How Do You Spell G-L-E-E? Alex Newell Joins “Spelling Bee”

 

How Do You Spell G-L-E-E? Alex Newell Joins “Spelling Bee”

The Bee has found its next moderator, and this one comes with a Tony Award, a Broadway belt, and a very useful connection to “Glee.”

Tony Award winner Alex Newell will join the multi-award-winning revival of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” as Rona Lisa Peretti, the Bee’s moderator and former Putnam County spelling champion, beginning Friday, August 7, for a limited four-week engagement. Newell steps into the role following Tony nominee Lilli Cooper, who plays her final performance as Rona on Sunday, August 2.

The casting gives the already starry revival another jolt of Broadway wattage. Newell, who made history with their Tony-winning performance as Lulu in “Shucked,” is also widely known to television audiences for playing Unique Adams on “Glee.” Onstage, they have been a force of nature, with credits including the Tony-winning revival of “Once On This Island,” where their performance as Asaka helped earn the cast recording a Grammy nomination.

Newell joins a company that has not exactly been hiding its light under a spelling card. The current revival includes two-time Emmy winner Jon Cryer as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, Kevin McHale in his New York stage debut as William Barfée, Jasmine Amy Rogers as Olive Ostrovsky through August 9, Fernell Hogan as Leaf Coneybear through July 22 while covering the role during Justin Cooley’s leave of absence, Philippe Arroyo as Chip Tolentino, Laura Marano as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Leana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park, and Matt Manuel as Mitch Mahoney. Nina White also joins the production beginning August 10.

The first major revival of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” opened November 17, 2025, following previews that began November 7, and has since extended twice, now running through September 6, 2026. The production has also had the kind of awards-season report card that would make any overachieving speller sleep better at night, winning the 2026 Lucille Lortel Award, Off Broadway Alliance Award, and Dorian Award for Best Revival of a Musical, while also collecting nominations from the Drama League, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards.

With a Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by Tony winner William Finn, “Spelling Bee” remains one of musical theater’s great comic pressure cookers: six anxious, brilliant, strange, fragile, and ferociously determined young contestants compete for glory, while their personal stories sneak up and tug at the heart between bouts of ruthless vocabulary. There is also audience participation, which means no one is entirely safe, least of all the grown-ups who thought they were merely buying a ticket.

This 20th anniversary production is directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford, with scenic design by Teresa L. Williams, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by David Weiner, sound design by Haley Parcher, music supervision by Carmel Dean, and music direction by Elizabeth Doran.

The musical is produced by Barbara Whitman, Aaron Glick, and Timothy Bloom by special arrangement with David Stone, and co-produced by James L. Nederlander, Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Debra Martin Chase, Rachel Sussman, Patrick Catullo, and Ryan Solomon.

For more information and tickets, visit spellingbeenyc.com and follow @spellingbeenyc on social media.