During the intermission of a performance of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical last Saturday evening at the Palace Theatre in midtown Manhattan, two twenty-somethings were debating the merits of the Broadway musical, based on Viacom-owned Nickelodeon’s beloved animated family TV show.
“In terms of sheer fun, I prefer SpongeBob SquarePants to Hamilton and Wicked, said 24-year-old Stephanie Ellis. “No way!” said her friend Kerrie Hayes, 25. “It’s still enjoyable though.”
Both were seeing the show for the second time.
As with the TV series, which premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999 has since generated $13 billion in merchandising revenue and spawned two feature-length movies, SpongeBob on stage is doing things its own way.
For the musical, which has an estimated budget of $20 million, director Tina Landau jettisoned the idea of a single composing team, instead featuring songs from the likes of Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Sara Bareilles and They Might Be Giants, that were supervised and arranged by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt.
The show recreates the title character, who lives in a pineapple in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom together with his aquatic octopus and starfish pals, but tells a brand new story about an erupting volcano.
SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical was critically acclaimed for its innovative staging and eye-popping spectacle when it opened last December, following a try-out in Chicago. Last week, the show tied for most-nominated production at the upcoming Tony Awards, together with Mean Girls, based on another popular Viacom property, gaining recognition in 12 awards categories including Best Musical. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical is also this theater seasons most nominated show.
LOOK AT ALL THESE NOMINATIONS!!!!!! LOOK. AT. THEM!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/kITwCQN2YW
— SpongeBob Broadway (@SpongeBobBway) May 2, 2018
Yet, unfortunately the show is by no means an ocean-sized blockbuster on Broadway. Following the nomination, box office revenue for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical rose 7.2% from the previous week, generating $565,662, for the week ending May 6, according to figures from the Broadway League. But that’s less than 40% of its potential gross. By comparison, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Frozen and Mean Girls are all generating 95% or over their potential gross.
While a national tour seems likely, time and the Tony Awards next month will tell whether SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical extends its run beyond the first week of September, the end of its current booking time frame.
Ironically for a family-themed property, what could keep the musical going is its adult fan base. Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon and Viacom Media Networks Kids & Family Group which is the lead producer of the show, told MarketWatch that a quarter of the SpongeBob SquarePants TV audience are adults without kids, and that trend has become even more pronounced on Broadway.
“Nickelodeon’s brand identity is ‘kids first’ so when people hear we’ve come to Broadway, which is an adult and family medium, people expect it to be a kids show,” she said. “We’ve worked very hard to try and illustrate to the audiences that this is not a costume character show and lean into the music and the score and the visuals of the characters who are not wearing costumes.”
She added of the show’s Tony nominations: “It has been a journey and I think this certainly is going to help us get over a hump. But I think our next message is going to be this is an amazing re-invention and we re-invented it for this audience and as soon as we can get this message...everybody who has seen it loves it so word-of-mouth is helping us tremendously.”
Millennials, it transpires, are especially doing their bit for the show, according to fellow producer Susan Vargo. ”We have not only Nickelodeon parents with their kids now coming but we have a lot of millennials who are obviously becoming a really important economic force,” she said. “We find that they are passionate, social-media drivers who have embraced this show like no other and they consume, consume, consume and they come back a lot.”
Broadway newcomer Ethan Slater, who has generated considerable acclaim and a Tony Best Leading Actor in a Musical nomination for his performance as SpongeBob, said that was the plan from the outset. “From day one Tina Landau talked a lot about how this show is more akin to the 20th century physical comedians and the silent comedians,” he said, “like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, off of whom the cartoon is based.”
“So we were trying to tap into that, which is physical comedy that is not meant for kids — but kids are going to enjoy it because it’s funny. There was always an effort to approach it as a musical with these characters. It’s a totally original story, original music. That was really important. Not making a lowest-common-denominator kids show but making a great show with these famous characters,” he said.
For Viacom, Zarghami said, “This is our first so we’re learning a ton along the way...the business of Broadway is way different than the businesses that we’re in. It’s a learning curve — it’s like an MBA in Broadway. I know a lot and I don’t know if I’ll ever do this again!”
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical is now playing at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway at West 47th Street). For full information, reviews and tickets, visit http://spongebobbroadway.com.
SpongeBob SquarePants - The New Musical Original Cast Recording is available to purchase today at https://spongebobmusical.lnk.to/SpongebobMusicalRecording.
Follow SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical on social media:
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More Nick: Are You Ready Kids? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS Musical Opens On Broadway; New Block Of Tickets Available!
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