poor Robin Alexis Childress (Olive Ostrovsky, Chicago) almost tripped over my Dad's backpack and ended up leaping over it! All of the cast members autographed my second playbill and were very nice. I would recommend any musical fan to see it! ... Read more
Cam Sawzin
intimate sweet and edgy
I was the cellist who played the Boston run of Spelling Bee. I've
played many runs of "big hit shows" and am here to tell you the
musicans never were bored or tired of participating in this very
magical production. It was never quite the same each night, and
often came close to performance art. Funny, gorgeous score I loved
playing and talented actors who were child-like without pretence.
This show never got old in 3 months of performances. You will love
it!
Best,
Cam ... Read more
Sherry B.
Awesome!
Went with my 17 year old daughter - she loved it - we both did! Had us crying we were laughing so hard! Absolutely hilarious. Can't wait to have the opportunity to see it again! ... Read more
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