Performances begin October 21 for the Theatre Under the Stars production of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Get a sneak peek at the production in the highlights video below.

TUTS Artistic Director Dan Knechtges, choreographer for the musical's original Broadway production, directs and choreographs a cast that includes Tony nominee Kevin Cahoon as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, Mark Ivy as William Barfee, Michael Alonzo as Chip Tolentino, Gemini Quintos as Marcy Park, Julia Krohn as Rona Lisa Peretti, JD Houston as Mitch Mahoney, Marco Camacho as Leaf Coneybear, Abigail Bensman as Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre, and Adell Ehrhorn as Olive Ostrovsky, plus understudies John Ryan Del Bosque and Rebecca Russell.

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2005 after an Off-Broadway run, features a Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin (adapted from a play by Rebecca Feldman) and music and lyrics by the late two-time Tony winner William 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. Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo) will direct an upcoming New York revival, with performances to begin at Off-Broadway's New World Stages November 7, ahead of a November 17 opening night.

“Spelling Bee was really special for me. It was the first show I took to Broadway. Being able to go back and mount a new production looking at it through the lens of all my experience as a director and a choreographer is really exciting and I can’t wait for Houston audiences to experience the hilarity and the heart of this great musical,” said Knechtges in an earlier statement.

The creative team also includes music director Stephen W. Jones, lighting designer Hudson Davis, sound designer Andrew Harper, costume designer Colleen Grady, hair and makeup designer

Jayson Kolbicz, and associate director Courtney Markowitz.

Amy Ramsdell is the production stage manager, and Trinity Nobles and Chrissy Roy are the assistant stage managers. Casting is by Calleri Jensen Davis Casting and Laura Peete.

Performances continue in Houston through November 2.

Visit TUTS.org.