SpongeBob SquarePants Star Ethan Slater Deep-Dives into His Fave Episodes

The 2017-2018 theater season has officially begun, and a slew of highly anticipated musicals and plays, both brand new and revisited, are set to bow. Broadway.com's Fall Preview series captures the stars and creators bringing these stories center stage in the new season.

Ethan Slater didn’t grow up with cable. He remembers watching SpongeBob SquarePants, the Nickelodeon cartoon about a relentlessly optimistic yellow sponge, at his “bubby’s house” at the age of seven or at his middle school friends’ houses before rehearsing with his childhood pal band, Pink Milk & Cashews. “My favorite show was SpongeBob—like everyone,” he recently told Broadway.com.

Created by former marine biology teacher and cartoonist Stephen Hillenburg, SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. Years later, SpongeBob SquarePants has become a multi-billion-dollar media franchise, with a full-length film, theme parks, a Season 11 start slated for this September and a splashy Broadway musical waiting in the wings.

At the center of that musical is Slater, who will make his Broadway debut in the role of SpongeBob himself when performances begin this fall. Slater has been leading SpongeBob SquarePants from the beginning; the musical premiered at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre last summer, when many of the animators, writers and creators from the cartoon stopped by to meet the cast. This past fall, Slater was able to sit in on the taping of an episode in Los Angeles at Nickelodeon Studios.

“They were very generous. Tom Kenny [who has provided the voice of SpongeBob in the cartoon since the beginning] is a genius,” Slater said. “It was really fun to hang out with them and watch them do their thing.”

With a creative team that includes direction from Tina Landau, music supervision from Tom Kitt and song contributions ranging from Sara Bareilles to Panic! at the Disco to John Legend, SpongeBob seemed likely to bubble to the top of the Great White Way. Now that it is, Slater cannot wait to share this brand-new musical inspired by the beloved series with both diehard fans and first-timers.

“There are definitely jokes that avid fans are going to get, but it’s a totally original story with totally original jokes that are hilarious,” Slater said. “I’m super proud and excited about it. It’s a story about community. It’s a story about optimism and how that can combat fear. I really look forward to sharing it.”



SpongeBob SquarePants begins previews on November 6 at the Palace Theatre and opens on December 4. Brush up on your SpongeBob or get a must-see tutorial for the first time with Slater’s five favorite episodes.

5. Band Geeks

“Squilliam, who is everything Squidward wishes he was, calls Squidward and pressures him into putting together a band. I just love this episode. It has a million iconic jokes. Like Patrick asks, ‘Is mayonnaise an instrument?’ Squidward says no, and Patrick raises his hand again. And Squidward says, ‘Horseradish isn’t an instrument either,’ and he lowers his hand. And all SpongeBob wants is to be part of a kickline. It’s amazing.”

4. Fungus Among Us

“SpongeBob is trying to feed Gary, and then he finds this little green glob, called ‘The Ick.’ It attaches to his head and starts growing. It takes him over. He gets quarantined. At the very end, everything is covered in Ick, and it’s grown beyond management. Gary, his pet, comes back in and eats it off of everyone. He saves the day because he’s a bottom feeder. I love any episode where Gary is the savior.”

3. Sleepytime

“SpongeBob ends up hopping around from dream to dream. He jumps into Gary’s dream, and Gary is this super-genius British librarian. Patrick is on one of those horses that you put quarters in in another dream. My favorite moment of the episode is when he goes into Squidward's dream. He’s playing clarinet in front of this large, Baroque audience. He breaks his clarinet, and SpongeBob turns himself into a clarinet. It’s just great.”

2. Ripped Pants

"Ripped Pants is a classic. SpongeBob is trying to make Sandy laugh, so he rips his pants. Everybody on the beach laughs with him—or at him. He keeps ripping his pants in different situations, and the town gets frustrated with this attempt at the same joke. I find that incredibly relatable. In my senior year of high school, I was doing a dance with a bunch of friends for the talent show, and my pants split entirely in half. It was incredible.”

1. Bubble Buddy

“It’s Leif Erikson Day. SpongeBob wants to celebrate, but no one’s really around. So he blows up a bubble and calls him Bubble Buddy. People get frustrated with how SpongeBob is pretending this inanimate object is a friend. At the end, the whole town is chanting, ‘Pop the bubble!’ Squidward is going to pop him until all of a sudden, Bubble Buddy grabs his hand and says, 'Hey, don’t I get a say in this?’ He puts on a bubble fedora and gets in a bubble taxi and floats away. That one always gets me.”

"SpongeBob Squarepants" begins on November 6 and opens on December 4 at the Palace Theatre

Photos: Caitlin McNaney | Hair Stylist & Makeup Artist: Morgan Blaul | Styling: Heather Newberger | Styling Intern: Taylor Freeman