The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!

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.

This 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.

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.

I'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.

The songs are catchy and I hope they make a dvd of it soon so I can watch it over and over again