CMU School of Drama


Monday, December 04, 2017

"SpongeBob SquarePants" out to make a splash on Broadway

CBS News: "SpongeBob SquarePants" has been on the Nickelodeon TV Channel for 18 years and is still going strong. It tells absurdist tales of an optimistic sea sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, along with his saltwater pals.

But once you've made 250 TV episodes, two movies, a comic book, a video-game series, three music albums, and a theme-park ride, where do you go from there?

3 comments:

Annie Scheuermann said...

When I first heard that Sponge Bob was going to be turned into a Broadway Musical, I just rolled my eyes and thought it was really stupid. I have to say that when the cast performed during the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade, I was really surprised to see that they were not just in foam suits of the cartoon characters and they were humans in a character costumes. In the way that the article points out, they are trying to see the life version of the silly characters, and I think that was the best direction to take it. I never watched Sponge Bob when I was a child, because my parents were convinced that it would make me dumb. So, I do not know too much about the story in general, but I would be interested to see the story line of the musical. During Stage Management Seminar when we read Spider Man a big thing we talked about that was an issue in the creation was that everyone know and loves the title character, but their are so many stories of them already, that what one do you choose to put on stage?

Claire Farrokh said...

I have been making jokes about Spongebob Squarepants the musical since there started being rumors about its production. Now it is a full fledged Broadway show and I honestly kind of want to see it. I think it is exactly what everyone is expecting, but it is the best version of what it can be. Whether or not a Spongebob musical should be on Broadway is another discussion, but it's nice to have a kids musical that is actually appropriate for kids. In the New York Times review, there was a lot of discussion about the scenic design, and how it seems like it was constructed almost by a child, but in an extremely intelligent and artistic way (like a designer) which is one of the main reasons why I want to see this show. I recently watched a short video that contained clips from the biggest numbers in the show, and it seems like exactly what a musical about Spongebob would be, but it honestly seems pretty great and I hope I get a chance to see it when I'm home for Christmas.

Evan Schild said...

Over break I got to see this musical with fellow classmates. Let me say this; this show is amazing! Going in to it, I kept joking that the show will be amazing. I mean to be honest a musical based on SpongeBob did not sound like it will turn out good. It seemed like a theme park show on steroids. I was wrong about one thing; it was actually a good show. I wouldn’t say its changing theater but it is a fun time! One thing I was right about it was that it was a theme park show on steroids. Nickelodeon is one of the producers so they have money to spare. One song included a skate board ramp and people skate boarding around on stage. This was not necessary at all but it certainly did look cool. Another expensive set piece was the use of two rube Goldberg machines. Yet again they could have done something cheaper but it did make the moment cooler. I would recommend anyone of any age to see this show!