Posted: 7/25/25 at 2:10pm
I want to get my husband tickets to Spelling Bee for his birthday. Do you have any ideas how they pick volunteers to participate? I’d love to surprise him with it.
Posted: 7/25/25 at 2:12pm
It's not usually something that's done in advance. From what I know from other productions. you sign up the day of. They have a table outside the theater and you sign up that way. No guarantees.
Posted: 7/25/25 at 5:44pm
When I did it on Broadway, there was a display in the lobby where people could sign up. There were maybe 7 or 8 of us who were interested; a staffer (stage manager?) took us into a little room and did a very quick group interview/rap session. We left the room and a few minutes later she came out and gave the "winners" a little paper form and a plastic "finalist" name tag. (We got to keep the tag, along with the juice box Mitch gave us when we were eliminated from the spelling bee. I got mine signed by Josh Gad, James Monroe Iglehart, and Jennifer Simard after the show.)
If I had any advice, I'd recommend that your husband choose clothing and present himself in a way that, while not too "out there," gives the judges something to make fun of if he's chosen. I assume that's what the staffer was looking for.
Posted: 7/25/25 at 5:56pm
kdogg36 said: "When I did it on Broadway, there was a display in the lobby where people could sign up. There were maybe 7 or 8 of us who were interested; a staffer (stage manager?)took us into a little room and did a very quick group interview/rap session. We left the room and a few minutes later she came out and gave the "winners" a little paper formand a plastic"finalist" name tag. (We got to keep the tag, along with the juice box Mitch gave us when we were eliminated from the spelling bee. I got mine signed by Josh Gad, James Monroe Iglehart, and Jennifer Simard after the show.)
If I had any advice, I'd recommend that your husband choose clothing and present himself in a way that, while not too "out there," gives the judges something to make fun of if he's chosen. I assume that's what the staffer was looking for."
Do you still have the juice box? 
lol
Posted: 7/25/25 at 6:30pm
Indeed I do! A little faded after almost 20 years (wow). Iglehart and Simard on the front, Josh Gad on one side, and Stanley Bahorek on the other.
Posted: 7/25/25 at 11:01pm
When this revival production was at the Kennedy Center last year, they had a table on the side where you can sign up. You had to sign off a waiver and include your seat location. When I went, there was already a stack of papers (over 30?) so a lot of people signed up. When folks were called, they all seemed to sit on an aisle seat. Not sure if that helps or not. Also, at least one of the guest spellers was a celebrity. At the performance I saw, Jesse Tyler Ferguson was a guest speller!
I guess we'll find out more when previews start.
