CAN YOU SPELL
N-O-N-S-T-O-P L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R?

Photo: Cast from "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" touring production.

Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, is coming to Playhouse Square May 6-18, 2008, as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series. The New York Times calls it “i-r-r-e-s-i-s-t-i-b-l-e, riotously funny and remarkably ingenious…Gold stars all around,” and audiences across the country are making it a huge “s-u-c-c-e-s-s!”

In THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE six endearing, self-effacing and orthologically gifted middle-schoolers use the spelling bee competition to define themselves as they vie for winner, not runner-up. They sing, dance, perform gymnastics, twirl a baton, spell with one foot, lisp, whine, gaze, drool, and wish – wish for success. They are nerdy kids trying to deal with adolescence, middle school and all that goes with it. Their struggle to escape childhood is overseen by three grown-ups who never completely succeeded in escaping it themselves: a nostalgic former spelling bee winner, a somewhat mad Vice-Principal, and the Official Comfort Counselor. Joining in on the fun – or frustration – are four audience members who also become part of the spelling competition.

The Wall Street Journal calls SPELLING BEE “perfect in every possible way – that rarity of rarities, a super-smart musical that is also a bona fide crowd-pleaser. An ingenious blend of simplicity and sophistication, it’s not merely funny, it’s wise.”

SPELLING BEE is based on a non-musical entitled C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, an original play by The Farm improv group in the East Village in New York City. It went through the usual out-of-town growth to Off-Broadway to Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre. It closed this past January 20, 2008, running for 1157 performances and previews on Broadway.

Starring in SPELLING BEE are Katie Boren, Roberta Duchak, James Kall, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Justin Keyes, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Vanessa Ray, former Cleveland youth theater director Eric Roediger, and Dana Steingold.

The touring production of SPELLING BEE is directed by James Lapine, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner who also directed the Broadway production. The musical, conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with additional material written by Jay Reiss, features music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner William Finn and a Tony Award-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin. SPELLING BEE features scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Jennifer Caprio, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Dan Moses Schrier, and choreography by Dan Knechtges.