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The denizens of Bikini Bottom are coming to life — and Broadway — in a new musical appropriately titled The SpongeBob Musical. Rehearsals will begin April 11 as the show looks toward its world premiere in Chicago.
Virtual unknown Ethan Slater had previously been announced as the “absorbent and yellow and porous” character from the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series (which has also spawned two feature films). Danny Skinner makes his Broadway debut as SpongeBob’s dimwitted starfish friend Patrick, Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins) takes on the role of soupuss Squidward, and Nick Blaemire (Godspell) will play the villainous Plankton.
With rehearsals looming, the rest of the main cast has been announced: Gaelen Gilliland, Curtis Holbrook, Juliane Godfrey, Stephanie Hsu, Jesse JP Johnson, L’ogan J’ones, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Mark Ledbetter, Kelvin Moon Loh, Lauralyn McClelland, Vasthy Mompoint, JC Schuster, Allysa Shorte, Jacob Smith, Abby C. Smith, Jason Michael Snow and Allan K. Washington will play the residents of Bikini Bottom.
The musical’s tryout period will begin with previews June 7 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, with a limited run scheduled through July 3. The production will be directed by Tina Landau (Superior Donuts, Bells Are Ringing), and Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies) will choreograph.
With nine seasons on Nickelodeon, SpongeBob and friends have had their share of adventures, but now he’s going to have to save the world. “I know this sounds insane, but it’s basically SpongeBob Apocalypse,” book writer Kyle Jarrow (A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant, Whisper House) previously told Playbill.com. “If you can imagine the movie Armageddon with SpongeBob as like the main character, essentially saving the world, that is … it’s not about an asteroid, but other than that it’s basically SpongeBob has to save the world from certain destruction.”
The musical will feature songs from an eclectic group of artists including Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Cyndi Lauper, They Might Be Giants, Jonathan Coulton, Dirty Projectors, The Flaming Lips, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s and T.I., with an additional song by David Bowie and additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton.
“All of the musicians got a brief on where their song fits in the story, so they weren’t randomly writing songs on the topic of SpongeBob,” Jarrow explained. “They knew where it fit in the story. To be a book writer, where you have, I think, 14 different songwriters, it’s just a crazy beast. It’s been really wild, but it’s super awesome. It’s just a really complicated animal, so it’s been this fun process of figuring out how to get the songs to fit.” Tom Kitt will supervise the music to make sure everything sounds cohesive.
He added, “SpongeBob is super fun. It’s obviously family-friendly; it’s got like a hipster humor to it as well, but I think there’s an opportunity to say something that actually matters about the way that we live now and about the way that fear can make people make decisions that are maybe not the smartest decisions.”
Tickets for the Chicago run are available through Ticketmaster. Broadway dates, theater and ticket information are not yet available.
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