The six contestants in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in York Light Opera Company’s production
SIX awkward spelling champions learn that winning – and losing – is not everything in York Light Opera Company’s summer production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin, the 2004 American musical will be staged at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from June 24 to July 4 under the direction of Neil Wood and musical direction of Martin Lay, at the helm of a four-piece band.
Be prepared for a riotous ride as an eclectic group of six “mid-pubescents” battle for the spelling championship of a lifetime in a fast-paced, wildly humorous show replete with audience participation.
While candidly disclosing touching stories from their home life, the tweens spell their way through a series of – potentially made-up – words, each hoping to never hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing ding of the bell that signals a spelling mistake.
Lotty Farmer’s Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre and Mikhail Lim’s Mitch Mahoney rehearsing a scene from York Light’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Taking part will be Lotty Farmer’s Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre; Hannah Shaw’s Olive Ostrovsky; Rosa Burns’ Marcy Park; Daniel Wood’s Leaf Coneybear; James Dickinson’s Chip Tolentino and Stephen Wright’s William Barfeé.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee promises unforgettable entertainment with a heart-warming message highlighting themes of friendship, identity and perseverance, all while celebrating the awkwardness and excitement of growing up,” says Neil, as York Light looks to build on the success of Eurobeat and Annie, Martyn Knight’s final production in the director’s chair.
“I love this quirkly little show that was first done as a workshop show in 2004 and then played off-Broadway and made its Broadway debut in 2005. Spelling Bee is one of those shows that invites the audience into the world of the spellers to cheer, to laugh, to cry and just have a wonderful evening. It’s back in New York, playing off-Broadway, winning every award insight, playing in a complex with six productions going on in one building.
“It has top-quality writing and is just as relevant today from when it was first performed and we’ve upated with a reference to President Trump! With a show that has such a cult following, once you see it, you will want to come back over and over again!”
Vice-principal Douglas Panch (Neil Foster), left, watching the contestants in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Part of the fun will be audience members’ opportunity to be guest spellers in each performance. “I’ll be chatting beforehand, saying, ‘do you fancy trying out your spelling’? It’s not compulsory, but I’m confident we will find people to do it,” says Neil.
The show has echoes of Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills and Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers in having adult actors play children. “The six main spellers in the competition are 12/13-year-old adolescents, and most people will be able to recognise themselves in at least one of them,” says Neil.
“There’s a geek; a zany, off-the-rails one; an alpha-male; a future businesswoman, already looking career driven; a young politician, being brought up by two dads, and a girl whose parents adore her but they’re always busy pursuing their own lives. I think the audience will end up rooting for the one they identify with the most.
“There’s a proper plot in this character-centred show, whereas there wasn’t in Eurobeat, which was more like ‘an experience’. The three adults running the event are important too: the one-time champion (Katie Brier’s Rona Lisa Piretti), the vice-principal (Neil Foster’s Douglas Panch) and the comfort counsellor (Mikhail Lim’s Mitch Mahoney), who is there to look after the children, should they not success in the spelling bee. They all have a back story, and the stories intertwine with little bits of flashback.”
Mikhail Lim’s comfort counsellor Mitch Mahoney in rehearsal
The fact that the children are played by adults, “you just get transfixed by them,” suggests Neil. “It calls on a totally different skill set for the actors , and one of the things that we’ve really worked on is the consistency of the characters as they’re on stage all the time, so they have to hold those characters traits at all times.”
Should you be wondering, Neil’s research reveals there are no fewer than nine Putnam Counties in the United States. “But then there are 20 different Springfields there by the way, including the one in Missouri in The Sopranos and the town in The Simpsons!” he says.
“We’ve given it over to the company members to find their accents for our show, which is set at a regional heat before the national final in Washington,”
The setting will be a school gymnasium, where the young spellers must exercise their minds. “We’ll have a basketball hoop on the set to give a sense of a gym,” says Neil.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s opening, he enthuses: “What I love about the show is how the audience can forget about the outside world for two hours, when they’ll smile, they’ll be moved by the story, they’ll have fun – and you’ve got to have fun at the theatre!
“We giggle at rehearsals from start to finish, and you have to do that with this piece because, if we’re not having fun, nor will the audience, but I guarantee they will come out with grins on their faces.”
York Light Opera Company in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 24 to 27 & June 30 to July 4, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 2pm Sunday matinee (28/6/2026). Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.