The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Pictured (L-R) Autumn Best, Leana Rae Concepcion, Justin Cooley, Kevin McHale, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Philippe Arroyo | Photo: Joan Marcus

Near the end of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical about a group of kids vying to become the local orthographic champion, the children who’ve lost approach the winner and offer congratulations by repeating, “Good bee,” “Good bee,” “Good bee.”

That’s basically what my estimation of the piece itself has always been: it’s a good B.

The original production opened on Broadway during my first year living in New York and quickly became a favorite among my fellow theatre kids. Perhaps they identified with the endearing group of minor misfits onstage; perhaps they just loved that there was a new musical with a slew of roles they could play. And, indeed, in the ensuing years—boasting a small cast, unit set, and feel-good message—Spelling Bee became a staple in theaters across the country, employing many in my circle.

However, I’ve never felt it was fully deserving of the love that it engendered. Finn’s score includes one fantastic song, a couple more decent songs, and a whole lot of forgettable songs. Sheinkin’s Tony-winning book offers an abundance of great laughs and some genuinely moving surprises, but varies too wildly in how earnestly it depicts the contestants, running the gamut from something-adjacent-to-realism to caricature so broad, it would even seem ridiculous on Saturday Night Live. Their writing makes the director’s task of getting everyone to appear as if they belong in the same show pretty damn near impossible.

As a result, Spelling Bee works best if you suspend any need for coherence and allow yourself to enjoy its individual building blocks without worrying too much about how they fit together. On these qualified terms, the revival, which is directed by Danny Mefford (previously best known as the choreographer of Kimberly Akimbo, Dear Evan Hansen, and Fun Home), is more satisfying than James Lapine’s original, though Lapine’s production benefited from having the more interesting venue—Broadway’s mostly-in-the-round Circle in the Square as opposed to a traditional proscenium at New World Stages—and a vastly superior sound design. While Mefford’s reliance on some static set pieces, especially a standing mic placed downstage center, gets a little boring, he has wisely avoided the trap of overstaging the action that ensnares many choreographers-turned-directors. He is clearly a director who trusts his actors and, with one significant exception, it pays off.

Of course, given the terrific cast he’s assembled, Mefford has good reason to trust them. Jason Kravits, one of those sensational character actors who plays bit parts in seemingly everything,¹ is hilarious perfection as a vice principal and substitute judge. He’s joined on the panel by Lilli Cooper, one of New York’s most vocally agile singers, as dexterous as ever playing a former champion who clearly relishes her return to the bee. The charismatic Matt Manuel rounds out the “adult” cast in the role of a counselor that has, thankfully, been reworked for the revival.²

But it’s the actors playing the kids who get the showiest opportunities in Spelling Bee. They always have. It’s no accident that the original production helped launch the careers of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Dan Fogler, Josh Gad, Sarah Stiles, and, my college chum, future Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Greta Lee. It’s easy to envision similarly great futures for the members of Mefford’s company.

The company of Spelling Bee | Photo: Joan Marcus

On the more grounded side of Sheinkin’s spectrum, Philippe Arroyo is very funny and even touching as a contestant who’s in the throes of puberty. He also effortlessly navigates his song’s incredibly challenging tessitura. Leana Rae Concepcion brings infectious joy and a refreshing resistance to stereotypes to her portrayal of a high-achiever.

On the more heightened side, Glee‘s Kevin McHale makes a thoroughly impressive New York stage debut, cleverly reinventing the role that won Fogler a Tony (and later marked Gad’s Broadway debut) as less of a clueless genius and more of a fussy misanthrope whose superior airs are, at least in part, a defense mechanism. Playing a precocious perfectionist, radiant understudy Cecilia Snow was such a delight, it’s hard to imagine that the actress she covers, Autumn Best, could live up to her surname. The only letdown in the whole bunch is Justin Cooley as a homeschooled oddball. Stage management: reel this guy in before he chips a tooth on all that scenery. Cooley’s performance is so distractingly cartoonish, it’s offensive.

Speaking of cartoons, the one cast member whom I haven’t yet mentioned is Betty Boop herself, Jasmine Amy Rogers. In the first major follow-up to her spectacular turn as the title character in last season’s Boop! The Musical, Rogers sheds all of Betty’s glamour and sex appeal, but maintains all the charisma and skill that made her performance so stunning. Her character, a shyer contestant with some problems at home, has always been Spelling Bee’s emotional center, but Rogers brings so much sincerity, sweetness, and raw emotion to her, she emerges as the production’s most memorable character as well. Boop! suggested Rogers’s arrival as the next great talent in musical theatre, and Spelling Bee confirms it.

For all the material’s imperfections, it’s solid entertainment, and when Rogers takes center stage, it’s as thrilling as it would be in any truly great musical to fall under her…spell.

the not-a-bottom line

🌈🌈🌈 (out of five)

a guide to ticket-buying

• As mentioned, the staging relies heavily on the standing mic placed downstage center, so prioritize sitting close to center over sitting close to the stage.

• If you can’t sit center, sit house left for a better view of the judges’ table.

• I got a $49 rush ticket via Telecharge Rush at around 12 PM for a 7 PM performance, and was seated in the third of all the way to the right.

1. Seriously, the man is in everything, and seems equally at home in comedy (e.g., Only Murders in the Building, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and drama (The Undoing, Halston).

2. In the original production, the counselor character was an ex-convict obligated to do community service at the bee, a particularly problematic choice given that he was the only Black man onstage. Now, he’s a personal trainer desperate for any job in the post-pandemic economy. Sheinkin could refine the concept and punch up some of the jokes, but it’s enough of an improvement that I hope it works its way into the leased version of the show.