Should High Schools Perform ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee?’ Let’s Talk About It.

Cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Photo: Joan Marcus)

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

I love The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

I’ve seen it done well. I’ve watched audiences laugh through the whole thing. I’ve left the theatre thinking, “This is exactly the kind of weird, funny, emotional show high school students can absolutely knock out of the park.”

Small cast. Minimal set. Great songs. Big feelings. A bunch of anxious kids trying to survive one very intense spelling competition.

On paper, it sounds perfect for a school.

And then reality walks in.

Because Spelling Bee is one of those shows that can look harmless from far away and suddenly become a school board meeting once someone starts reading the script out loud.

The show is rated PG-13. There is a song about a very inconvenient physical reaction during the bee. There are jokes about puberty. There are kids dealing with pressure, loneliness, perfectionism, abandonment, and parents who have put way too much of their own baggage onto their children.

In other words, it is about teenagers.

Which, somehow, still scares people.

Then there is Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, whose two dads are loud, intense, loving, political, and very much part of the show.

For some communities, that alone is enough to send people running for the complaint form.

This already happened. In 2023, Cardinal High School in Ohio had its production canceled after concerns were raised about the show’s content. According to Playbill, the district cited vulgarity in the dialogue and lyrics, while reported concerns also included LGBTQ+ characters. The decision was later reversed, but only after public backlash, national attention, and revisions to the script.

That is a lot to put students through because adults did not do the work upfront.

So should your school do Spelling Bee?

Maybe.

If your administration has a spine, your community can handle a PG-13 musical, and your students are ready for a show with humor and some actual emotional weight, it can be wonderful.

But do not choose it blindly.

Read the script. Talk to your administrators before auditions. Be honest with parents about the material. Know what edits are allowed before promising anything. Do not assume “small cast” means “safe choice.”

And please, do not cut the gay dads just because you are scared of the loudest person in town.

If your school cannot handle the fact that two loving gay parents exist in a musical, then the problem is not the musical.

Spelling Bee is funny, awkward, heartfelt, and strange in the best way.

It is not for every school.

But when a school is ready for it, it works beautifully.