Jay Reiss, who plays vice principal Douglas Panch in the show, explains: "During rehearsals, I would occasionally cross the line a bit and use some material that was pretty filthy. The cast would crack up and director James Lapine would say, 'That is so wrong.' On Sunday evening, October 2, some of that material will be used for the first and possibly last time in front of a live audience."

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. The show is playing at Circle in the Square, located on West 50th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.