William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is headed to Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, and it's bringing a healthy dose of Broadway talent along for the ride. The new staging, part of the venue's Broadway Center Stage series, will run October 11-20 at the Eisenhower Theater.
As for that starry cast, that will include Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet) as Chip Tolentino, Beanie Feldstein (Funny Girl) as Logan Schwartzandgrubenierre, Noah Galvin (Dear Evan Hansen) as Leaf Coneybear, Alex Joseph Grayson (Parade) as Mitch Mahoney, Taran Killam (SNL, Spamalot) as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, Kevin McHale (Glee) as William Barfee, Tony winner Bonnie Milligan (Kimberly Akimbo) as Rona Lisa Peretti, Nina White (Kimberly Akimbo) as Olive Ostrovsky, and Anna Zavelson (The Light in the Piazza) as Marcy Park. Casting is by Geoff Josselson.
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 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.
“Only when all of the unlikeliest of stars align in ‘perfect syzygy’—to quote Bill Finn—do you get a group of such talent in one room together to create something that is sure to be hilarious, moving, and once-in-a-lifetime," says Broadway Center Stage Artistic Director Jeffrey Finn in a statement. "I know that this production will bee nothing short of brilliant."
Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo) is directing and choreographing, with Roberto Sinha serving as music director. The production will feature scenic design by Paul Tate dePoo III, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by David Weiner, and sound design by Haley Parcher. Matthew Lacey will serve as production stage manager.
Visit Kennedy-Center.org.
