Amber Riley Reunites with “Glee” Costar Kevin McHale for Guest Spot in Off-Broadway’s “Spelling Bee ”Revival

NEED TO KNOW

• Amber Riley surprised the audience at The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by joining Kevin McHale on stage as a guest speller in the Off-Broadway show

• Riley’s appearance included playful nods to her Glee character and her success on competition shows like Dancing with the Stars

• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has featured other celebrity guest spellers including Daniel Radcliffe and Lin-Manuel Miranda

Fans flocking to see Kevin McHale in the Off-Broadway revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee were in for a surprise when his former Glee costar, Amber Riley, popped up on stage as one of the musical comedy’s rotating “guest spellers.”

The actress — an Olivier Award-winner for her turn as Effie White in the London revival of Dreamgirls — attended a performance of the musical comedy at New World Stages in New York City on Wednesday, March 4.

Video of her surprise visit was released by the production on Thursday, March 12.

Her appearance came with plenty of hilarious references for Glee fans thanks to Lilli Cooper and Jason Kravits, who play Rona Lisa Peretti and Vice Principal Douglas Panch, the Spelling Bee’s moderators.

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The Easter eggs began when Cooper introduced Riley. “Ms. Riley is saving up to buy her dream car: a Mercedes,” she said — a nod, of course, to Riley’s Glee character.

Later, Cooper explained that “Ms. Riley was pressured by one of the members of her Glee Club to spell tonight.” Hale kept his head down, jokingly shrugging off that he had anything to do with it.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee famously invites four volunteers onstage each performance to compete alongside the cast in the chaotic, laugh-filled spelling contest. The Tony-winning musical comedy has seen Daniel Radcliffe, Ken Jennings, Jack Wolfe, Greta Lee, Dylan Mulvaney, Michael Urie, Taran Killam, Iain Armitage, Scott Hoying, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nick Offerman, Stephanie J. Block and Santino Fontana stop by since it opened last year.

Riley did well, lasting past the first round. Her first word was “invincible,” which Kravits described as “seemingly incapable of being defeated.”

“Sounds like me,” Riley said.

She was quickly proved right, when Kravits used the word in a sentence and listed off a series of Riley’s competition show wins. “Winning Family Feud, Masked Singer, Dancing with the Stars and Name That Tune might make one feel invincible,” he said.

Sadly, her run didn’t last beyond that. She went out on the word “puerilism,” or “the exhibition of childish, immature behavior or mannerisms by an adult.”

On her way out, Riley was given a juice box and sent back to her seat — the same fate that’s met other guest spellers to the revival.

After the show, she and McHale reunited on stage, snapping a series of photographs in the house. “I had an amazing time being a guest speller at the Bee!” Riley wrote on Instagram. “The cast is so incredible! @kevinmchale you made mama proud 🥹 go see it if you’re in NYC! You won’t be disappointed! 🤍 thank you for having me @spellingbeenyc.”

“It was a verrrrry special night,” McHale said in his own post.

Glee ran for six seasons on Fox, from 2009 to 2015. McHale and costar Jenna Ushkowitz have since launched And That’s What You REALLY Missed, a Glee rewatch podcast.

Many of the Glee alums are currently working on Broadway, including Lea Michele (in Chess), Darren Criss (in Maybe Happy Ending) and Jonathan Groff (in Just in Time). Matthew Morrison, another Glee star, is set to replace Groff in that production beginning April 1.

Tickets for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are now on sale.

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