Off-Broadway’s revival of William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin‘s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is adding new faces to its roster of spellers at New World Stages. The production will welcome Nina White (Kimberly Akimbo) as Olive Ostrovsky beginning August 10. As previously announced, Jasmine Amy Rogers will give her final performance in the role August 9.
Also newly joining the revival will be Fernell Hogan as an understudy. Hogan will also step in for his former Kimberly Akimbo co-star Justin Cooley as Leaf Coneybear June 24-July 21, with Cooley set to return July 22.
White and Hogan will join a company that includes Jon Cryer as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, Lilli Cooper as Rona Lisa Peretti (through August 6), Kevin McHale (Glee) as William Barfée, Cooper (Tootsie) as Rona Lisa Peretti, Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet) as Chip Tolentino, Autumn Best as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (through June 22), Leana Rae Concepcion (Merrily We Roll Along) as Marcy Park, and Matt Manuel (Ain’t Too Proud) as Mitch Mahoney. White, last seen on Broadway in The Queen of Versailles, will be reprising her performance from this revival’s earlier bow at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, which also featured McHale, Arroyo, and Concepcion. Casting is by Geoff Josselson.
Disney Channel favorite Laura Marano (Austin and Ally) will succeed Best as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre beginning June 24.
The multi-extended revival, which marks the 2005 musical’s 20th anniversary, is currently set to continue through September 6. Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo) is directing. See what critics had to say about the revival, which opened November 16, 2025, here.
Also back from the Kennedy Center run are 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.