Original Spelling Bee Cast Reunites in LA

Los Angeles is about to get a taste of Broadway as the original cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee reunites for the upcoming month-long production at the Wadsworth Theatre.

The Tony Award winning musical will hope to spell M-A-G-I-C again as the cast, including Derrick Baskin (Mitch Mahoney), Deborah S. Craig (Marcy Park), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Leaf Coneybear), Dan Fogler (William Barfee), Lisa Howard (Rona Lisa Peretti), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Olive Ostrovsky), Jose Llana (Chip Tolentino), Jay Reiss (Douglas Panch), and Sarah Saltzberg (Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre) joins original director James Lapine beginning May 24 through June 17, with an official opening scheduled for May 27.

The production was nominated for six 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical and won two - Dan Fogler won for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Rachel Sheinkin won for Best Book of a Musical. The production was also nominated for six 2005 Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical and won three - for Outstanding Ensemble Performance (which cited the entire company to perform in Los Angeles), Outstanding Book of a Musical by Ms. Sheinkin and Outstanding Director of a Musical by James Lapine.
 
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was originally scheduled for eight weeks at the Brentwood Theatre.  When the producers were able to secure the original cast -- but only for a shorter engagement –- it necessitated the change to the larger, nearby Wadsworth Theatre in order to accommodate the Broadway/L.A. subscribers and the demand from single ticket buyers.

In 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. This tuneful, offbeat and at times heartwarming show offers audience members the opportunity (strictly voluntary) to become part of the action as on-stage spellers.  "Can you spell i-r-r-e-s-i-s-t-i-b-l-e?  Spelling Bee is riotously funny and remarkably ingenious. Gold stars all around," says the New York Times.  In the Wall Street Journal, Spelling Bee was called, "perfect in every possible way – that rarity of rarities, a super-smart musical that is also a bona fide crowd-pleaser. An ingenious blend of simplicity and sophistication, it's not merely funny, it's wise," state press notes.

Spelling Bee is based on C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, an original play by The Farm improv group in New York City.  Spelling Bee had its world premiere production in July 2004 at Barrington Stage Company, Sheffield, MA.  Under the direction of James Lapine, Spelling Bee officially opened Off-Broadway on February 7, 2005 at Second Stage Theatre, where it ran from January 11 through March 20, 2005.  The show then moved to Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre, with previews beginning on April 15, 2005 and an official opening on May 2, 2005, where it continues to play to packed houses.  

Spelling Bee is produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Performances of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will be Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm (the matinee on Saturday, June 9 will be at 1 pm).
 
Tickets for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which range in price from $28 - $83, will go on sale to the general public on Sunday, April 15 at 10am – exactly two years to the day since Spelling Bee's first Broadway performance.  Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at 213-365-3500 or 714-740-7878, or by visiting a Ticketmaster outlet.

For more information, visit www.spellingbeethemusical.com or www.BroadwayLA.org.

Photo by Joan Marcus.