"The SpongeBob Musical" Dazzles and Delights at Eagan Summer Community Theater

I’m a little too old to have been the target audience for the SpongeBob Squarepants TV show, but even in the early days it was impossible to avoid it completely. Now, after 13 seasons of the show, three feature length films, two spinoff shows, an unimaginable amount of merchandise, and some very catchy memes, it’s hard to imagine a person who hasn’t noticed SpongeBob at least a little. The premise of the show is that a sponge named SpongeBob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea and works at an underwater burger joint. He has adventures with his best friend Patrick, who is a sea star, and Sandy, who is a squirrel in an astronaut suit. In The SpongeBob Musical, their whole town is threatened by an underwater volcano. Everyone else is occupied with greed, prejudice, rock music, or doomsday cults, and so it’s up to SpongeBob to make sure the day gets saved.

After seeing Eagan Summer Community Theater’s production of Big Fish, I knew to expect a big production, but I was completely blown away by The SpongeBob Musical. It was the kind of spectacle that generally only professional theaters can pull off, and even then, not all professional theaters do. I’ve never seen a show with a dedicated foley artist covering the sounds of characters’ footsteps in real-time, for example. The lighting, the projections, the streamers and beach balls… there was so much to take in that as a reviewer I had a hard time keeping up with it all.

Jodene Wartman and Jim Cox co-directed this show; Wartman was also the staging director and Cox the vocal director. This show was incredibly funny, and a lot of that worked because the whole cast was together on their timing. I can't remember a time when I laughed so hard at a show. The scenes of cartoony chaos were definitely a highlight, from SpongeBob being pelted by bouncy ball "boulders" to the steamrolling of Old Man Jenkins. Under Cox's vocal direction, I was impressed over and over again by the strong vocal performances, in such different styles, in the show. Matt Nielson was the most involved orchestra director I’ve ever seen, playing pre-show music, interacting with the characters, and getting rid of props tossed into the pit. His bit acting out the chaos of Bikini Bottom (in miniature because Spongebob is looking down on it from a mountain) and then being taken down himself was very funny. The orchestra had a nice full sound and the pre-show band was very charming. Megan Kelly Hubbell’s choreography brought in a lot of different styles, from ballet to hip hop. I particularly liked the blacklight sponge dance in “(Just A) Simple Sponge,” the drama of “I’m Not a Loser,” and the sardine choreography in “Super Sea Star Savior.” The two songs involving moving mountain pieces also impressed me in how carefully they must have been planned and how smoothly they were executed.

Jennifer Taylor-James and Retsey Anderson costumed the underwater world with lots of bright color and some very fun accessories (like the headpieces for the lobster and the sardines). And so many colorful wigs! My favorite look was on the background dancers in “I’m Not A Loser” – their outfits had so many textures and layers and shades of pink and overall were just so glamorous and eye-catching. The neon sardines and the graceful jellyfish were other costumes I thought were particularly exciting, and I did have a good laugh when a whole group of pirates came on stage and one was a baseball Pirate. Katie Edwards’ scenic design mostly let the projections take the lead, but included some very fun pieces, including Karen’s computer screen and movable mountain pieces with rock-climbing holds for the actors to work with. The program doesn’t specify a lighting or sound designer; perhaps the credit goes to technical director Eli Wolff. I’ve never seen lighting go beyond the stage like this; the spaces above the proscenium and to the sides of the stage and even in the house were all a part of it. The lighting kept surprising me, and it made the play feel even bigger – not even constrained to a stage. Overall, the lighting brought a lot of color and highlighted the moments of high drama in a very satisfying way. The sound had one or two spots where the mixing didn’t quite succeed, but as a whole there was a very good balance between the actors, the music, and the sound effects.

Jackson Cobb’s work as projection designer was essential to evoking the undersea cartoon world of Bikini Bottom, starting with the transitions in the opening scene into SpongeBob’s and Patrick’s homes. Some of my favorite projections were the beautiful image of sunlight coming through the water and the intimidating and very dangerous-looking volcano. I was also impressed by the sound waves projected on Karen’s monitor as she talked. Andrew Anker was the foley artist, and it was a cool idea to put him on stage where the audience could watch him work (and where he could accurately add in sounds like footsteps). The sound effects were well-integrated into the scenes, and it was a real treat to have just so many and such interesting sounds. Squidward’s tentacle noises were particularly silly, and repetition only made them funnier.

Ben Habegger led the cast as SpongeBob, a cheerful and silly sponge and fast food worker who loves his home and aspires to middle management. Habegger really captured the energy and the sound of the iconic character, and had a physicality that somehow expressed “invertebrate.” Habegger showed off an impressive vocal range in songs like “(Just A) Simple Sponge,” and while SpongeBob is a fanciful character, when his friendship with Patrick was put to the test, the emotional journey Habegger gave the character was grounded and complex. As Patrick, Bennet Klingman was charmingly credulous, with a goofy voice and intonation that matched the cartoon very well. He and Habegger played well off each other, and I loved their emotional Act II duet “(I Guess I) Miss You.” Jonathan Haller's perpetual slump as Squidward gave a strong impression of a boneless, and downtrodden, squid. Haller's Squidward was desperately dramatic, and I loved his high drama rendition of "I'm Not a Loser." Meta Lobben's Sandy was smart and cheerful, but deeply affected by the town's growing prejudice against her. Lobben had a nice clear tone and sounded great in songs like "Tomorrow Is" and in the spirited "Chop to the Top." 

Ethan Nelson seemed to be having a great time as the wannabe-supervillain Plankton; Nelson's Plankton was scheming and melodramatic and had a delightfully tortured maniacal laugh. Emily Hensley played Plankton’s girlfriend, Karen, who I gather is a talking computer in the TV show; in the stage musical, it is obviously more interesting to have a person play the role. Hensley's Karen had a dash of Minnesota nice – mixed with an acerbic disdain for Plankton's failures. Nelson and Hensley's often antagonistic partnership was always fun to watch. I enjoyed Hensley's posture and movements, which struck a nice balance of expression and robot-ness. As Mr. Krabs, Bill Stevens was gleefully greedy, especially in "Daddy Knows Best." Stevens also matched the cartoon voice very well. Kat Grannis played Pearl, Mr. Krabs’ teenage daughter, who is a whale (he is a crab). Grannis brought a great energy to the part, capturing Pearl's teenage frustration and obsession with her favorite band. Grannis has an powerful voice, and blew me away in Pearl's pop-inspired songs. Tommy Duff played both Patchy the Pirate and Larry the Lobster. His Patchy was a very funny over-enthusiastic SpongeBob fan and led a charmingly rough-around-the-edges chorus of pirates in "Poor Pirates."

From the ensemble, there were plenty of spotlight moments that stood out to me. I was continuously entertained by the "security guards" and was delighted to see them out among the crowd at intermission searching for pirates. Gary the snail had some very cute moments. The Electric Skates had a great rock song and a cool alternative look. The growing crowd of sardines were a particular favorite of mine; the performers brought some fun quirks to the individual devotees. The ensemble gave strong performances in the big group numbers, but it's the scenes of chaos that really stood out to me, especially the Act II boulders and the quick starts and stops at the end of "No Control."

Eagan Summer Community Theater pulled out all the stops for The SpongeBob Musical and the result was a show that dazzling, hilarious, and full of surprises. I'm not sure I can see the show anywhere else after this! The impressive performances mixed with the all-out design and technical execution made the show so much fun to watch, and a show that I'll be talking about for a long time.