The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

An eclectic group of six pre-pubescent students arrive at the spelling contest, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Each of them dreams of winning for very different reasons. We discover Olive, shy, hyperallergic William Barfee, Chip who discovers his budding puberty, Leaf who is not convinced to be smart enough, Marcy disappointed with his constant success and Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, politically conscious and who only wants to impress his gay parents.
With songs, hilarious and touching, each competitor reveals their hopes, struggles and passions as they work their way through the competition.

At each show, 4 spectators are invited on stage and participate in the spelling contest. During the show, the actors help them position themselves on stage. One by one they are eliminated with words that cannot be spelled correctly. They all leave the stage with a hug and a juice!

Find performance at the 2005 Tony Awards

General information
  • Style : Comedy, Audience Participation
  • Theme : Humor, Childhood, School, Competition
  • year of creation : 2004
Music
  • Composer : William Finn
  • Lyricist : William Finn
  • Librettist : Rachel Sheinkin
  • Author (other) : Rebecca Feldman
  • famous songs : Did you know? The order of the songs does not appear in the Playbill because the timing depends on the songs depends on the spectators but also not to reveal who wins the Spelling Bee! "The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" "The Spelling Rules" "My Favorite Moment of the Bee" "My Friend, the Dictionary" "The First Goodbye" "Pandemonium" "I'm Not That Smart" "The Second Goodbye" "Magic Foot" "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor" "My Unfortunate Erection/Distraction (Chip's Lament)" "Woe is Me" "Spelling Montage" "I Speak Six Languages" "Jesus" "The I Love You Song" " Second" "Weltanschauung" "Barfée and Olive Pas de Deux" "The Champion" "Finale" "The Last Goodbye"
  • Famous performers : Lisa Howard, Betsy Wolfe, Katherine Kingsley, Steve Pemberton, Derrick Baskin, James Monroe Iglehart, Ako Mitchell, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jenni Barber, Dan Fogler, Jared Gertner, Sarah Saltzberg, Greta Lee, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Stanley Bahorek, Jose Llana, Harry Hepple, Rory O'Malley, Josh Gad.
kinships
  • Inspired by another work : The musical is based on the improvisational play "DUSK" by Rebecca Feldman and starred New York improv troupe: The Farm.
Awards
  • Appointments and Awards : The Off-Broadway production won 4 Drama Desk Awards and 2 Theater World Awards, then for its transfer to Broadway won 2 Tonys.
  • Number of years on display : 3
  • Number of performances : 1136
  • anecdotes : During some shows, the spectators are all over 16 years old. They are invited to "parent-teacher conferences". These performances are peppered with improvised sexual references during rehearsals.
Currently on stage