25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee PREVIEWS (Off-Broadway, New World Stages)

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 5:38pm

Grab a D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y and welcome to Spelling Bee OFF-BROADWAY!

This heartfelt Tony-Award winning musical follows a group of wonderfully unique and impassioned adolescents as they compete for the bee championship. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a joyful night of comedy and quirk that celebrates the pursuit of victory and the gift of being true to oneself.  Running from tonight, November 7 to February 15 at New World Stages. Opening night is Monday, November 17.

 Jasmine Amy Rogers as Olive Ostrovsky, Autumn Best as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Matt Manuel as Mitch Mahoney, Philippe Arroyo as Chip Tolentino, Leana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park, Justin Cooley as Leaf Coneybear, and Kevin McHale as William Barfée. Tony Award nominee Cooper (Tootsie) and Kravits (The Drowsy Chaperone) will play Rona Lisa Peretti and Vice Principal Douglas Panch, respectively.

https://spellingbeenyc.com/

Updated On: 11/8/25 at 05:38 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 9:59pm

Anyone go to the first preview ? 

[dexter3]

Posted: 11/8/25 at 12:06pm

I saw it and I thought it was pretty frickin great. About as faithful of a production/revival as you can imagine, and yet it really hits well and feels fresh. I don't think every actor was delivering at the same level (I mean, it was a first preview), but there were some outstanding performances for sure. Justin Cooley is probably going to have one of the best careers in musical theater, he's just incredible and so so good at whatever he's doing. Jasmine is fantastic too, so likeable and such a fantastic voice. As an ensemble they all sound pretty astounding. Great sound mix too, which I was not expected for a first preview.

Hard to say which performances just need a little time to settle, and which are sort of just "baked", since it was the first preview. I'd be interested to go back later to see how the director molds some of the other performances.

It's a show I'm already recommending to people, so I'd say go. It's a great night and it's so wonderful to just live in the world of these amazing songs and these weird little characters. Especially in this fraught moment we're living in.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/8/25 at 12:17pm

Understudy list:

 

https://understudies.org/show/the-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/9/25 at 12:10pm

Thanks Dexter, I'm going to wait a few weeks to see this one but the cast seems great. And I completely agree with you about Justin, the moment he opened his mouth in Kimberly Akimbo I just knew he was an incredibly special performer. The merch is super cute too!

[TeeLowe]

Posted: 11/12/25 at 10:11am

Saw this on Monday night, it was very well done. The cast was giving their all and you could tell the audience was having a blast. For the audience-participation spellers, we had Nick Offerman (and they played into this by having him spell complicated whiskey and Scotch brand names). I saw on social media that Stephanie J Block also recently was a guest speller. Are they pulling a Oh, Hello/Gutenberg! The Musical! and having a celeb participation for each show?