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Emmy Award-winning comedic legend Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”, Pretty in Pink) will return to his theater roots and join the cast as Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on May 11. Jason Kravits (The Drowsy Chaperone, Sly Fox) will play his final performance in the role on May 10, 2026, due to other professional commitments. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is playing at New World Stages.
Best known for his iconic, award-winning performances in “Two and a Half Men” and Pretty in Pink, Cryer brings his singular comedic voice to the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch—the spelling bee’s co-moderator. Panch clings to procedure and order even as the competition around him descends into delightful chaos, with each show offering new moments of spontaneity and discovery with the cast and audience.
Cryer joins Grammy Nominee & SAG Award winner Kevin McHale, in his New York stage debut as William Barfée, Tony Award nominee Jasmine Amy Rogers as Olive Ostrovsky, Grammy & Tony Award Nominee Justin Cooley as Leaf Coneybear, Philippe Arroyo as Chip Tolentino, Autumn Best as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Leana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park, Tony Award nominee Lilli Cooper as Rona Lisa Peretti, and Matt Manuel as Mitch Mahoney. Rounding out the cast as understudies are Brandon L. Armstrong, Jahbril Cook, DeMarius Copes, Vanessa Magula, Emily Nicole Rudolph, and Cecilia Snow.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fast-paced and funny D-E-L-I-G-H-T. As six wonderfully unique and impassioned contestants vie for the championship by spelling their way through vexing vocabulary, hilarious and poignant personal stories unfold…along with a dash of riotous audience participation. Declared by The New York Times as “the gift we desperately needed,” The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee delivers an unforgettable experience that is sure to leave audiences spellbound.
(Vice Principal Douglas Panch) Although widely known for film and television such as his Emmy-winning turn on Two and a Half Men and 80’s classic Pretty in Pink, Jon Cryer started his career on Broadway in Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy. He has since gone on to appear on stage in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, the Los Angeles premiere of Howard Korder’s Boys’ Life, the New York Premiere of Jules Feiffer’s Carnal Knowledge and the London, New York, and Los Angeles productions of David Baird’s 900 Oneonta. His most recent foray was opposite Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert and Patti LuPone in Stephen Sondheim’s Company at Lincoln Center.
