Original Spelling Bee Company to Reunite for Los Angeles Production

The upcoming Los Angeles premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will reunite the original cast of the Broadway production, including Tony winner Dan Fogler, Tony nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger and newly-minted TV star Jesse Tyler Ferguson of The Class. The musical will run for a strictly limited four-week run at California's Wadsworth Theatre from May 24 through June 17 with opening night set for May 27.

The complete L.A. cast, who are reprising their roles in the original Broadway company and the show's off-Broadway run at Second Stage, is as follows: Derrick Baskin as Mitch Mahoney, Deborah S. Craig as Marcy Park, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Leaf Coneybear, Dan Fogler as William Barfee, Lisa Howard as Rona Lisa Peretti, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Olive Ostrovsky, Jose Llana as Chip Tolentino, Jay Reiss as Douglas Panch and Sarah Saltzberg as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre.

A hilariously hip musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee features six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learning 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 Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin and was directed by James Lapine.

In order to allow for the Los Angeles reunion, a new company will take over at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre on April 17, headed up by The Daily Show's Mo Rocca as Principal Panch. Jared Gertner will stay on in the role of William Barfee and the company will also welcome Aaron J. Albano as Chip Tolentino, Stanley Bahorek as Leaf Coneybear, Jenni Barber as Olive Ostrovsky, Sara Inbar as Logainne Schwartzandgrubiennaire, James Monroe Iglehart as Mitch Mahoney, Greta Lee as Marcy Park and Jennifer Simard as Rona Lisa Perretti.