With a Burst of Joy, SpongeBob SquarePants Opens on Broadway

SpongeBob SquarePants, the new musical based on Nickelodeon's celebrated cartoon, opens at Broadway's Palace Theatre on December 4. Tina Landau directs and Tony winner Christopher Gattelli choreographs the show that began previews on November 6.

In SpongeBob SquarePants, stakes are higher than ever as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts, lives hang in the balance and just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage.

With a book by Kyle Jarrow, SpongeBob SquarePants features original songs by Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Yolanda Adams, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants and T.I., with a song by the late David Bowie. Jonathan Coulton provides additional lyrics.

The cast of SpongeBob SquarePants is led by Ethan Slater in the title role, with Broadway.com vlogger Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, Tony nominee Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, Danny Skinner as Patrick Star, Wesley Taylor as Sheldon Plankton and Brian Ray Norris as Eugene Krabs.

To cheer the show's opening night, Broadway.com Resident Artist Justin "Squigs" Robertson sketched a portrait of Slater as the lively SpongeBob surrounded by a colorful group of characters.



About the Artist: With a desire to celebrate the magic of live theater and those who create it, and with a deep reverence for such touchstones as the work of Al Hirschfeld and the wall at Sardi’s, Squigs is happy and grateful to be among those carrying on the traditions where theater and caricature meet. He was born and raised in Oregon, lived in Los Angeles for quite a long time and now calls New York City his home.