Jon Cryer Will Join Spelling Bee Musical Off-Broadway

The Two and a Half Men star will be Vice Principal Douglas Panch in the revival.

April 14, 2026 By Logan Culwell-Block

The Off-Broadway revival of William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is adding some more star power to its cast list! Two and a Half Men and Pretty in Pink star Jon Cryer will join the company as Vice Principal Douglas Panch beginning May 11 at New World Stages.

The gig is a return for Cryer, who began his career on the stage; he made his Broadway debut in Brighton Beach Memoirs standing by for and later replacing Matthew Broderick as Eugene Jerome in the Neil Simon play. He continued to make a handful of stage appearances in his early career, though gained notoriety on the the screen in movies like No Small Affair, Pretty in Pink, and Hiding Out. His last major stage return was as David in the New York Philharmonic's 2011 concert production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company.

In Spelling Bee, Cryer will succeed original cast member Jason Kravits, taking his final bow in the role May 10. The multi-extended run, which marks the 2005 musical's 20th anniversary, is currently set to continue through September 6. Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo) is directing. See what critics had to say about the revival, which opened November 16, 2026, here.

Cryer will join a cast that includes Justin Cooley (Kimberly Akimbo) as Leaf Coneybear, Kevin McHale (Glee) as William Barfée, Lilli Cooper (Tootsie) as Rona Lisa Peretti, Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet) as Chip Tolentino, Leana Rae Concepcion (Merrily We Roll Along) as Marcy Park, Jasmine Amy Rogers (BOOP!) as Olive Ostrovsky, Autumn Best (Woman of the Hour) as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, and Matt Manuel (Ain't Too Proud) as Mitch Mahoney. McHale, Arroyo, and Concepcion are all reprising their performances from this staging's earlier bow at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center.

Also back from the Kennedy Center run are costume designer Emily Rebholz, lighting designer David Weiner, and sound designer Haley Parcher. New for the Off-Broadway creative team is scenic designer Teresa L. Williams. Carmel Dean serves as music supervisor, with music direction by Elizabeth Doran and general management by 321 Theatrical Management. Rachel Zucker is production stage manager.

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2005 after an Off-Broadway run, features a Tony-winning book by Sheinkin (adapted from a play by Rebecca Feldman) and music and lyrics by the late two-time Tony winner Finn. The work is set at a fictional middle school spelling bee, where a lovable band of misfits—plus a few lucky audience members—assemble to duke it out on their knowledge of word spellings and languages of origin. The show was a Best Musical nominee at the 2005 Tony Awards, winning for Sheinkin's book and original cast member Dan Fogler's featured performance.

The Off-Broadway return is produced by Barbara Whitman, Aaron Glick, and Timothy Bloom, with co-producers James L. Nederlander, Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Debra Martin Chase, Rachel Sussman, Patrick Catullo, and Ryan Solomon. The musical is presented by special arrangement with David Stone.