PHOTO CALL: R-e-h-e-a-r-s-a-l-s for Finn's Spelling Bee Underway at Second Stage

By Morgan Allen
and Ernio Hernandez
17 Dec 2004

From Top: Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sarah Saltzberg
From Top: Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sarah Saltzberg

William Finn, beloved composer of Falsettos, has collaborated with book writer Rachel Sheinkin on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a new musical now in rehearsals at New York's Second Stage Theatre.

The musical, conceived by Rebecca Feldman, follows "six young people on the edge of puberty [who] strive to become adults." Their story is told in the context of that most American of competitions, the yearly spelling bee.

At left, castmembers Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sarah Saltzberg rehearse the show at an open press rehearsal on Dec. 17. Below, Sheinkin, Finn, director James Lapine and Feldman are seen at the Second Stage Rehearsal Hall on West 43rd Street in New York City.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is currently scheduled to begin previews on Jan. 11, 2005, with an opening on Feb. 7.

Photos are by Aubrey Reuben




From Left: Rachel Sheinkin, William Finn, James Lapine and Rebecca Feldman
From Left: Rachel Sheinkin, William Finn, James Lapine and Rebecca Feldman