The Averitt Center is set to put on the musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” from Feb. 8 through Feb. 10.

The shows will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Emma Kelly Theater in downtown Statesboro.

The six-time nominated Tony Award winning musical is based off an original improvisational play by Rebecca Feldman about six eccentric middle school students who are all striving to win the national spelling bee.

Several Georgia Southern University students, including pre-law freshman Cole Tarleton, will be playing the pre-adolescent characters.

18-year-old Tarleton will play 12-year-old antihero William Barfèe, a character that took a lot of practice for Tarleton to master.

“I had to get my character voice down and learn to sing with it,” Tarleton said. “[The character] has major health issues, and he is scared of being bullied so he becomes a bully himself and isolates himself from others.”

Tarleton promises that the show will be worth the ticket price and that it will be enjoyed by all audiences.

“This show has a ton of on-stage energy and will make everyone laugh with the inappropriate and sometimes dark humor that comes with being in a middle school spelling bee,” Tarleton said.

Tickets are $18 for mermbers and $20 for all ages and can be purchased online at the Averitt Center Website or by calling the Averitt Center at (912) 212-2787.