"The SpongeBob Musical": Squid Pro Quo

The Cast of "The SpongeBob Musical"
(photo: Jeremy Daniel)

When it was first announced a few seasons ago that a stage musical was in the planning stages to be titled The SpongeBob Musical, there was consternation in the theatrical world. It didn't help that it was to be based on the Nickelodeon television cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants, with a creative team most of whom were virtually unknown at the time. Thus it was a major surprise when it first saw the light of night in Chicago in 2016 and earned a few raves. When it moved to Broadway in 2017, it garnished no fewer than twelve Tony Award nominations (losing all but one to other shows; notably, it had the bad fortune to open in the same season as The Band's Visit). Broadway, it seemed, would perhaps never be the same again, and is about to share the moment with this production, at the Boch Center's Wang Theatre, of the National Tour of (eat your hearts out, Esther Williams fans) The SpongeBob Musical.

Cody Cooley as Squidward Q. Tentacles in "The SpongeBob Musical"
(photo: Jeremy Daniel)

For those who don't have pre-teen offspring (which is unarguably its target niche audience), herewith is a brief synopsis of its fathomless (as in not very deep) storyline. It appears that SpongeBob SquarePants (an inexhaustible Lorenzo Pugliese) and other citizens and denizens of Bikini Bottom (the mind boggles) are about to meet the end of the world as they know it thanks to the nefarious terrorist Sheldon Plankton (Tristan McIntyre). The residents, including Patrick Star (Beau Bradshaw), Eugene Krabs (Zach Kononov) and Sandy Cheeks (actually a visiting land mammal, played by Daria Pilar Redus) must head this off at the pass before watery armageddon arrives, which they manage to do, thanks to their Eruptor Interrupter. (Don't ask). Of course all's well that ends well; this is cartoon land after all.

Lorenzo Pugliese in "The SpongeBob Musical"
(photo: Jeremy Daniel)

The show boasts its simple Book (of sorts) by Kyle Jarrow and a complex Score by the immediate world, with original Songs by a Who's Who of composers and lyricists including Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani and Lil'C, as well as songs by David Bowie and Brian Eno, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley, with additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton and Music and Orchestrations by Tom Kitt (of Next to Normal). Of these musical sources, the most memorable are the cute “Poor Pirates” by Bareilles, Legend's “(I Guess I) Miss You” (with strong similarities to Jonathan Larson's “Without You” from Rent) and the hit of the evening (thanks to an indescribable costume, and clever choreography for Squidward Q. Tentacles), “I'm Not a Loser”, voiced and danced by Cody Cooley.

Daria Pilar Redus, Lorenzo Pugliese & Beau Bradshaw in "The SpongeBob Musical"

(photo: Jeremy Daniel)

The creative elements include fabulous Costume Design by David Zinn, lively
Lighting Design by Kevin Adams, complex and essential Projection Design by Peter Nigrini, and Sound Design by Walter Trarbach, as well as that Choreography by Christopher Gattelli. The production was “Conceived and Directed” by Tina Landau. These craftspeople account for those Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Score, Book, Direction, Sound, Choreography, Costumes, Lighting, Orchestrations, Male Lead, Featured Male Actor and Scenic Design (the last of which, by David Zinn, it won).

The Cast of "The SpongeBob Musical"
(photo: Jeremy Daniel)

This all adds up to a production of colorful visuals, corny jokes (“we may have abject misery, but it's the best abject misery”), and broad (but well done) comedy (not unlike The Three Stooges). Children of most ages will find it entertains just swimmingly (though it's a surprisingly long show at two and a half hours). For adults, it may well join the pantheon of the likes of Big Bird and Barney as those fauna which loving parents selflessly endure. Not to worry, though; for such families, it's a stageful of talented triple threats, as everyone acts, sings and dances her or his fins off.

All Nickelodeon fans be alerted: dive in before it casts off on October 27^th for Peoria (no, really), which must after all have unearthed a harbor.