Video: Kevin McHale on Playing a Teenager, Again, in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Kevin McHale is no stranger to playing a teenager. After all, he did it on Glee for six seasons unil 2015. Which is why it's funny to him, almost nine years later, he's doing it again onstage in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center.

"I honestly think people like this show because one—as someone who's been in another show about kids in school and playing different archetypes of people often not represented—I think it means a lot to see parts of yourself on stage like this," he tells Playbill. See McHale, and his castmates in the production, break down why the William Finn-Rachel Sheinkin remains so beloved in the video above.

Performances of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continue in the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center through October 20, part of the company's Broadway Center Stage Series.

The cast features Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet) as Chip Tolentino, Leana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park, 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, McHale (Glee) as William Barfee, Tony winner Bonnie Milligan (Kimberly Akimbo) as Rona Lisa Peretti, and Nina White (Kimberly Akimbo) as Olive Ostrovsky.

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.

The cast admit they've been having as much fun backstage as they are onstage.

Says Killam, who is the one judging the spelling bee, with mock seriousness: "The hypocrisy of my role, which is to judge people's bad spelling...I have guilt and shame about it. I'm not a good speller! And yet I judge all of you! Shame on my house!"

Adds Tony winner Milligan, in a deadpan: "I have said that to him."

See the cast perform songs from the show below.

Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo) is directing and choreographing, with Roberto Sinha serving as music director. The production features 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 serves as production stage manager. Casting is by Geoff Josselson.

This production is being licensed by Music Theatre International.

Visit Kennedy-Center.org.