Jose Llana Joins Cast of William Finn's Spelling Bee at Second Stage

Jose Llana will appear in the Second Stage production of William Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. He joins Derrick Baskin, Deborah Craig, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler, Lisa Howard, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jay Reiss and Sarah Saltzberg, who all appeared in the musical's world premiere at Barrington Stage Company this past summer.

Llana made his Broadway debut in a revival of The King and I. He also appeared on the Great White Way in Street Corner Symphony, Rent and Flower Drum Song. His off-Broadway credits include On the Town and Saturn Returns. He also appeared in the national tour of Martin Guerre. In Spelling Bee, Llana will play Tripp Barrington, last year's county champion. The role was played by Robb Sapp in the previous mounting of the tuner.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee had its world premiere at Barrington Stage Company in the Berkshires, where it was co-directed by Rebecca Feldman and Michael Unger, in July. The show, conceived by Feldman, features a score by Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. A new helmer, past Finn collaborator James Lapine, has come on board for the Second Stage mounting.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is scheduled to begin performances off-Broadway on January 11 in preparation for a February 7 opening.