This was a great representation of the incredibleness of the brief run of the SpongeBob musical! However, it was not filmed at the Palace, and to make room for more ads, they had to cut a few minor things. Plus, this didn't include any of the Rube Goldberg devices that were on both sides of the stage, which was a bummer. On the plus side, we were finally able to hear some of the things that were left off the cast album, like Plankton's speed rap in "When the Going Gets Tough". Another plus was having Tom Kenny not only voice the French Narrator, but also perform Patchy.
Add a Review
-
jasobres8 December 2019
-
codyelijah8 December 2019The songs are catchy and I hope they make a dvd of it soon so I can watch it over and over again
-
tootsiebell-188588 December 2019This is a wonderful recording of the Broadway Spongebob musical. The performances were exceptional and each actor did a great job capturing the essence of the character they were portraying. The story is easy to follow, but doesn't feel dumbed down for kids. There's plenty of great messages. The character designs are fresh and imaginative, and it is easy to tell who is who. The songs are incredibly catchy and sung well( though unfortunately some of them have been shortened from the original Broadway production.) To top it all off, they even have sound effects from the show so it feels like you are watching an actual episode of Spongebob.
Ethan Slater is an excellent Spongebob and the years of practice he put into the role shows. He somehow manages to perform a variety of stunts while singing in Spongebob's voice perfectly. Danny Skinner is a great Patrick and complements Slater's performance nicely. Gavin Lee commands the stage as Squidward and steals the show with his "I'm Not a Loser" bit. Christina Sajous is not the original Sandy that was cast, but still performs the role well. Wesley Taylor is a natural comic and brings a new never before seen side to Plankton.
I'd also like to address a lot of criticisms this musical received before it even aired: -The characters look nothing like they do on the animated show That's sort of the point. The characters in the show inherently do not have designs that are "human friendly" as in no actor could ever really look like a character in the show unless they had a goofy theme park costume or a gross amount of makeup on. Both of which would not be fitting because it would hamper their ability to move and express themselves respectively. And that is no good for a musical. I personally find the costumes very imaginative and applaud what they have done.
-The actors are cringeworthy/have no talent I honestly have no idea where people got this one and assume people inferred it after they looked at the character designs. All the performers are incredibly talented as actors, singers, and dancers. Ethan Slater is practically unreal, singing while doing a split, while upside down, etc. And let's not forget Gavin Lee's unforgettable tap dance - eloquently singing in Squidward's voice and dancing with FOUR legs.
-Awful humor I suppose that one's a matter of personal opinion - but the musical's humor is far better than any season of the show after the first movie. The musical has more Hillenburg-era humor and makes plenty of references to it. There's none of the awful gross out humor from current seasons.
Overall this musical is amazing. If it's not to your taste that is fine - but it's totally undeserving of the vitriol it gets. -
I've been following this show since Chicago and seeing it on television felt like it brought closure to a long journey. I saw on Twitter that a lot of people said it was disrespecting Hillenburg by being released after his death, so I wanna make it clear that this show was greenlit by him and Nickelodeon years before his death, and I believe the filming rights were as well. TV seemed like a natural progression - Nick gonna cash grab, especially since SpongeBob is nearing the end of its 20-year-run. The magic they preserved here made it stand out to me in a way unlike other proshots (i.e. Shrek, Newsies, She Loves Me). Yes, it's a corporate cash grab, but knowing the love and care that Tina and the cast put into this show for years made it a cash grab worth my watch. Ethan's at the forefront of this, and he's having a ball. Everyone is! Big highlights for me were Ethan and Wes, but everyone put their heart and soul into this and it shows. At the end of the day, of course it's gonna suffer a little. Some of the problems have plagued the show from the start, like the mix of talent providing songs in pre-production holding the show back from ever evolving past needing those songs and leading songs like Daddy Knows Best and Chop to the Top feeling more like cabaret numbers than integral to the story. Others are new things that didn't translate from the stage, like the lack of the bicycle Rube Goldberg machine that was a really nice touch to the "boulder" scenes. But in the end, do I care? No! I'm so, so, so happy that this show finally got the taping it deserves (and happy that I won't be stuck watching shaky bootlegs forever). As everybody moves on with their careers (go watch Indoor Boys season 3!!), I'm grateful that this milestone was immortalized for us to keep watching.
-
norwood-maddie8 December 2019I'm a little biased since I'm one of the fangirls who's been raving about the show for over a year now and saw it when it was on Broadway, but this musical is outstanding. The characters are true to the cartoon while also looking like actual people, the costumes are beautiful, the songs are catchy, and very little was cut from the Broadway show. This is a genius work of art that has some very important messages about compassion and diversity. Ethan Slater was robbed of his Tony for the seven years of hard work he put into this (and the same goes for the rest of the cast). I'm so happy that the show will be preserved for generations to come.
-
jmarietta-6599212 November 202010 out of 10 is not an easy thing for me to say about something, but this was an incredible show. You're not bored at all. The singing will give you goosebumps. Whether your 6th row orchestra seats like me or watching from the big screen at home, this will make you want to get up and dance. This show is great for people ages 3-99. It's an amazing experience and a whale of a time. You will not be disappointed at all.
-
gbfrogger8 December 2019I cannot express how much I love The SpongeBob Musical. I saw it live on tour a few months ago and I'm so glad they decided to do an official recording with a decent chuck of the original cast (AND Tom Kenny who's never been apart of a performance but they got him to be Patchy here!)
The set looks incredible, every musical number is so much fun (my favorites include "Bikini Bottom Day," "(Just a) Simple Sponge," "Tomorrow Is," and "I'm Not a Loser"), the costumes are great, and the cast fantastically embodies the essence of their characters.
Now I've seen a lot of people complain about various things, so I'm going to address the main 2 that I've seen because some people just don't understand it for some unknown reason. 1. People have complained that the cast doesn't sound exactly like the characters in the show. Honestly WHAT were you expecting? They're not the voice actors. This isn't a surprise. YOU try sounding exactly like SpongeBob as well as doing his laugh without touching your Adams apple like Tom Kenny has to do for the show. And also, as far as singing goes, I'm very glad they don't sound exactly like the characters because I think we can all agree that when the characters sing in the show, they're nowhere NEAR being Broadway level talented haha. That would get annoying and grading very fast with all the notes they have to hit in a lot of these songs. Plus you can still tell who each performer is portraying, soooo... & 2. I've seen people complain about the costumes, and this baffles me to no end. Again, you can still tell who everyone is. They're not supposed to look exactly like the characters. They just have to embody the essence of them, which again, they do a great job of. The show (although still great aside of the costumes) literally would have never made it onto Broadway if it had a guy wearing a square box. That's just a fact (look up The Sponge Who Could Fly Musical on youtube if my word isn't convincing enough for you). Plus everyone wearing full body suits wouldn't leave much room for flexibility (or showing emotion) which is something that everyone in this show needs for the sake of choreography, among many other things, of course. Plus I think the costumes are great and I admire just how creative they were with them. Try using your "i-ma-gin-a-tion" ;)
So yeah, that's all I have to say. I absolutely adore this musical, and I recommend it to all SpongeBob fans as well as everyone who doesn't hate fun and joy. The recording is great, but if you ever get the chance to see it live, definitely go! -
the-beast568 March 2020I don't normally enjoy musical productions, but I caught an hour or so of this one. The actors are so amazing and they display their love for the original show by their performances. Everything just felt like it should. Bravo to everyone involved in this. This is truly a musical done right.
-
jharveymarose25 December 2019As someone who grew up on the OG show, I thought this was fun and pretty true to the original cartoon. A few things I want to address from other low ratings here: 1. This is a Broadway musical, not the actual show. The voices are not going to sound like the ones in the cartoon-- they're Broadway actors. Besides, I thought the voices were pretty good and similar to the show considering they weren't the actors from the show! 2. Sorry there's no explosions or bloody fights to keep your children's attention. Again, this is a musical based on a cartoon-- sorry, no, it's not based on the Bourne series. I don't know what you guys were expecting, but this was a fun, cute musical based on a beloved children's series! Maybe watch the show from season one and then a watch again. I don't know what to tell you guys, except this was a pretty dope musical and the nostalgia was abundant for me. Oh! Squidward was spot on!! And the imagery, effects, costumes... It was all fantastic! Very catchy!
-
kaylee17828 December 2019I didn't have high hopes for this, but I didn't expect it to be as bad as it is. Wow. The songs aren't catchy at all, the actors don't act or sound anything like in the cartoon, and the attempts at comedy are ridiculous. The guy who plays plankton??! I mean, come on. Absolute waste of DVR space. My son was so excited for this, and it was a huge let down. I'm just glad we didn't pay to see it in person.
-
trentkc31 March 2021Most IPs dont translate well to broadway like spider man and american psycho failing but this show was amazing it perfectly captures the cartoon this is good for people of all ages and even if you are not a fan of spongebob give it a shot.
-
fandomobsessed2 January 2020I was informed of the show because I saw it on my recommended on Youtube, since I missed the airing of this on TV. I was intrigued and clicked on it, expecting it to be somewhat decent. I was so wrong. This show is amazing. The music is catchy, well written, and is performed beautifully. The acting is spectacular. Ethan Slater, who plays Spongebob, contorts, splits, and is upside down while performing the excellent songs and delivering that signature Spongebob laugh. He captures the essence of his character and can sing very well. Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles is by far one of my favorite aspects of the show. He tap dances in his musical number, "I'm Not a Loser" with his costume consisting of four legs, and does it wonderfully. He captures the essence of the grouchy neighbor. The other characters, like Patrick and Mr. Krabs are performed beautifully by their respective actors as well. This show blew me away, and I watch it whenever I am feeling down.
-
madog-8452222 February 2020I don't get why so many people don't like this. I may be a little bias scene I love SpongeBob. But I still think it's awesome!
-
vivalabamcky8 December 2019My kids fell asleep and my wife made me change it. No one looked or sounded like the characters. The songs were terrible and not catchy or memorable. No cute moments. No imagination. I think the audience was even asleep at one point. Stick to animation Spongebob. Are you Ready Kids? Uh No.
-
Rosina_Rushen5 July 2020After the trailer was shown for months it looked good, but after watching 10 minutes it was utter rubbish (I love musical theatre).
There seem to be no costumes so you couldn't decipher whose whose.
It was a big let down -
hi-3848627 November 2023As I said in the title, this isn't necessarily a bad show, but it didn't have to be SpongeBob. I personally liked SpongeBob as a little kid, so maybe I don't realize because I realized, "oh this is so childish" and I'm sure six-year-old me would probably love this show but it's really just not my thing.
I see why people would like this.
1. It's nostalgic 2. The costumes are genuinely done really well 3. The characterization is really good.
I just say, this is not my kind of musical. I prefer the Addams Family or Dear Evan Hansen. And honestly, Addams Family is sort of the same. It's nostalgic to me, and the characterization and costumes are great. I don't know, it's just my thoughts. -
titanstoot21 January 2020Instead of saying "Is mayonnaise an instrument?", they should've made Nick Crompton Patrick ask "Is England a city?". That would've made this musical a 10/10 but they didn't and I was disappointed with the results, I give this a 0/10.
-
evae-5829812 May 2022From the voices to the costumes this thing is a major disappointment! I don't see how any true SpongeBob fan can enjoy this. They didn't even try with the costumes. Mr Crabs was just a guy with big red boxing gloves. The main guy SpongeBob was just a guy. The horrible fake accent of Sandy and none of the spunk of Sandy. None of the great songs of the original show were even used. Nothing from this even hit like it does from the show. I love musicals and I know they can be done much better. This was just a complete fail.
-
jeffrydean6 January 2020This was not very good should be cancelled because the voices where terrible and the houses where the size of tiny rocks should of been pull out ones that where big heck are musicals in high school where better I never seen something so terrible it didn't even sound like the episodes in spongebob. Heck If this is the case that means terrible plays in high school could be played on tv this is the word musical I've ever seen in my life could of been better and I well never watch this one it should be cancelled and token off tv woes I've ever seen.