Tony winner Alex Newell joins the Off-Broadway revival of William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin‘s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at New World Stages August 7, succeeding original cast member Lilli Cooper. The production will play its final performance October 11.
Newell, who steps into the role of Rona Lisa Peretti, arrives as a new round of spellers readies to join the musical. Nina White will succeed Jasmine Amy Rogers as Olive Ostrovsky beginning August 10, and viral vomic Julian Sewell (aka Paloma Diamond) will succeed Kevin McHale as William Barfée beginning August 18.
The current company also includes Jon Cryer as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, Justin Cooley (Kimberly Akimbo) as Leaf Coneybear, Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet) as Chip Tolentino, Leana Rae Concepcion (Merrily We Roll Along) as Marcy Park, and Matt Manuel (Ain’t Too Proud) as Mitch Mahoney. Understudies Brandon L. Armstrong, Jahbril Cook, DeMarius Copes, Vanessa Magula, Emily Nicole Rudolph, and Cecilia Snow round out the company. Casting is by Geoff Josselson.
Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo) is directing. See what critics had to say about the revival, which opened November 16, 2025, here.
The creative team also includes costume designer Emily Rebholz, lighting designer David Weiner, and sound designer Haley Parcher. New for the Off-Broadway creative team is scenic designer Teresa L. Williams. Carmel Dean serves as music supervisor, with music direction by Elizabeth Doran and general management by 321 Theatrical Management. Rachel Zucker is production stage manager.
The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2005 after an Off-Broadway run, features a Tony-winning book by Sheinkin (adapted from a play by Rebecca Feldman) and music and lyrics by the late two-time Tony winner Finn. The work is set at a fictional middle school spelling bee, where a lovable band of misfits—plus a few lucky audience members—assemble to duke it out on their knowledge of word spellings and languages of origin. The show was a Best Musical nominee at the 2005 Tony Awards, winning for Sheinkin’s book and original cast member Dan Fogler‘s featured performance.
The Off-Broadway return is produced by Barbara Whitman, Aaron Glick, and Timothy Bloom, with co-producers James L. Nederlander, Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Debra Martin Chase, Rachel Sussman, Patrick Catullo, and Ryan Solomon. The musical is presented by special arrangement with David Stone.