I knew I had to hit up Broadway during my New York trip, but I don’t think I would’ve imagined seeing Spongebob on Broadway.
Let me preface this with a video. Watch it. It’s the cast of the Spongebob from the Broadway musical performing at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Keep in mind that they don’t have their stage, and their usual rigged set to work with.
Don’t these characters remind you exactly of the animated Spongebob characters? They did such an excellent job.
This video was what put them on the map for me. I watched it about 2 weeks before my New York trip. The boyfriend and I had our minds set on watching the Lion King, which we did (we had amazing seats. 6 rows from the front!). But then we decided that if we could get Spongebob tickets at the right price…one more musical couldn’t hurt.
We managed to get rush tickets to Spongebob, and honestly, looking back, I’m so flippin glad we did.
Spongebob. Is. Amazing.
I feel like I’m going to get lynched for saying this but I enjoyed Spongebob more than the Lion King.
Don’t get me wrong. Lion King was so beautiful. I cried at the beginning just because of how wondrous the whole thing was. I watched as the elephant came down the aisles and all the animals gathered around Pride Rock to celebrate the circle of life and I was uncontrollably leaking tears. I’m pretty sure people around me were wondering why I was crying 5 minutes into the musical. But anyway.
I had gone into Spongebob thinking it’d be a joke. Why anyone would make Spongebob into a Broadway musical was beyond me. But let me tell you. In the 2 hours that I was in the Palace Theatre, I was taken on a journey that explored racism, the government, the media, and religion. I won’t go into the story at all in this post since I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll touch on almost everything else surrounding it.
Upon walking into the theater, you’re greeted by a set that overflows from the stage itself. You can’t help but be excited for whatever underwater adventure awaits you.
I personally did watch Spongebob growing up, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan or anything. I tolerated it for the most part when it was on TV. I don’t think you need to watch a lot of Spongebob though in order to realize how well the actors portrayed each of the characters.
I had never seen a Broadway musical that still featured the original cast, so that was a first for me when it came to Spongebob. I have to say that Ethan Slater (who plays Spongebob) killed it. I cannot believe how MVP he was to the whole production. I honestly have no idea how anyone can fill his role should they need a replacement or if the show gets moved to multiple other locations for a tour.
One pretty cool thing about the Spongebob musical was that all the songs were written by different people.
I’m not sure in which universe I’d imagine David Bowie having worked on a project alongside T.I. and Sara Bareilles, but yet here we are. This was actually one of the things that critics were worried about for this musical. With so many different artists working on the various songs in the show, how could anyone possibly make this cohesive?
While I didn’t love every single song in the musical, I honestly do truly love quite a few of them. Bikini Bottom Day from the video above is one of them, and so is Hero Is My Middle Name. Squidward’s number I’m Not A Loser is also the most extravagant thing I’ve ever seen. I have listened to the songs on Spotify ever since I watched the musical, and eventually, all the songs have grown on me.
If you’re wondering whether to watch Spongebob the Broadway Musical, I urge you do just do it. Overall, there’s a lot you’ll be taking in during the two hours, but you’ll be thoroughly entertained for the entire duration of it. And definitely, try to catch it while the entire original cast is still there!
Other blog posts on my recent December New York trip:
Karen K. Lee 