Anyone who catches the news, either in print or on the air, knows by now that The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is coming to town, courtesy of producer David Stone and Broadway in Chicago, and that it will be a long-run edition of the Broadway musical, just like Wicked, for which Stone is a lead producer. The Chicago production will be the show’s second, and will precede the autumn national tour, which will skip Chicago. At least seven or eight of the show’s nine roles—and possibly all—will be cast locally, with November auditions, rehearsals after Jan. 1 and previews in March. James Lapine is directing. The drop-dead funny tuner will run as long as possible, with Stone certainly expecting at least two years.

In New York, the intimate, audience-interactive Spelling Bee is playing a 700-seat theatre. Here it will play the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, with 545 seats—and that’s the real story. In operation for just six months, the new house is abandoning its efforts to build a subscription audience and produce its own shows. Spelling Bee is a rental deal. Some may say that nonagenarian producer Tony DeSantis didn‘t give his $7 million gamble enough time to reach critical mass. Others will say the sharp old bird saw took a good deal when it was offered.

Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place managers acknowledge that they did not reach their target of 3,000 subscribers for the first season of four shows (Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace has over 22,000 subscribers), despite attractive amenities such as greatly-reduced parking prices, and despite strong reviews for The Full Monty and Grand Hotel. No matter the reviews, the new venue failed to generate substantial single ticket traffic, especially from tourists.

That, perhaps, is where more time would make a difference, but DeSantis has decided to go a different route. It’s likely to be easier, faster and certainly less costly to put the new venue on the map with a current Tony Award winner such as Spelling Bee. Drury Lane Water Tower general manager James Jensen points out that the company will complete its first season as announced with the holiday musical revue, Plaid Tidings, and that current subscribers will be offered first-choice tickets for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The odd man out may be Michael Weber, who gave up his cozy post as artistic director of Theatre at the Center (Munster, IN) to become artistic director of Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place. He’s probably looking for work.

The Goodman Theatre has hired Denise Garrity as its new public relations director. Garrity, who hales from Chicago’s south suburbs, was media chief for the Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) for eight years. Jennifer Dobby will continue as associate public relations director, with public relations now under the umbrella of Goodman’s marketing department. “She’s awesome,” Dobby commented about Garrity, who began work Oct. 24. After the death of longtime publicity chief Cindy Bandle last May, Goodman outsourced some of its public relations work to the Silverman Group. Dobby reports that the Silverman connection will be terminated over a period of time, as Goodman‘s in-house public relations office returns to full speed.

Goodman also has appointed Christine Mickletz as director of development. Mickletz is a non-practicing attorney and development executive with more than 11 years of arts and cultural administration experience with such major institutions as the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Philadelphia) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Mickletz, a Philadelphia native, begins work Nov. 1.

Americans for the Arts, the national advocacy group, has raised a warning flag about two Congressional threats to what little Federal arts funding we have. The first threat is real, the second is potential. First, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to eliminate FY 2006 funding for federal Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education. The Senate, however, is poised to approve a slight increase. At stake is approximately $35 million for model programs in arts education.

The threatened loss of this funding is a result of a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul barter arrangement. The House proposed scrapping Department of Education arts funding in order to support an increase of $18 million (to $139 million) for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), proposed by NEA chair Dana Gioia and First Lady Laura Bush. However, the House and Senate dithered the increase to death. As voted in late July, the NEA budget is $125.7 million for Fiscal 2006, a net gain of just $4.4 million. Some arts advocates say any increase is a triumph in light of huge budget deficits and the cost of the war in Iraq.

NEA funding may be a moot point in light of the second threat: a recommendation by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) to eliminate all funding for the NEA, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in favor of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The RSC advises conservative Republican members of the House of Representatives. Needless to say, cutting NEA funding wouldn‘t make a dent in hurricane relief.

The Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy Center has talking points on both threats that interested partisans can include in messages to Congress. Check them out at AmericansForTheArts.org or artsactionfund.org. Ultimately, the fate of the NEA probably lies in the hands of President Bush. If he continues to support the NEA, most House Republicans will fall in line.

Ironically, NEA chairman Dana Gioia, a Bush appointee, recently made rebuilding arts organizations—from finding employment for the artists to replacing costumes—a key component in rebuilding Gulf Coast economies. “People have to recognize that the arts are a major industry and need to be at the table for the recovery plan,” Gioia said in a statement to the press. “There is no way for these local economies to recover unless we invest in the cultural life. Culture was Louisiana’s second-biggest economy, right after oil.”

Gioia attended a Sept. 10-11 meeting of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in Boise, Idaho, at which an arts action plan for the region was initiated.

Writers’ Theatre artistic director Michael Halberstam is set to make his New York debut as a director. He will helm Shaw’s Candida for the long-established Off-Broadway Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre. Previews begin Dec. 16 with performances continuing through January.

Chicago-area actors, voice-over performers and others in the creative community are honoring art director Gail Kennedy Benson, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on Sept. 28. They‘ve established a Web site to create a college fund for Ms. Benson‘s two adopted Chinese daughters, 5-year-old Anna Rose and 3-year-old Samantha. Go to GailFund.com for details. Benson is survived by her husband, Bob, an audio engineer at Cerny/American Creative.

Movie news: Charna Halpern, owner of I.O. (formerly ImprovOlympic) will make her feature film acting debut in Danny Roane: First Time Director, scheduled for end-of-year release. The movie is written, produced, directed by and starring I.O. alum Andy Dick. Halpern will appear in one scene as the head of a Jewish organization who introduces Roane (played by Dick) at a Film Festival.

Actor Michael Shannon is on the verge of a big time, big screen breakthrough. He recently completed filming of Tracy Letts’ Bug (in which Shannon starred in Chicago and Off-Broadway) for director William Friedkin, and as we speak Shannon has begun filming in New York opposite Nicholas Cage in the new Oliver Stone flick about 9/11.

Correction. My Oct. 14 Behind the Curtain column contains an error. The reference to Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley should have read “gay-friendly commissioner Mike Quigley.” The North Side district Quigley represents includes not only many Off-Loop theatres but also the 44th Ward Boys’ Town neighborhood. I apologize for the error.

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