SpongeBob SquarePants at the Palace Theatre | Photo: Marc J. Franklin
The Nickelodeon musical, conceived and directed by Tina Landau, features a book by Kyle Jarrow and original songs provided by a host of popular artists including Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants and T.I., with an additional song by the late David Bowie. Additional lyrics are by Jonathan Coulton.
Synopsis: "Stakes are higher than ever before as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage. Get ready to dive to all-new depths of theatrical innovation at SpongeBob SquarePants, where the power of optimism really can save the world!"
The principal cast of SpongeBob SquarePants includes Ethan Slater (as SpongeBob SquarePants), Tony & Olivier Award nominee Gavin Lee (as Squidward), Lilli Cooper (as Sandy Cheeks), Danny Skinner (as Patrick), Wesley Taylor (as Sheldon Plankton) and Brian Ray Norris (as Eugene Krabs) .
The ensemble features Gaelen Gilliland, Juliane Godfrey, Kyle Matthew Hamilton, Curtis Holbrook, Stephanie Hsu, Jesse JP Johnson, L’ogan J’ones, Jai’len Josey, Kelvin Moon Loh, Lauralyn McClelland, Vasthy Mompoint, Oneika Phillips, Jon Rua, JC Schuster, Abby C. Smith, Robert Taylor Jr., Allan Washington, Brynn Williams, and Matt Wood.
The creative team behind SpongeBob SquarePants features orchestrations, arrangements & music supervision by Tom Kitt, choreography by Christopher Gattelli, scenic & costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Kevin Adams, projection design by Peter Nigrini, sound design by Walter Trarbach, and hair & wig design by Charles G. LaPointe.
The musical staged its world premiere production at Chicago's Oriental Theatre in the summer of 2016.
SpongeBob SquarePants is produced on Broadway by Nickelodeon with The Araca Group, Sony Music Masterworks and Kelp on the Road.
SpongeBob SquarePants, which debuted in 1999, is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Set in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom, the series follows the adventures of the title character and his friends. A film adaptation was released in 2004, with a sequel released in North America on February 6, 2015.
SpongeBob SquarePants Tickets are now available for performances through to May 27, 2018.
Original source: NewYorkTheatreGuide.com.
Also, from Playbill.com:
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical Begins Previews November 6
The musical features original songs by Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, the Flaming Lips, Sara Bareilles, Panic! At the Disco, and the late David Bowie.
SpongeBob SquarePants, the new Broadway musical based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series, begins Broadway previews November 6 at the Palace Theatre. The new musical will open on Broadway December 4.
The show arrives in New York after a well-received 2016 world-premiere engagement in Chicago (then titled The SpongeBob Musical), where it was met with encouraging reviews from critics. Read reviews here.
Director Tina Landau, whose visual style and unconventional use of performance spaces are a hallmark of her ambitious, ensemble-driven works, is the driving force behind SpongeBob on Broadway.
“I’m not interested in a theme park show,” she told Playbill. The Broadway musical captures what Landau calls "the SpongeBob DNA” from the Nickelodeon series and its idiosyncratic characters. “We made a tunnel out of hula hoops. There’s a mountain made out of cardboard boxes. It’s a whole world created out of scrap metal and a chum bucket. We didn't want to do cartoon characters with big mascot heads. It was really about: ‘Is there a theatrical, cutting-edge, inventive, exciting language for this to live on stage?'”
Reprising their roles from the musical’s Chicago premiere are Broadway newcomers Ethan Slater as SpongeBob and Danny Skinner as Patrick Star, as well as Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, Wesley Taylor as the maniacal-yet-microscopic Sheldon Plankton, and Brian Ray Norris in his Broadway debut as Krusty Krab owner Eugene Krabs.
SpongeBob SquarePants features a book by Kyle Jarrow and a score from an impressive roster of pop and rock hit-makers, including Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants and T.I., and a song by the late David Bowie and by Tom Kenny and Andy Paley.
Each of the contributing songwriters penned an original song for a specific moment in the show. “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,” book writer Kyle Jarrow previously told Playbill.com. “They knew where it fit in the story.”
Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal composer Tom Kitt serves as SpongeBob's music supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger. Kitt is responsible for translating all of the original songs into a unified score.
Rounding out the cast are ensemble members Alex Gibson, Gaelen Gilliland, Juliane Godfrey, Kyle Matthew Hamilton, Curtis Holbrook, Stephanie Hsu, Jesse JP Johnson, L’ogan J’ones, Jai’len Christine Li Josey, Kelvin Moon Loh, Lauralyn McClelland, Vasthy Mompoint, Oneika Phillips, Jon Rua, JC Schuster, Abby C. Smith, Robert Taylor Jr., Allan Washington, Brynn Williams, Matt Wood, and Tom Kenny.
The production is choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli. The design team includes scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Kevin Adams, projection design by Peter Nigrini, sound design by Walter Trarbach, hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe, and casting by Telsey + Company/Patrick Goodwin, CSA.
[...]
SpongeBob SquarePants is produced by Nickelodeon with The Araca Group, Sony Music Masterworks, and Kelp on the Road.
Also via Playbill.com:
Get an Exclusive Sneak Peek of SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical
The latest in Playbill’s Pop-Up Series offered fans and industry members a taste of the new musical with performances and interviews.
Danny Skinner, Lilli Cooper, and Ethan Slater - Marc J. Franklin
Playbill’s new Pop-Up Series returned to Renaissance Hotel’s R Lounge in Times Square to give the theatre community an exclusive look at the upcoming Broadway premiere of SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical.
Joining Playbill to show off numbers from the show were stars Ethan Slater, who takes on the title role, Lilli Cooper (Sandy Cheeks), Danny Skinner (Patrick Star), and Brian Ray Norris (Eugene Krabs).
Playbill's SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical Pop-Up preview, 2017
Following performances of the songs “BFF” and “Hero Is My Middle Name,” the stars joined director Tina Landau and book writer Kyle Jarrow in a panel discussion about the creation of the musical and what audiences can expect.
As attendees learned during the panel, audiences shouldn't expect a rehash of the animated series.
“We didn't want to replicate the TV show,” Landau explained. “We didn't want to do cartoon characters with big mascot heads. It was really about: ‘Is there a theatrical, cutting-edge, inventive, exciting language for this to live on stage?'”
“I guess the answer is yes,” she added, prompting laughs and applause.
Tina Landau - Marc J. Franklin
“We wanted to create a fully original story,” Jarrow said. “A volcano is going to erupt, and the entire community is in danger of being obliterated. What we really wanted to do was create a story that has some resonance. What it's really about—I don't want to get too highfalutin' here—but it's about how people respond to being scared. Do they turn against each other, or do they pull together? When they think that they've got only 36 hours left, how do they choose to spend that time? ...If we look at the world around us, that's a story we could all use right now. A hopeful story about how we can come together when we're scared.”
To close out the evening, Slater took the stage to sing SpongeBob’s anthem, “(Just A) Simple Sponge.”
Take a look at the performances and interviews in the video below.
SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical begins performances on Broadway November 6 at the Palace Theatre. The show’s score features original songs by a roster of pop and rock hit-makers, including Sara Bareilles, Plain White T's, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, and David Bowie.
Bikini Bottom is coming to Broadway in Nickelodeon's brand-new SpongeBob SquarePants musical!
SpongeBob SquarePants places the characters of the hit Nickelodeon cartoon series in an original story set in Bikini Bottom, where the stakes are higher than ever before, as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world! Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage!
The show features a book by Kyle Jarrow and a score arranged by Tom Kitt, featuring original songs from a plethora of recording artists, including Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Panic! At the Disco, and the late David Bowie.
Reprising their roles from the musical’s 2016 world premiere in Chicago are Ethan Slater as SpongeBob, Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, and Danny Skinner as Patrick Star. They will be joined by stage and TV favorite Wesley Taylor as the maniacal-yet-microscopic Sheldon Plankton and Brian Ray Norris in his Broadway debut as Krusty Krab owner Eugene Krabs.
Rounding out the cast are ensemble members Gaelen Gilliland, Juliane Godfrey, Kyle Matthew Hamilton, Curtis Holbrook, Stephanie Hsu, Jesse JP Johnson, L’ogan J’ones, Jai’len Josey, Kelvin Moon Loh, Lauralyn McClelland, Vasthy Mompoint, Oneika Phillips, Jon Rua, JC Schuster, Abby C. Smith, Robert Taylor Jr., Allan Washington, Brynn Williams, and Matt Wood.
Acclaimed Steppenwolf director Tina Landau and the groundbreaking designers behind Fun Home, Hedwig, and Spring Awakening have brilliantly reimagined Bikini Bottom for the Broadway stage, bringing the spirit of SpongeBob to life with humanity, heart, and pure theatricality. With an original score from some of the biggest names in pop and rock, SpongeBob SquarePants explodes with energy.
SpongeBob SquarePants will begin Broadway previews Monday, November 6th at the Palace Theatre on New York City's prestigious Broadway, before officially opening on Monday, December 4th.
To purchase tickets the SpongeBob SquarePants Broadway musical, visit SpongeBobBroadway.com, Ticketmaster.com or call 877-250-2929.
Full information about the The SpongeBob Musical can be found on the productions official website, thespongebobmusical.com! #SpongeBobBway.
SpongeBob SquarePants - The New Musical Original Cast Recording is available to purchase today at https://spongebobmusical.lnk.to/SpongebobMusicalRecording.
Online / Social Media
Website: SpongeBobBroadway.com
Facebook: facebook.com/SpongeBobBway
Twitter: @SpongeBobBway
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YouTube: youtube.com/spongebobbroadway
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