by Chris Peterson
There are some shows that belong exactly where they started. Not because they lack the scope or ambition for something bigger, but because their intimacy is their power. That’s why the news that The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is returning to New York this fall, specifically to New World Stages Off-Broadway, feels like a perfect and poetic fit.
Spelling Bee has always thrived in smaller spaces. It doesn’t need a huge Broadway house to work its magic. In fact, putting it on a big stage risks losing what makes it special. This is a musical that’s better when you can see every twitch, every side glance, every fumbled letter. You want to feel like you’re sitting right there in the gymnasium, holding your breath as a kid you’ve never met tries to spell “crepuscule” in front of an entire audience. Off-Broadway isn’t a compromise for this show. It’s a homecoming.
The revival will run from November 7 through February 15, with an official opening night set for November 17. That timing is no coincidence. It lines up beautifully with the show’s twentieth anniversary, which makes this return not just welcome but deeply meaningful. For those of us who remember its original run at Second Stage, followed by the Broadway transfer in 2005, this new production feels like a love letter to where it all began.
It will be directed by Danny Mefford, making his Off-Broadway directing debut. His name may be most familiar from his choreography on Dear Evan Hansen, Fun Home, and Kimberly Akimbo, but he also led a well-received production of Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center last fall. He understands the heart of this material. He knows how to find the emotional pulse of a show without drowning it in sentiment, and he has a gift for staging moments that feel honest and human.
This revival also carries a sense of tribute. Earlier this year, composer William Finn passed away. His music was messy, funny, emotional, and unapologetically specific. You always knew when you were hearing a William Finn score. He never chased trends. He wrote about odd people with big feelings, and he trusted audiences to keep up. Spelling Bee is one of his most beloved works, and this revival is a chance to remember what made his voice so vital.
And if it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, let me remind you just how wonderfully strange this show is. A spelling bee as a musical? With audience volunteers and improv comedy and heartfelt ballads about deadbeat dads and pressure-induced panic attacks? It sounds like a gimmick. But it never is. It’s tender and hilarious, sharp and silly, and the kind of show that surprises you with its depth just when you least expect it.
What excites me most is how timeless the material still feels. The show is not really about spelling. It’s about wanting to be seen. It’s about kids who are trying so hard to win something, anything, that they’re willing to memorize the entire dictionary. It’s about adults who never figured it out and are now pretending they have. It’s about the awkwardness of being alive and the surprising beauty in saying something out loud for the first time.
This revival is not just a nod to the past. It’s an invitation to gather in a space that feels personal, where the jokes land closer and the heartbreak feels more immediate. It’s not trying to be bigger. It’s trying to be better. And for this show, that’s exactly the right spelling.
