The musical's creators first experimented with this format, in which some of the words the contestants are asked to spell are not suitable for children's ears, on October 2, and had great success.

The show was conceived by Rebecca Feldman, has music and lyrics by William Finn, and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. Jay Reiss, who originated the role of Douglas Panch, also writes material for the show. It currently stars Derrick Baskin, Deborah S. Craig, Jesse Tyler-Ferguson, Dan Fogler, Lisa Howard, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Lllana, Sarah Saltzberg, and Greg Stuhr.