SpongeBob SquarePants Broadway

Doomacheal
Sep 8, 2018
2 min read

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical opened at the Palace Theatre in December 2017. It stars Ethan Slater as SpongeBob, Danny Skinner as Patrick and Gavin Lee as Squidward. I loved watching the cartoon as a kid. My sister and I would constantly watch it together and it was a very memorable part of my childhood so I knew that I just had to see this show when I visited New York. The musical follows a day in the fictional underwater town of Bikini Bottom, where the citizens have just learned that a nearby volcano will erupt at sundown the next day. Amid the antic and fantasies of the community over the ensuing 24 hours, SpongeBob takes it upon himself to save the day and rescue his town from certain destruction. The music created for the musical was such a happy treat to listen to. There are a few fan favourite songs to be found but majority of the numbers are new music written by well known artists including David Bowie, Plain White T’s, Panic At The Disco, T.I, Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles, Aerosmith, Lady Antebellum and John Legend. Even when the songs are trying to be serious and tell an important message they are still at their core humourous and had the audience in stitches at certain points. The atmosphere created during the pre show before the curtain rose instantly transported you underwater with lots of blue hues and water sound effects. Then you also had a live band playing very tropical music. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before and really immerse you in the world you were about to see on stage.

The sound design was also another aspect of the show that really stood out for me. When characters like SpongeBob and Squidward walked around the stage a sound effect would sync up with their movements and make the same sounds that you would hear on the TV show. It was amazing to watch and such a small thing that enhanced the overall performance.

Out of all of the characters, Squidward was easily my favourite. He honestly represents me and his big solo I’m Not A Loser is so funny and relatable.

It’s a real shame that SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical has to close on Broadway on September 16 due to the Palace Theatre undergoing renovations. But thankfully the show is continuing on a tour of the United States in 2019. I really hope that it one day gets an Australian production because both kids and adults alike would get such a kick out of this hilariously quaint show.