Lilli Cooper and Jason Kravits Join Spelling Bee Revival

Broadway veterans Lilli Cooper and Jason Kravits will join the cast of the off-Broadway revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which is set to begin previews at New World Stages on November 7 ahead of an official opening night November 17. Cooper will play Rona Lisa Peretti, while Kravits will star as Vice Principal Douglas Panch.

Cooper was last seen on Broadway in The Cottage. She was nominated for a 2019 Tony Award for her performance in Tootsie. Kravits provided the voice for Sneezy in the remake of Disney’s Snow White. He also created the hilarious Schoolhouse Rock parody “The Project 2025 Song.”

They join a star-studded (and previously announced) cast that includes Jasmine Amy Rogers (BOOP!) as Olive Ostrovsky, Autumn Best (Netflix’s Woman of the Hour) as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Matt Manuel (Ain’t Too Proud) as Mitch Mahoney, Kevin McHale (Glee) as William Barfée, Tony Award Nominee Justin Cooley (Kimberly Akimbo) as Leaf Coneybear, Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet) as Chip Tolentino, and Leana Rae Concepcion (Merrily We Roll Along) as Marcy Park.

Featuring a Tony Award-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin (Striking 12) and a score by Tony Award winner William Finn (Falsettos), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is about the quirky contestants (and even stranger parents) drawn to a spelling competition. After seeing the original production in 2005, TheaterMania’s critic declared, “The American musical comedy — with equal emphasis on the ‘musical’ part and the ‘comedy’ part — is alive and well.”

This new production is directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford (choreography on Kimberly Akimbo and Dear Evan Hansen), with scenic design by Teresa L. Williams (The Preacher’s Wife), costume design by Emily Rebholz (Dear Evan Hansen), lighting design by David Weiner (Suddenly Last Summer), and sound design by Haley Parcher (Spamalot). The Music Supervisor is Carmel Dean (The Notebook), and the Music Director is Elizabeth Doran.

Finn, a composer noted for his ability to wed catchy melodies to prosaic lyrics, died in April.