Darren Day and Niki Evans are set to star in the first U.K. tour of William Finn’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which plays at Royal Court, Liverpool on 5th – 9th November. Spelling Bee is a musical comedy that centres on the lives of six quirky adolescents who have entered into the ‘Bee’, a competition that asks the contestants to spell a variety of words, usually with a broad degree of difficulty, which is run by three equally as quirky grown-ups.
Darren Day, who is best known for his leading roles in West End and touring productions of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Summer Holiday, We Will Rock You and television work including Danny Houston in Hollyoaks will play Vice Principal Panch, a senior member of the judging panel who has recently returned to the competition after five years with a fresh outlook on life, all thanks to his high-fibre diet and his unrequited love of fellow judge and previous ‘Bee’ Champion, Rona Lisa Peretti played by Niki Evans who found fame on I.T.V.’s X Factor and went on to star as Mrs Johnstone in the West End and touring productions of Blood Brothers and Paulette in Legally Blonde.
The full cast includes; Rhys Owen as Mitch Mahoney, Ellie Mason as Olive Ovstrokvsky, Thomas Mackley as William Barfee, Janette McManus as Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre, Arina II as Marcy Park, Ross Cobbald as Leaf Coneybear and Joshua Dowen as Chip Tolentino.
The musical was conceived by Rebecca Fieldman, with music and lyrics by William Finn (Falsettos), a book by Rachel Sheinkin with additional material by Jay Reiss and it premiered on Broadway in 2005 and won two of its six Tony Award Nominations, including Best Book. Since then it has spurred various productions including a U.S. National Tour and a production in Australia. London’s Donmar Warehouse gave the musical its U.K. premiere in 2011.
Tickets for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are available from the Royal Court Box office.Daren