SpongeBob and Friends Save the World at First Stage
Photo by Mark Ruffolo.
In The SpongeBob Musical for Young Audiences, First Stage is taking kids and their families underwater for the ocean adventures of SpongeBob SquarePants, the persistently optimistic, yellow kitchen sponge in brown shorts who lives in a pineapple under the sea. Directed with enthusiasm and ingenuity by Tommy Novak and choreographed by Kateline Zelon, the 75-minute adaptation is a condensed version of the Broadway musical, which debuted in Chicago in 2016. Running downtown through April 2 in the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater, The SpongeBob Musical is a charming and silly story about a trio of small but determined heroes, celebrating friendship and solving problems by using teamwork.
Fans of the long-running cartoon on Nickelodeon will recognize the cast of familiar characters, who were portrayed on opening weekend by the Sponge Cast. As the super absorbent star of the show, Gracie Halverson plays SpongeBob as a loveable geek — awkward and naive enough to believe that there is no mountain (or erupting volcano) that cannot be conquered, especially with the help of her BFFs. With a strong, clear voice and a calm confidence, Halverson leads most of the show’s musical numbers, showing everyone she’s not “Just a Simple Sponge” and encouraging her friends in Bikini Bottom to have the “Best Day Ever.”
Photo by Mark Ruffolo.
As for the rest of the cast, there’s slothful starfish and SpongeBob’s best friend Patrick (Gavin Miller); the karate chopping, Texas twanging squirrel who excels in scientific analysis and inventions, Sandy (Natalie Ortega); the bullhorn-toting bureaucrat Mrs. Mayor (Lachrisa Grandberry); the gloomy, worst-case-scenario, clarinet playing and tap dancing octopus, Squidward (Doug Clemons); and SpongeBob’s snappy boss Krabs (Zach Thomas Woods). Perhaps most entertaining, Jesse Bhamrah’s Plankton is wily and weird, a miniature Bond villain with a plan for worldwide, fast-food domination. He is aided by his sidekick in evil-doing, Karen the Computer (Bree Beelow), who assumes the perky shape of a metal Jane Jetson. But all of the characters are tested when Bikini Bottom starts rumbling and Sandy predicts that an undersea volcano is going to erupt, destroying their entire community. It’s up to SpongeBob, Sandy and Patrick to save the day.
Photo by Mark Ruffolo.
Musically the show is unusual because the score is a mix of songs written by more than a dozen composers, most from top 40 bands that span several decades. In general it’s a very hummable group. The upbeat “BFF,” complete with dancing letters, was contributed by Plain White T’s; a bouncy “Hero is My Middle Name” was penned by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman; and the inspirational “Chop to the Top” was contributed by Lady Antebellum. When the hero trio are not singing about vanquishing perils, Clemons’s Squidward is stealing the show with a Vegas-style production number with a chorus of pink anemones in “I’m Not a Loser,” by They Might be Giants. The other nice addition to the soundscape of the show is an onstage Foley artist, who provides numerous sound effects, adding cartoony, vaudeville-esque humor with every squeaky footstep and slide whistle.
Photo by Mark Ruffolo.
Packed with songs, The SpongeBob Musical explores some serious themes that are important for audiences of any age, including global warming, the importance of science, and xenophobia. And it does that in a quirky, colorful, family friendly way. Jason Fassl’s lighting replicates softly rolling waves and helps drive home the danger when Mount Humongous gets ready to blow. Set designer Kristin Ellert adds some tongue-in-cheek items to the sandscape at the bottom of the sea, including a huge Wisconsin license plate and a surfboard with a bite taken out of it. And Theresa Ham’s costumes – particularly the umbrella jellyfish and the engineering marvel that is Squidward’s extra legs – are both delightful and immediately recognizable.
The only thing missing from this production is the rest of the show. While First Stage has done some very good distillations of longer musicals, such as Elf, The SpongeBob Musical feels like a lot has been left out. To fit in as many songs as possible, there’s not much story in between musical cues and the stakes feel much lower. Constructing Mount Humongous out of long orange ribbons — and even creating a huge cat’s cradle for the characters to climb through — is clever, it’s just not compelling. Instead of SpongeBob’s “Best Day Ever,” the show feels like a pretty good day. But that’s still saying a lot.