{"id":39630,"date":"2025-09-09T06:26:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tuts8dev.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=39630"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:42:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:42:23","slug":"introducing-the-cast-of-the-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/introducing-the-cast-of-the-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee\/","title":{"rendered":"Buzzing with Talent: Introducing the Cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How do you spell an unforgettable night of musical theatre? T-U-T-S! Theatre Under The Stars<\/strong>\u00a0is serving up laughs, lyrics, and lots of letters with an all-new production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/strong><\/em> starring a hive of Houston\u2019s most beloved actors.<\/p>\n

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/strong><\/em> is a fast-paced musical comedy following six quirky kids as they compete for glory in a cutthroat spelling showdown. Packed with improv, audience participation and heartfelt surprises, the Bee is laugh-out-loud funny and unexpectedly touching.<\/p>\n

TUTS Artistic Director, Dan Knechtges, was the original Choreographer for the original Broadway production. His journey with the musical began with him choreographing a few numbers for the workshop. He, along with the shows creators William Finn, Rachel Sheinkin, and director James Lapine ultimately opened the show first Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre before opening on Broadway on April 15, 2005 at the Circle in the Square Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpelling Bee<\/em> was really special for me. It was the first show I took to Broadway. Being able to go back and mount a new production looking at it through the lens of all my experience as a director and a choreographer is really exciting and I can\u2019t wait for Houston audiences to experience the hilarity and the heart of this great musical,\u201d said Knechtges.<\/p>\n

Leading the cast is a Houston native known for his Tony-nominated role in Broadway\u2019s Shucked<\/em>, and for his roles in Showtime\u2019s \u201cNurse Jackie\u201d and Netflix\u2019s \u201cGlow,\u201d Kevin Cahoon<\/strong> as \u201cVice Principal Douglas Panch.\u201d Mark Ivy<\/strong> who TUTS\u2019 audiences will know from his roles in last season\u2019s productions of Disney\u2019s Frozen<\/em> (Olaf) and Little Shop of Horrors<\/em> (Mr. Mushnik) plays \u201cWilliam Barfee.\u201d Michael Alonzo<\/strong> who was just seen on the TUTS stage as the \u201cPiragua Guy\u201d in In the Heights<\/em> plays \u201cChip Tolentino.\u201d Gemini Quintos<\/strong> known for many roles around the Houston theatre scene including her portrayal of one of the ugly stepsisters in the TUTS 2023 production of Cinderella<\/em> joins the cast as \u201cMarcy Park.\u201d Another Houston favorite who has been in many TUTS productions, most recently in the holiday comedy musical, The Ugly Xmas Sweater Musical<\/em>, Julia Krohn<\/strong> plays \u201cRona Lisa Peretti.\u201d JD Houston<\/strong>, who TUTS audiences will know from his roles in the 2021 production of Sister Act<\/em> (Sweaty Eddie) and 2023\u2019s RENT<\/em> (Benny), is \u201cMitch Mahoney.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Houston favorites that will have audiences cheering are Marco Camacho<\/strong> as \u201cLeaf Coneybear,\u201d Abigail Bensman<\/strong> as \u201cLogainne SchwartzandGrubenierre,\u201d and Adell Ehrhorn<\/strong> as \u201cOlive Ostrovsky.\u201d John Ryan Del Bosque<\/strong> and Rebecca Russell<\/strong> are Understudies covering all Male\/Female presenting roles respectively.<\/p>\n

Joining Knechtges on the creative team for this all-new production are: Stephen W. Jones<\/strong> as Music Director; Hudson Davis<\/strong> as Lighting Designer; Andrew Harper<\/strong> as Sound Designer; Colleen Grady<\/strong> as Costume Designer; Jayson Kolbicz<\/strong> as Hair & Makeup Designer; Courtney Markowitz<\/strong> as Associate Director; Keith Williams<\/strong> as Assistant Music Director; Logan Keslar<\/strong> as Assistant Costume Designer; Ian Evans<\/strong> as Assistant Lighting Designer; Boomer Bardo<\/strong> as Assistant Sound Designer; Amy Ramsdell<\/strong> as Production Stage Manager; and Trinity Nobles<\/strong> and Chrissy Roy<\/strong> as Assistant Stage Managers. Casting by Calleri Jensen Davis Casting<\/strong> and Laura Peete<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/strong><\/em> runs October 21<\/strong> \u2013 November 2<\/strong> at the Theatre Under The Stars. Tickets start at just $35, and are available online at TUTS.org, or by contacting the TUTS Box Office by phone at (713) 558-8887<\/a><\/strong> or in person by visiting the Box Office<\/strong> located at 800 Bagby Street<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Theatre Under The Stars is grateful to our season sponsors The Brown Foundation, The Wortham Foundation<\/strong>, and the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Reside Houston Downtown, A Wyndham Residence, ABC-13<\/strong> and Houston Chronicle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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How do you spell an unforgettable night of musical theatre? T-U-T-S! Theatre Under The Stars\u00a0is serving up laughs, lyrics, and lots of letters with an all-new production of The 25th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":39631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}