Theater News

Jose Llana, Christian Borle, and More to Compete in First Broadway Bee

The adult-only spelling bee will benefit the organization Broadway Bound Kids.

Jose Llana will return to his Spelling Bee roots at the first annual Broadway Bee.
Jose Llana will return to his Spelling Bee roots at the first annual Broadway Bee.
(© David Gordon)

Broadway Bound Kids, a New York City performing arts education organization, will host the first annual Broadway Bee on Monday, May 9, at 7pm at the Cutting Room. Featuring actors from current hit musicals, the adults-only spelling bee will raise funds to benefit the organization.

Hosted by Rebecca Feldman and Jay Reiss, the original creators of the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the event is described as follows: "Ten teams, each representing a Broadway show, are encouraged to pull out all the stops to correctly spell the words. Cheating is encouraged and drinking is allowed — the more funds each team raises, the more they will get to cheat!"

The roster of participants includes Jose Llana (from the original Broadway cast of Spelling Bee), two-time Tony winner Christian Borle (Something Rotten!), Drew Gehling (Waitress), Melvin Tunstall and Jessica Keenan Wynn (Beautiful), Karl Kenzler (Fiddler on the Roof), Joseph Medeiros (Matilda), Mary Page Nance (Finding Neverland), and Jonah Platt (Wicked).

Founded in 2004, Broadway Bound Kids provides school-based performing arts residencies, community-based workshops and summer programs, master classes with Broadway professionals, full-scale musical productions, and trips to see Broadway shows. The goal is to ensure that all kids have access to the performing arts regardless of their financial resources.

For tickets and more information, click here.

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