Who lives in a pineapple under the sea!? Spongebob Squarepants The Musical is set to air a televised event in accordance with the 20th anniversary of the series and will feature a book by Kyle Jarrow. Cast members will include several of the original Broadway production singers, while Ethan Slater is set to reprise the infamous role of SpongeBob SquarePants—- Gavin Lee will play Squidward Q. Tentacles alongside Danny Skinner, Brian Ray Norris, Wesley Taylor and Christina Sajous.
Aerosmith’s Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry will contribute to the musical’s ongoing slate of original pop and rock musical composition in partnership with Sara Bareilles, The Flaming Lips, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! at the Disco and Lady Antebellum, amongst several other musical guests. Tom Kitt heads up the music supervision, orchestration and arrangements, with choreography from Christopher Gattelli.
During the musical’s initial Broadway run, the $18 million stage production earned a total of 12 Tony Award nominations, including best musical and has gone on to earn the title of “the most nominated musical of the 2017-2018 season.” After The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! Broadway run, the show will be set to debut on Nickelodeon in December just in time for the holiday season; it will also be filmed in front of a live theater audience during the premiere.
The animated SpongeBob SquarePants is a comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon back in the early 2000’s. Since its inception, the series has religiously chronicled the mishaps and misadventures of the Spongebob Squarepants and friends of the years in the fictional Bikini Bottom.
Now in its thirteenth season, the children’s series is considered the fifth-longest-running American animated series, allowing the property to be made into a media franchise that also includes three feature films— it is also Nickelodeon and Viacom Media Networks’ most distributed property and highest rated series currently on air.
“I’m so thrilled to be able to revisit the show in a new light and with our original cast members,” commented musical director Tina Landau. “The whole creative and I are excited to go back into the world of Bikini Bottom and discover its new life in TV broadcast form. But above all, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share the joy and spirit of our show with a wider audience. That’s what matters most to me — the joy.”
Below Spongebob Squarepants The Musical: Musical Medley can be viewed: