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Broadway powerhouse Julia Murney is back at the Cape Playhouse — and this time, she’s ringing the bell at one of musical theatre’s funniest competitions!
On this episode of The Roundtable with Robert Bannon, Julia joins Robert to talk about starring as Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, now playing at the historic Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts through September 19. The Tony Award-winning musical features music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. This new Cape production is directed by Broadway favorite Claybourne Elder and choreographed by Jeffrey Gugliotti.
Julia leads a terrific company that includes Tatianna Córdoba, Raymond J. Lee, Evan Tyrone Martin, Viveca Chow, Khadija E. Sankoh, Cody Jamison Strand, Joel Waggoner and Alex Wyse. And if you know Spelling Bee, you know the audience is part of the fun — volunteers enter the competition alongside the cast, making every performance just a little unpredictable.
For Julia, the Cape Playhouse is familiar territory. She previously took on one of musical theatre’s great roles there, Mama Rose in Gypsy. This time around, she gets to trade Rose’s ambition for Rona Lisa Peretti’s spelling lists, trophies and memories of her own championship glory.
Of course, Julia’s career goes far beyond the Cape. Broadway audiences know her as Elphaba in Wicked and from Lennon, while her acclaimed performance as Queenie in Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party earned her a Drama Desk nomination. Her stage credits also include Between the Lines, Falling, Time and Again, A Little Night Music, Ragtime and Evita, along with television appearances including Sex and the City and the Law & Order universe.
Robert and Julia talk about returning to the Cape, finding the comedy and heart inside Spelling Bee, working with Claybourne Elder and this wildly talented company, and the incredible career that has made Julia Murney one of Broadway’s most distinctive voices.
Because beneath all the hilarious words, awkward adolescents and dreaded DING!, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee remains a show about something we all understand: wanting to belong, wanting to win — and figuring out that sometimes losing isn't the end of the world.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays the Cape Playhouse through September 19, 2026.
Tickets & Show Information — The Cape Playhouse
For more info, go to RobertBannon.com and follow Robert on IG @RobertMBannon.
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