Pre-Show Board Games to Precede 'Spelling Bee' in Chicago

Starting Wednesday, December 6, audience members at Chicago's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will get in on the spelling bee buzz by competing in "Game Night at the Bee," a pre-show board game competition held at 6 p.m. before Wednesday night performances of the critically acclaimed Broadway musical comedy.

Participants will gather in the lobby of the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place and challenge other spelling enthusiasts to their favorite word games like Scrabble, Boggle, Taboo and the latest craze in linguistic fun, Across Words, an adrenaline rush of words combining the action of Scrabble with the clue-solving satisfaction of a Sunday crossword puzzle.   The boisterous pre-show battle will be highlighted each week by the one and only Hungry, Hungry Hippos Spelling Championship – the first of its kind anywhere.

After dazzling the competition with Triple Word scores and displaying the many innovative words spelled using their Hungry, Hungry Hippos "catch of the day", audience members will sit back and learn the true meaning of winning and losing at that night's performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The dedicated Chicago production of Spelling Bee is produced by David Stone, who also brought Wicked to Chicago, and directed by James Lapine, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner who also directed the Broadway production.  The musical, conceived by Rebecca Feldman, features music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner William Finn (Falsettos, Elegies) and a Tony Award-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin
with additional material by Jay Reiss.

"In the hilariously hip musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser."

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee performs in an open-ended engagement at Chicago's Drury Lane Theatre (175 East Chestnut Street).  The performance schedule is as follows:  Wednesdays at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 & 6:30 p.m.

Tickets range in price from $25 - $69.50 and are available at the Drury Lane Box Office (175 East Chestnut Street) as well as all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St. and 18 W. Monroe St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including all Carson Pirie Scott stores, Tower Records, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at ticketmaster.com.

Discounted parking for Spelling Bee theatre-goers is available at garages conveniently located near the theatre, for as low as $7.50 (rates based on availability, time and garage location).  For complete information visit Chicago">www.SpellingBeeTheMusical.com/Chicago.

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