Bay Street Players Presents THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Bay Street Players will present the Tony Award winning musical, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE from February 3rd through February 26th.

About the show: "This musical takes a hilarious and heartwarming look at the pressures of growing up through the eyes of quirky yet lovable characters competing for the title of spelling bee champ."

SPELLING BEE was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical; it took home two 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical. The show was also awarded three Drama Desk Awards that Broadway season. This mod musical comedy follows six young people in the throes of puberty, who are overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, as they learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. SPELLING BEE is recommended for theatergoers 15 and older.

The cast features Jeff Lindberg, Jonathan Olson and Ashley Willsey as the adults in the musical. Jacob Baltunis, John Gracey, Astrid Gonzalez, Katelyn Long, Carly Skubick, and Sage Starkey are the adult actors portraying the students.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM SPELLING BEE has music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conception by Rebecca Feldman, and original direction by James Lapine. It is directed by Bay Street Players Artistic Director, David W. Clevinger, and includes music direction by John DeHass and choreography by Amanda Warren.

SPELLING BEE opens February 3 and closes February 26. Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00 p.m. Sunday matinee performances begin at 2:00 p.m. Also, there is one Wednesday performance on February 15 at 8:00p.m., and one Saturday matinee performance on February 25 at 2:00 p.m. Patrons attending the opening night production on February 3 are invited to a complimentary reception with the cast following the performance at Olivia’s Coffeehouse & Bistro.

Tickets are $20.00 except on Wednesday or Thursday when they are $17.00. For reservations, call the Box Office at 352.357.7777 or visit www.baystreetplayers.org to purchase tickets online. Group discounts, gift certificates, student rates, and multi-pass tickets are available. Located at 109 N. Bay Street, Eustis, the Box Office hours are: 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 11:00a.m.-3:00 p.m. on Saturday performance days.

Bay Street Players is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit community theatre celebrating 37 seasons of live theatre in the historic 1922 State Theatre in downtown Eustis.