SpongeBob Squarepants The Musical: Not Just a Simple Sponge
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| ©2017 Nickelodeon. All Rights Reserved. |
If you aren’t already familiar with SpongeBob, there isn’t nearly enough time to catch you up. And this musical doesn’t even try. But honestly, when the cast is filled out by a lazy starfish, an eternally woeful squid and a sea-dwelling squirrel, new converts will be confused no matter what. Thankfully, the deliriously technicolor sets and costumes by David Zinn give you plenty to look at even when the action onstage reaches it’s most manic.
Unlike preceding animation-to-Broadway adaptations, SpongeBob doesn’t simply reinterpret one of its many plots through a live-action lens. Instead, a brand new chaos has emerged across Bikini Bottom which SpongeBob is determined to correct. A nearby volcano, long dormant, is rumbling angrily and after some quick calculations from Sandy Cheeks (the aforementioned nautical squirrel played by a vibrant Lilli Cooper) it turns out the volcano is set to blow tomorrow night. Cue the madness! SpongeBob scrambles to find a solution, his best friend Patrick (a good-but-not-great Danny Skinner) unwittingly becomes the leader of a cult of sardines and the villainous Plankton (Wesley Taylor, who finds his stride in Plankton’s hip-hop breakout) seeks to capitalize on the situation for personal gain. As Bikini Bottom descends into madness, it becomes clear only someone with a strong moral compass will be able to fix the problem.
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| This cast is determined to turn the party in Bikini Bottom. ©2017. Photo by Joan Marcus |
Surely, the plot sounds ridiculous. That’s because it is. But Ms. Landau relishes the ridiculousness. She uses it as a starting point for every crazy antic seen onstage. If an undersea volcano is going to erupt then why can’t there be a skateboarding boy band brought in to perform a benefit concert to fund the town folks’ escape? If a single-celled organism (Plankton) and his computer wife, Karen (a very funny Stephanie Hsu) want to hypnotize the town, why can’t they do it in a giant escape pod funded with the proceeds from said benefit concert? If the towns folk, driven mad by the impending doom, want to blame their mammalicious friend, Sandy, why can’t the show be laced with more political commentary than an episode of Meet the Press? SpongeBob is a show where reality doesn’t exist. In fact, watching this show makes you question is reality ever existed.
Back to the political commentary. I’m surprised that the book (written by Kyle Jarrow) went as deep as it did. I’ve got to say, though, if I heard another fish sneer something along the lines of “her kind doesn’t belong here” one more time I may have lost it. The matinee performance I saw had so many children in attendance (and I expect that is normal for this show) who clearly didn’t understand the message. I wondered if Jarrow realized such a disparate age difference would be present in his audiences. I also wondered if these moments would have been more powerful if more adults had been in attendance.
I’m surprised to say the music is where SpongeBob really shines. After all, with over a dozen artists (including Sara Bareilles, Cyndi Lauper and David Bowie), this could have turned into a failed experiment quickly. Thanks to astute musical supervision by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then), the score blends together into a cohesive work. Knowing all of the artists involved turns the show into a fun game as well. Hearing the first few bars of a song and guessing who contributed the tune was a joy. In fact, it may have been one of the highlights of the show.
That’s a lie, SpongeBob had two very distinct highlights: Ethan Slater and Gavin Lee. As SpongeBob, Mr. Slater embodies the role so effortlessly it makes you wonder if he has been waiting his entire life to step into the sponge’s squeaky shoes. His adroit sense of SpongeBob’s carefree personality is matched only by his masterful vocals and thrilling displays of physical strength. During the show’s climax, Mr. Slater shows off his best acrobatics as he climbs all over Mr. Zinn’s twisting and turning set. My fear that the actor might fall (Spiderman Turn Off the Dark anyone?) was assuaged thanks to my astonishment at his abilities.
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| Hello Squidward! Classic Broadway is alive and well for this squid. ©2017. Photo by Joan Marcus |
Mr. Slater encapsulated so much of what makes modern Broadway magical: he created a large-scale spectacle and became a blockbuster himself. Gavin Lee, on the other hand, captured the spirit of classic musicals during “I’m Not a Loser.” I’m a sucker for a good tap number, and when the lead dancer (Mr. Lee) is tapping his heart out with four feet, I’m that much more impressed. Throughout the production, in fact, Mr. Lee is a grounding force. Squidward might be the downer of the group, but Mr. Lee’s constant zingers celebrate the ability for a skilled comedian to deliver just as many laughs as the characters who are busy playing with Mr. Zinn’s beautiful set pieces.
Nickelodeon shouldn’t see SpongeBob as an example for future Broadway transfers of their properties. A Rugrats musical? No thank you. This sponge was always meant for something more than television and, while the two and a half hour run-time demonstrates why SpongeBob episodes were only about twenty minutes, the musical’s fun spirit is never lost. If you’re tired of having to spend your time at the theater grappling with complex ideas, it may just be time to pay a visit to a certain pineapple under the sea.
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