Broadway in Chicago’s world premiere of “The SpongeBob Musical” is much more than a simple rehash of a favorite kids’ TV show. In a plotline never seen before, the technicolor undersea world of Bikini Bottom is at risk of total annihilation. Sure, a hero will arise to save the day (and we have a definite inkling as to who that might be), because this isn’t Bertolt Brecht. What it is, though, is a heartwarming, life-affirming feast for the eyes. Here are five things to know before you see the show.
1. This SpongeBob isn’t just for kids.
First of all, the musical was conceived and directed by Broadway director and Steppenwolf ensemble member Tina Landau, a whip-smart theater veteran who has directed both straight dramas (“Superior Donuts,” “Cherry Orchard,” “The Tempest”) and musicals (“Floyd Collins,” “Bells Are Ringing”) to great acclaim. SpongeBob may seem like a huge departure for her, but Landau disagrees. “It is and yet not,” she says. “It feels like a coming together and a synthesis of two parts of my artistic split personality. It’s great musical theater, and it’s also, in the way we’re approaching it, sort of cutting-edge, inventive, experimental stagecraft. There’s meat and sophistication in the story and the storytelling that will absolutely speak to an adult audience.” So, there’s something for the kid (beloved cartoon characters), for the teen (hip music), and for the adult (a slightly subversive, though still optimistic, view of society). Everyone wins!
2. Nickelodeon is totally on board with this new adaptation.
Landau never thought Nickelodeon would go for her interpretation of the show, because her vision was in some ways a departure from the hit show. “I had a very specific impulse as to how to do it. I want[ed] to create an underwater scene that is Dada, and surreal, and circus, and rock concert,” she says. But, as it turns out, both Nickelodeon and SpongeBob creator Steve Hillenberg loved her take. “They’ve been phenomenal in saying, ‘We don’t want the kind of show that people have seen or that they expect it to be. We want something that’s going to surprise people.'” The TV show has always had that goofily subversive indy spirit, and this show maintains it.
3. These are live actors, not animation.
Audience connection to the world of Bikini Bottom is paramount to the success of the show. Landau and her team didn’t want to distance the performers from their audience by hiding them behind huge sea animal costumes or oversized headpieces; they wanted to maintain the human form. So the actors wear costumes that suggest color and shape subtly and let their gestures and other body movements capture the heart of the animated character and express it with their humanity.
4. This isn’t a jukebox musical of recycled hits.
With the exception of one song by the late, great David Bowie — that’s been updated with additional lyrics by Jonathon Coulton — all of the music was written specifically for the show by a collection of contemporary music acts, including Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, T.I., The Flaming Lips and The Plain White T’s. How did they pull that eclectic group of artists together? “I started with a list of people I love or admired and wanted to meet or to work with, or people who I thought embodied the spirit of the show, and who might have a bit of the SpongeBob DNA already in their work,” says Landau. They matched up the artists with the characters (i.e., Plankton was going to sing a rap, so they approached T.I. for that song). SpongeBob functions as “a mash-up of non sequiturs and styles, so the idea of having specific songs and sounds for each character really felt organic to the material.”
5. Next stop, Broadway.
While they don’t yet have a theater lined up — Broadway musical houses are pretty full right now (thanks, “Hamilton,” “Waitress” and “School of Rock”) and it’s a game of Jenga waiting for something to move out — Landau assumes that they will be on Broadway in the fall. But don’t miss your chance to see it here first!
“The SpongeBob Musical” runs June 7 to July 10, 2016 at Broadway in Chicago’s Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago.
