For Immediate Release: August 28, 2006
Media Contact: DeVida Jenkins or Albert DeCola, Merriam Theater, 215.732.5997

Producer David Stone is pleased to announce the first national tour of the Tony® Award-winning musical comedy THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, coming to Philadelphia, at the Merriam Theater, 250 South Broad Street, from October 17 – 22, 2006, for eight performances.

SPELLING BEE is directed by James Lapine, the Tony® Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods) who also directed the Broadway production. The musical, conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with additional material written by Jay Reiss, features music and lyrics by Tony® Award-winner William Finn (Falsettos, Elegies, A New Brain) and a Tony® Award-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin. SPELLING BEE features scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Jennifer Caprio, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier and choreography by Dan Knechtges.

With the launch of the national tour, there will be four North American companies of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (can you spell U-B-I-Q-U-I-T-O-U-S?).

While SPELLING BEE continues its Broadway run at the Circle in the Square Theatre, an open-ended engagement is running in Chicago at the Drury Lane Theatre/Water Tower Place and another starts performances in Boston at the Wilbur Theatre on September 26, 2006.

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. This tuneful, offbeat and at times heartwarming show offers audience members the opportunity (strictly voluntary) to become part of the action as on-stage spellers. “Can you spell i-r-r-e-s-i-s-t-i-b-l-e? SPELLING BEE is riotously funny and remarkably ingenious. Gold stars all around,” says the New York Times. In the Wall Street Journal, SPELLING BEE was called, “perfect in every possible way – that rarity of rarities, a super-smart musical that is also a bona fide crowd-pleaser. An ingenious blend of simplicity and sophistication, it’s not merely funny, it's wise.”

Starring in THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE are Katie Boren (Marcy Park), Miguel Cervantes (Chip Tolentino), Alan H. Green (Mitch Mahoney), James Kall (Douglas Panch), Eric Petersen (William Barfee), Jennifer Simard (Rona Lisa Peretti), Sarah Stiles (Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre), Lauren Worsham (Olive Ostrovsky) and Michael Zahler (Leaf Coneybear).

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE in based on C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, an original play by The Farm improv group in New York City. SPELLING BEE had its world premiere production in July 2004 at Barrington Stage Company, Sheffield, MA. Under the direction of James Lapine, SPELLING BEE officially opened Off-Broadway on February 7, 2005 at Second Stage Theatre, where it ran from January 11 through March 20, 2005. The show then moved to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre (where it continues its run), with previews beginning on April 15, 2005 and an official opening on May 2, 2005. SPELLING BEE is produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Barrington Stage Co. and Second Stage Theatre.

Showtimes are Tuesday through Friday at 8:00pm; Saturday at 2:00pm and 8:00pm and Sunday at 1:00pm and 6:30pm. Tickets range from $25.00 to $73.50.

Tickets go on sale by phone and internet Sunday, September 10 at 10AM and at the box office Monday, September 11 at 10AM. To obtain tickets by phone in Philadelphia, call Ticketmaster at 215-336-1234; in New Jersey, 856-338-9000 and in Delaware, 302-984-2000. Tickets may also be obtained by logging on to www.ticketmaster.com or www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/philadelphia.

Sponsored in part by CBS3; The Inquirer; WBEB-B101; KYW NEWSRADIO and The Hilton Family Hotels.

This production is part of the Broadway Across America – Philadelphia series at the Merriam Theater.

For more information about THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, please visit www.spellingbeethemusical.com.

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