The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is currently playing off-Broadway. If you aren’t familiar with the show, most productions include audience volunteers who play additional contestants in the spelling bee. You can submit your name to be a volunteer before the show starts but if the powers that be know that a celebrity is coming, they will often ask them to be one of the additional contestants. They picked the perfect word for Lin-Manuel Miranda to spell when he saw the show last week.
The current production stars Kevin McHale (Glee), Jasmine Amy Rogers (Boop), Lilli Cooper (Wicked, Hazbin Hotel), Justin Cooley (Kimberly Akimbo), Matt Manuel (Ain’t Too Proud), Philippe Arroyo (& Juliet), Leana Rae Concepcion (Merrily We Roll Along), Autumn Best (The 4400), and Jason Kravtis (a totally Hey It’s That Guy actor).
Fun fact: one of the understudies for this show is Brandon Armstrong who starred as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison in the third national tour of Hamilton (the one that launched in Puerto Rico and starred Lin-Manuel Miranda). Brandon is the great-great-nephew of Louis Armstrong.
