Full Cast Set for National Tour of Spelling Bee

The national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will kick off at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre on September 19. The tour will then hit more than 30 cities, including Hartford, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Dallas, San Diego, Seattle, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, Kansas City, and St. Louis.

The show is also being independently produced at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, August 16-September 20, with the touring cast: Katie Boren (Marcy Park), Miguel Cervantes (Chip Tolentino), Alan H. Green (Mitch Mahoney), James Kall (Douglas Panch), Eric Petersen (William Barfee), Jennifer Simard (Rona Lisa Peretti), Sarah Stiles (Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre), Lauren Worsham (Olive Ostrovsky), and Michael Zahler (Leaf Coneybear).

As on Broadway, the production will be directed by James Lapine. Spelling Bee was conceived by Rebecca Feldman. It features a score by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin, with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show concerns a group of young contestants vying for a local spelling bee championship.

Spelling Bee was first presented at Barrington Stage in July 2004. It was produced Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in January 2005, and that production transferred to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre — where it continues to run — on April 15, 2005. Currently, there are sit-down productions of the show in Chicago and San Francisco; another production will open at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre on September 26.