For endearing family fun that only triggers nostalgia and laughs about middle schools and students’ serious obsessions about words, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is your musical. Currently at New World Stages in its second extension, the Off-Broadway revival of the ebullient show runs in the live time of the competition, from the opening to the celebration of the winner. With William Finn’s music and lyrics and Rachel Sheinkin’s book providing delight and plentiful humor, the production was conceived by Rebecca Feldman. Jay Reiss is responsible for the additional material. This revival runs until September 6, 2026.

Directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford, with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Carmel Dean, a nod goes to James Lapine, the original director of the show which premiered on Broadway and ran from 2005-2008. This updated version presented at New World Stages, takes advantage of the venue for jokes. Excitedly Logainne (Autumn Best) asks Leaf Coneybear (Justin Cooley), “Have you ever been in a gymnasium next to a production of Heathers before?”

Teresa L. Williams’ set design effectively puts the students centrally on bleacher seats with easy entrances and exits of those eliminated, including the volunteer audience members who portray middle-school students and come from audience seats. Looking at the walls of the audience section, one sees the school’s mascot, “Piranhas” in bold letters, on the wall adjacent to stage left and artfully rendered, smiling, toothy fishes looking for prey on the adjacent wall stage right.

Truly, the reference to ferociousness applies. All the competitors want to win, and some connive insidiously against their opponents. And, some have caveats. The students reveal their hidden motivations and emotional reasons for competing to the audience in song as the competition gathers steam.

Cleverly adapting the script to today’s relevance, we note Logainne’s humorous comments about AOC and current events. These land to a surprised, pleased audience. Indeed, to those who may have thought that spelling bees in general are a throwback to the 20th century, families of school age children know that national and local spelling bees are hotter than ever. The 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee is scheduled for May 26-28, 2026, proudly keeping an almost 100 year tradition happily running.

What makes this show charming and poignant are the quirky personalities of the students, unafraid or thankfully unable to fit in with their peers because of their extraordinary spelling talents. Refreshingly, unlike cut-out AI duplicates, they range along a continuum from “forced by her parents to perfectionism,” Marcy Park (Lana Rae Concepcion), to Glee actor Kevin McHale who portrays William Barfée (pronounced “Bar-fay”) in an uproarious turn. Barfée’s genius spelling is because of his magical foot which he uses to print out the word spellings on the floor before he states them.

The kids are humorously idiosyncratic which makes them human and authentically adorable, with Leaf Coneybear as the most loving, sweet and positivist of anyone I’ve experienced in a long time. Spoiler here. At his elimination, Leaf responds with upbeat grace and joy. Though he loses, his equipoise reveals him to be an emotional winner with wisdom that teaches important lessons about balance. The individual in the East-Wing demolished White House should sit at the feet of Coneybear and learn “how to lose with dignity, grace and beauty.”

The adult standouts include audience members selected beforehand to front as children with hilarious results. The evening I saw the show, the adults couldn’t stop laughing before, during and after their eliminations. The one who received the word “cow” was over- the-top, drop-dead funny.

Additionally, as the Vice Principal Douglas Punch and Comfort Counselor Mitch Mahoney, Jason Kravits and Matt Manuel guide those eliminated with aplomb and pacing thanks to Mefford’s astute direction. Kravis, who announces whether the contestant at the microphone spelled their word correctly or incorrectly creates suspense and adds nuanced surprise in a calm, soft-spoken voice.

The beautiful score is organically woven with the jokes in the dialogue to reveal the lives of these believable characters. Carmel Dean’s top notch music supervision and vocal arrangements allow the songs to shine their hope, heartbreak and humor. Paramount are the dark undercurrents revealed in the lives of the students. Present is the notion that the upbeat momentum charged by the students’ exuberance and youthfulness will fade as all happiness is fleeting. But then, there is always next year’s competition.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee runs 1 hour 40 minutes with no intermission through September 6, 2026.
spellingbeenyc.com.