The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!

As 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!

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 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.

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.