Ali Stroker returns to THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE alongside Laurie Hernandez

Ali Stroker and Laurie Hernandez are scheduled to join the Off-Broadway revival of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at New World Stages in New York City on 7 September 2026, taking over two roles for the closing stretch of the engagement. Stroker will play spelling-bee moderator and former champion Rona Lisa Peretti, while Hernandez will appear as contestant Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre. The casting brings Stroker back to a musical she has performed before and extends Hernandez’s move into New York theatre after her Broadway debut earlier this year.

Broadway.com reported the casting on 20 August and set out a consecutive handover. Alex Newell, now playing Rona, and Laura Marano, appearing as Logainne, are scheduled to give their final performances on 6 September. Stroker succeeds Newell and Hernandez succeeds Marano the following day, keeping the replacement pairings clear as the production enters the final part of its announced run.

For Stroker, the engagement is a return rather than a reprise. Contemporary coverage from TheaterMania and Broad Street Review confirms that she played Olive Ostrovsky in the 2010-11 co-production by Paper Mill Playhouse and Philadelphia Theatre Company. Olive is one of the contestants, while Rona moderates the competition as a former champion. Stroker will therefore revisit the musical from a different side of the spelling bee, moving from a student role to one of its adult characters.

Stroker subsequently won Tony and Drama Desk awards for her performance as Ado Annie in the Broadway revival of OKLAHOMA!. She also appeared in Deaf West Theatre’s Broadway revival of SPRING AWAKENING. In that production, she became the first actor who uses a wheelchair to perform on Broadway. Her return to this musical adds to that established stage career without altering the nature of the current engagement, which remains an Off-Broadway revival.

Hernandez reaches the production by a markedly different route. She won gold and silver medals in gymnastics at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games before moving into professional theatre. Earlier in 2026, she made her Broadway debut in & JULIET. Her scheduled appearance as Logainne now follows that debut with a named role in an Off-Broadway musical during the same year. The available announcement does not characterise the engagement more broadly as an Off-Broadway debut or a first musical-theatre role.

The revival is directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford. Producer materials identify the production as a 2026 winner of Lucille Lortel, Dorian Theater and Off-Broadway Alliance awards. Those honours belong to the existing revival, which Stroker and Hernandez are joining late in its scheduled run, rather than to a new production being assembled around the incoming performers.

Broadway.com also names Jon Cryer, Justin Cooley, Nina White, Philippe Arroyo, Leana Rae Concepcion and Matt Manuel among the company members continuing at New World Stages. The September handover consequently changes the performers playing Rona and Logainne while retaining a substantial part of the current company and Mefford’s creative leadership.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE has music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. The musical reached Broadway in 2005 and had a Tony-winning run. The present staging draws on that established work but is classified as Off-Broadway because of its New World Stages engagement. That distinction remains important even though the production sits within the broader Broadway news market.

The musical also has an Australian production history. AussieTheatre has covered multiple Australian stagings, including the 2023 Hayes Theatre Co production. That earlier reporting concerned an Australian interpretation of the work, whereas the current development is a cast change for the separate New York revival. The overlap lies in the title itself, not in the production, company or announcement.

The production’s official ticket page lists performances only through 11 October. Stroker and Hernandez are scheduled to remain in their new roles through that announced closing, making the final performance the next confirmed milestone after the 7 September cast change.