Jared Gertner Joins Spelling Bee as William Barfee

Jared Gertner will assume the role of William Barfee (pronounced Bar-Fay) in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE beginning Tuesday, January 30, 2007. Mr. Gertner replaces Josh Gad.

Mr. Gertner will make his Broadway debut in SPELLING BEE after having played the role in the San Francisco and Boston productions. In New York, he has performed in My Favorite Year, Minimum Wage and Corduroy (TheatreWorks USA) and has appeared regionally at the Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Rep., PaperMill Playhouse and the Orpheum Theatre. He is a graduate of NYU/ Tisch School of the Arts.

THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is the Tony Award-winning musical with music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman and directed by James Lapine. A hilariously hip musical comedy, SPELLING BEE features six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learning that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser. The Broadway production of SPELLING BEE opened on May 2, 2005 before launching a national tour in September of 2006 and an open-ended engagement in Chicago in March of 2006.

The cast also features Derrick Baskin, Deborah Craig, Barrett Foa, Lisa Howard, Jose Llana, Sarah Saltzberg, Greg Stuhr and Jessica Snow-Wilson.

Tickets for THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE are available through Telecharge, (212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com, or by visiting the Circle in the Square Theatre box office (1633 Broadway). Tickets prices are $95.00 and $50.00.

For more information, please visit www.spellingbeethemusical.com.