CMU School of Drama


Monday, March 19, 2018

Broadway By Design: David Zinn Brings SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS from Page to Stage

www.broadwayworld.com: Who is Annie without her red dress? Or Eva with out her balcony? It is the charge of the Broadway designer to transport the audience into the world of a show, whether it be Great Depression-era New York City or outside of the Casa Rosada.

6 comments:

Sarah Connor said...

Since it's announcement and the release of the first design sketches and production photos, I have been in absolute awe of every single aspect of the designs in this show. The way that David Zinn captured the cartoony energy and color of the world while bringing it into real life and keeping it sophisticated is completely incredible. The use of the mundane objects painted bright childish colors in the set, from ladders to giant bendy straws to hula hoops to beachballs, keep the whole mood true to the television show and the entire feeling of the show fun. The costumes, too, are so incredibly perfect at capturing the cartoony non-human characters in a human form, like the incredible design for Sandy Cheeks' costume, and the wildly creative costumes for the background creatures that blur the idea of human and cartoon in such a visually satisfying way. I hope to see it over the summer, and can't wait to see what awards it may win at the Tony's this year!

Unknown said...

I have to admit, I've never really paid the Sponge bob musical much thought for whatever reason. Perhaps it's just the somewhat ridiculous source material or the fact I've been too busy to keep up with current Broadway shows, but until I read this article I hadn't so much as seen a single image of the production. I must say, my indifference was ill- founded. The production (at least from a design standpoint) is very complex and thought out, not to mention impressively executed. I thought it was very interesting how the scenic designer drew on 60's beach culture and 80's New York to bring such a fantastical cartoon setting to the stage. the costume design also is similarly impressive. The design is aware of the lunacy of the source material, and embraces it without being too kitschy or garish. I might have to check this one out if I get a chance!

Unknown said...

Damn David Zinn. It’s hard to make original work, but sometimes it’s just as hard to redo something within a new medium. While I have yet to see SpongeBob Squarepants on Broadway, the images that this article provides are vivid, bright, exciting, and innovative. It looks as though Zinn took the qualities that everyone can recognize from Bikini Bottom and brought them into a new world. I also love that SpongeBob is a guy and not someone dressed up in a costume that is exactly like the television show. It’s really refreshing because I think it’s not vomiting the television show onto a Broadway stage, but reinventing Spongebob Squarepants for the stage. What an incredible feat. I think Zinn nailed the humanization of the characters that live in Bikini bottom. Another incredible feat is his damn set design! I love the image of the pineapple, the life preservers and the star behind Patrick star. Zinn’s design is thoughtful but also innovative. It’s really interesting that he did the costume design and the scenic design because I think they compliment each other really well, which is guess is a plus for being a double designer.

Alexander Friedland said...

I was attracted to this article because SpongeBob SquarePants the musical was the first musical adaptation that I’ve heard about that hasn’t been a total flop, which I think can be attributed a lot to the designer so I was interested in reading about his work. I think the most intriguing thing about this article is from the pictures of Zinn’s work because for the costumes seem to pop this liveliness that he keeps talking about wanting to encompass but the set seems very 1 dimension like it is all the projection screen. This might be the image but I was intrigued because the costumes and scenic pieces don’t necessarily seem to go together with each or like the same person designed them. I even get this same 1-d-ness from the video, which doesn’t mean that I don’t like the work but I just think it is an interesting contrast to see. The most intriguing statement about Zinn’s design to me I that he wanted to keep human-ness, which I definitely think from the images I have seen that he does keep this human-ness.

Kelly Simons said...

Spongebob Squarepants=my childhood. To see a Spongebob Squarepants musical in real life on Broadway would be like me entering my childhood world; absolutely fantastic and imaginary. I love this visuals of the show, and the article reads from a quote from the designer :""While inspiration came from EVERYWHERE, if I had to describe our vibe I would say 60's beach culture re imagined in the 80s east village through the lens of a bunch of queer, crazy, show-biz loving modern vaudevillians who want you, your parents, and your kids to all have a Really. Good. Time." Forget the kids, let the adults that grew up with the first episodes of Spongebob get in there and have some fun! I can't wait to learn more about this show, and how the reviewers take it. Well, I hope, Spongebob Squarepants has a built in fan base that I'm sure will help make this musical a success.

Evan Schild said...

First off let me start by saying that Spongebob Sqaurepants the musical is amazing. They really got the story right and all of the design aspects are incredible. You know that I listen to this show atleast once a week. I got to see this show during Winter break and the design was amazing. David zinn is truly an incredible designer. The cosutmes really spoke to who the charcaters are and what the show needs from them. Also a lot of them are designed extremely interesting. If I remember correctly, one fish is mad from bottles and is transparent. I wonder what his research process was for this show. How many episodes did he watch of spongebob to understand the show. The set is also really cool. At one point they have two working rube Goldberg machines and it was so exciting to see them work. Also they had a skateboard ramp on stage and I think that is so cool.