The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, BA Musical Theatre, 25-28 February 2025.

Music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin.

Somewhere in small-town America, a number of middle-school children are taking part in a county spelling competition. A musical celebration of being young, being bright, growing up, and the consolations of a juice box - and featuring a drag bee. The show includes audience participation and improv elements, and this was an actor-musician production with a company of 17, playing 39 instruments between them.

‘inventive, imaginative and authentic… genuinely fascinating to watch… so much better than it has any right to be… cast, direction and musicality in this production are fantastic… in the hands of a talented company and director, the multi-skilled superstars from the Conservatoire elevate the characters and score to a whole new level and make this production their own unique creation’

- Lisainthetheatre.com

Director: Tom Cooper

Choreographer: Sarah Wilkie

Musical directors: Falk Meier, Mattia Sciortino

Set and costume design: Ru Hartley-Oliver

Lighting design: Dan Findlay-Carroll

Musical supervisor: David Higham

Associate musical supervisor: Shonagh Murray

Photos: Ru Hartley-Oliver and Hope Connachan-Holmes