NOW AVAILABLE
The Tony Award winning musical, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, is now available for licensing! The William Finn/Rachel Sheinkin comedy opened on Broadway in the spring of 2005, where it delighted audiences, received critical acclaim, and earned three Drama Desks (Outstanding Book of a Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical, and Outstanding Ensemble Performance) and two Tony Awards (Best Book and Best Featured Actor). The story focuses on six quirky young competitors at a spelling bee who learn that they don’t have to win to be winners.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a great choice for community and regional theatres. Its small cast and almost lack of a set-the show could be done in a school gym or cafeteria without adding a thing-make it ideal for those working with a tight budget. Moreover, the material for each character is so strong-and because no one character gets a disproportionate amount of stage time-so it’s very much an ensemble piece. Three or four audience members are invited to take part of every performance, bringing the entire audience into the show. Another unique characteristic of the show is its heavy use of improvisation. For example, the character of Vice Principal Panch, who provides words to the students, improvises a sentence for each word, as well as fun facts about the contestants. This would be a perfect role for a male actor who is more of a comic than a singer.
The show also features flexible casting. Although the original Broadway cast included two Asian-American actors and an African-American actor, nothing in the script specifies the ethnicity of any character. In fact, casting actors of different ethnicities brings out different aspects of the material. The relationship between Rona Peretti, who supervises the bee, and an over-achieving student, Marcy, is very different when Asian-American actresses play both characters, for example; on Broadway Rona was played by a white actress, but her understudy was Asian-American. Similarly, an African-American, Latina, or white actress would each color the role of Marcy in fascinating ways, and this is also true of any of the other characters.
To license THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, check out its MTI show page. To share your thoughts on the show, visit THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE’s MTI ShowSpace page. Learn more about the show at its official website.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Is any of the touchy subject matter changed in the school edition. I teach in a fairly conservative area of the country.
How do you recommend addressing the erection song for high school students? Just cut it? Then the character loses quite a bit for his part. Your response would be appreciated.
There is an alternate lyric that has been approved by the author for that song that is included with the libretto. The author greatly prefers that the original lyric be used if at all possible, but if otherwise your theatre cannot do the show, the alternate lyric will be acceptable.
Marcus, is the alternate lyric in the school edition or the full version. I have already obtained rights for the full version but will be doing it for high school before the school edition was released. Any suggestions?
who’s got more info on alternate lyrics? and question above regarding full v. school edition?
anyone have an answer regarding alternate lyrics and full v. school editions
If you’d like to see the lyric changes, you can order a perusal copy of the show.
Our youth theater group did the show in January. There is no high school edition for the show, but there is alternate lyrics for My Unfortunate Erection in the libretto. Rachel Sheinkin attending our opening night performance, along with Sarah Saltzberg. the original Logainne on Broadway. We used the alternate lyrics and the author was just fine with it. Since the age group of our cast was 13 - 22, we felt that our audiences were going to be made up of many families, so we did not want to push the envelope. If it is stage properly, everyone gets the meaning and nothing is lost in translation.
I can’t find out what the suggested Orchestra/Band should be…I have a pianist and a percussionist….working on finding a guitar. Any other instruments dire, or can we pull if off with just those 3?
Those three should be fine! The piano-conductor score has all the other parts, so if there’s a part where it feels like something’s missing, the pianist can fill it in. Good luck!