The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Cast

Trent is super excited to be part of this amazing cast and production team! This rehearsal process has absolutely flown by, and has been magical!! His past stage credits include Hello Herman (Herman), Falsettos (Whizzer), Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour), and Pippin (Berthe). Trent would like to thank his super supportive family, friends, and amazing girlfriend for continuing to push him to be the best version of himself! He feels blessed to be given the opportunity to bring this character to life, and hopes you all enjoy the Bee!

Hannah Marzano is delighted to share the stage with the amazing cast of Spelling Bee. No stranger to the stage, she was most recently seen in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Sibella), Bonnie & Clyde (Bonnie), & Heathers The Musical (Veronica). Hannah has a passion for helping children & currently works in education and mental health with at risk youth. Along with teaching preschool theatre classes, she will soon be making her directorial debut, directing a youth production at a local middle school. Hannah would like to thank the cast & crew of Spelling Bee, old friends & new, for being pure magic.

Ben Arrington is thrilled to be returning to Avenue Arts in a familiar role. Ben last played Leaf in NCP’s production of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling’. He was last seen on the Avenue Arts stage in ‘Godspell’. Other favorite previous credits include ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ (Johnny Cash) and ‘Titanic’ (Lightoller) at Players Guild, ‘Once’ (Eamon) at KSU Stark, ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (Jehan/Gargoyle) at Weathervane, and ‘Dogfight’ (Fector) and ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ (Man #2) at WRP.

Micah Harvey is happy to be oing this show and has done theate for enough years that most people would say "that's a respectable number of years." If you need a podcast muscal to listen to, he would suggest listeing to "36 Questions," it is "very good," according to Micah Harvey. He nows you will probably enjoy it. This is the first show Micah has done since the pandemic, since he is probabl a little nervus, you (the audience) should cheer extra lod for him. Thanks for suppoting live theatre and a special thank yu to his wife for being a ery good wife. Lstly, see if you can decipher his specia Chrismas message he has hdden in his bio. Ejoy th show!

Desirée Hargrave is beyond excited to be back onstage again after three years! This is her first production with Avenue Arts. A graduate of Malone University, Desirée received her Bachelor of Arts in Music with a concentration in Vocal Performance. She has participated in many theatrical opportunities over the years - some of her most notable roles are Mary Magdalene (Jesus Christ Superstar, 2019) Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Norte Dame, 2018 and 2022) Olive Ostrovsky (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Belle/Elizabeth (A Christmas Carol 2016 & 2017), as well as recently performing in the popular cabaret series, The Broadway Princess Party with Laura Osnes, Courtney Reed and Susan Egan.

Alison Foutz is so happy to be returning to the stage with this iconic cast and show! She received her Bachelors Degree from Baldwin Wallace University in Public Relations and Marketing, and is currently working at Reliable Ready Mix in Canton. Alison has been in over 45 shows since she started acting at 10 years old-and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon! Some of her favorite roles include Shelby in Steel Magnolias (Avenue Arts), a Player in Godspell (Avenue Arts), and Piglet in Winnie the Pooh (Playersguild). Alison would like to dedicate her performance to her late grandpa, who loved spending time in this theatre space as much as she does. Enjoy the show!

Emily Schrader is honored and ecstatic to be a part of this hilarious and poignant show. Playing this role truly brings things full circle as a former school and county spelling bee champ, as well as a raging theater kid. Some of her favorite past roles include Suzanne Prevot in “Hello Girls,” Claire DeLoone in "On The Town," The Artful Dodger in "Oliver," Hodel in "Fiddler On The Roof," the Third Witch in "Macbeth," and Mimi Marquez in "Rent." By day, Emily is a pediatric speech-language pathologist working with clients with developmental disabilities and their families. In her work, she is passionate about amplifying her clients’ self-advocacy and self-expression skills to enhance and strengthen their participation in everyday life. This performance is dedicated to two important people: her mom, for lovingly watering that theater kid seed and enthusiastically and endlessly prepping her for spelling bees as a kid; and her “awesome” Uncle Chuck, who bought her a state capitals map of the US in kindergarten that kickstarted a love of spelling.

Jordan Potter is thrilled to be back on stage at Avenue Arts for the first time since 2019! Some recent favorite credits include Once (Guy) at Kent State Stark, Ghost (Sam Wheat) and Million Dollar Quartet (Carl Perkins) at the Players Guild Theater, and Evil Dead: The Musical (Scott) at Blank Canvas Theater. A huge thank you to his family and friends for the continual support, to the whole Avenue Arts production team and staff, and the NE Ohio theater community for giving him an escape where he can do the things he loves with so many talented people.

Jonathan Merechant has been seen on the Weathervane stage most recently in Elf The Musical. Other Weathervane credits include  Clue, Kinky Boots, Memphis, Dreamgirls, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Sebastian), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Mitch Mahoney), Hair (tribe), Peter Pan (Starkey), Oklahoma! (Ali Hakim), and Hairspray (Seaweed J. Stubbs). He has also done many performances in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from 2007 to 2012. Other roles include Dr. Watson in Art of Deduction: Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes and The Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical, both at Weathervane. Other credits include Benjamin Coffin III in Rent at North Canton Playhouse, ensemble in Ragtime at Kent State University and ensemble in The Producers at Firestone High School.