Spelling Bee Goes Blue Again for Three More Performances

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is bringing back its popular "for-mature-audiences-only" version of the usually family-friendly show on January 22, February 5 and March 5. It is recommended that kids should not attend these performances.

When the first blue Bee was presented on October 2, former cast member Jay Reiss--who continues to write new material for the show--recalled that the inspiration for the more risqué version of the show started during rehearsals. "I would occasionally cross the line a bit and use some material that was pretty filthy," said Reiss. "The cast would crack up, and director James Lapine would say, 'That is so wrong.' At the first 'adults-only' Bee in October, we used some of that material for the first time in front of an audience. People were suitably appalled," he said, "which pleased us greatly."

In The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser.

The show features music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and was conceived by Rebecca Feldman. The cast currently includes Derrick Baskin, Deborah S. Craig, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler, Lisa Howard, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Llana, Sarah Saltzberg and Greg Stuhr.