SpongeBob SquarePants is officially headed to Broadway. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a musical based on the beloved Nickelodeon animated series will begin previews at the Palace Theatre on November 6th ahead of its opening night on December 4th.
The production features music from a long list of artists led by the Thin White Duke himself, David Bowie. His song with Brian Eno, “No Control”, appears in the musical. Fittingly, Bowie previously lent his talents to SpongeBob Squarepants for the 2007 made-for-TV movie SpongeBob’s Atlantis SquarePantis, voicing the role of Lord Royal Highness of the lost continent of Atlantis.
Several other notable artists contributed original music contributed to the musical, including The Flaming Lips, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, They Might Be Be Giants, T.I., Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
In the musical, SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. But just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises to the surface. The cast includes Ethan Slater as SpongeBob SquarePants, Gavin Lee as Squidward, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, and Danny Skinner as Patrick.
On a separate note, a third SpongeBob SquarePants feature film is scheduled for release in 2019. It follows in the footsteps of 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
