The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will play its final Broadway performance on 20 Jan

After running for three years, the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will play its final Broadway performance on 20 Jan 2008 at Circle in the Square Theatre. When the award-winning musical closes it will have played 1,136 performances and 21 previews

Winner of Two Tony Awards (Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Dan Fogler), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee opened at the Circle In The Square on 2 May 2005, following previews from 15 Apr 2005.

The musical originally opened Off-Broadway at Second Stage on 7 Feb 2005, following previews from 11 Jan 2005. The musical had its world premiere production at Barrington Stage Company in July 2004.

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is about 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.

At each performance, four audience volunteers are invited onstage to participate in the Bee. When 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee completes its New York run, it will have welcomed over 4,500 audience volunteers, almost all appearing on a Broadway stage for the first time. Among the volunteer spellers were JUlie Andrews, Lea Salonga, Raul Esparza, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Stephen Graham, Jeffrey Toobin, Curtis Sliwa, National Spelling Bee Champ Kelly Close, and Al Sharpton.

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin and is based on an idea conceived by Rebecca Feldman. The musical is directed by James Lapine, with choreography by Dan Knechtges, costumes by Beowulf Boritt, lighting by Natasha Katz and sound by Dan Moses Schreier.

The show currently features James Monroe Iglehart (Mitch Mahoney), Greta Lee (Marcy Park), Stanley Bahorek (Leaf Coneybear), Jared Gertner, (William Barfee), Jennifer Simard (Rona Lisa Perretti), Jenni Barber (Olive Ostrovsky), Aaron J. Albano (Chip Tolentino), Daniel Pierce (Vice Principal Douglas Panch) and Sara Inbar (Logainne Schwartzandgrubiennaire).

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Barrington Stage Company and Second Stage Theatre.