SpongeBob at the Ritz Brings the Best Day Ever to the Stage
by Alex Davis
You know SpongeBob SquarePants. It’s near impossible not to. Even if you’ve never seen a single episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon, you’ve heard the iconic laugh of the lovable sponge. He is inescapable. So inescapable that my spell check feature accepts his name without a little red squiggly line. And in 2016, SpongeBob SquarePants took to the stage in a joyous show about a potentially Bikini-Bottom-ending event, set to the music of a vast array of artists and bands, from Panic! At the Disco, to David Bowie, to John Legend, to Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (a band I was certain I alone discovered in my Brooklyn apartment in 2012 through a super underground program called “Spotify”), and many more in between.
The SpongeBob Musical tells the story of SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and the rest of Bikini Bottom dealing with the impending doom of the eruption of Mount Humongous. While Plankton and Mr. Krabs try to cash in on the town’s fear, Sandy comes up with a device that she thinks will stop the eruption. The town is thrown into chaos, Sandy is blamed, Squidward dances, Patrick accidentally starts a cult, and SpongeBob remains the ever constant, ever loyal, and ever positive sponge that he is.
Walking into the theater feels a little like walking into the cartoon - the set is outlined with a gigantic porthole-looking archway, and adorned with hung lighting in the shape of sea anemones. It’s all so simple in concept, but remarkable in execution, which is truly impressive. Big shoutout to scenic and lighting designer, Jen Donsky, on a really effective design.
One of the most interesting pieces of this musical is the foley artist. The show has a live foley artist written in as a character - brilliant! In the Ritz’s production, Nick French was cast as the foley artist and, if you know Nick or have seen him perform, your thought when seeing this in the playbill also would have been, “Brilliant!”. And he is - really. Having a live foley artist is a real treat, and Nick does an excellent job adding the SpongeBobby sound flavor to the show, while also being engaging on his own. My issue - I couldn’t see him very well. This feels like a missed opportunity. The set itself is designed in a way that the downstage left and right areas of the stage are unused; rather than placing Nick and his slew of noise-making instruments, he’s nestled at the foot of the stage on the audience level, difficult to see.
Nicky Eldridge immediately put a smile on my face as he starts the show waking up as SpongeBob. Nicky is full of energy from top to close. He perfectly captures all of SpongeBob’s sincerity and kindheartedness. Nicky really hones in on the iconic sponge’s physicality, and delivers a heartfelt performance with impressive vocals. Stephen Jackson brings a tremendous sense of joy to his portrayal of Patrick. He plays Patrick less like the dummy we’ve grown to love, and more like that clueless friend you’re sure is only listening to a third of what you say to them always; it’s a refreshing step away from the source material, and Stephen’s incredible comedic timing, along with his superb vocals really bring Patrick to life. Alisha Sheth brings the Sandy we know from our tvs straight to the stage - it’s such fun. She often uses rigid and stylized “ka-rah-tay” gestures when trying to get her point across, while keeping Sandy incredibly grounded in genuine emotion in the more serious moments.
Is it weird to say that someone was born to play a sassy cartoon squid? Is it? It might be. But here we are - Tom Shaw was born to play Squidward Q. Tentacles. The cartoon-perfect voice, the physicality (AND WITH AN ADDITIONAL SET OF LEGS!), the facial expressions - Tom is the definition of “spot on”. His vocals and dancing in his tap number, “I’m Not a Loser” literally stopped the show. He is absolutely outstanding, and watching someone tap dance with 4 legs is one of the most delightful theater experiences I’ve ever had.
Bikini Bottom has no shortage of fun characters, and the Ritz’s production has no shortage of great performers to fill out the town. Kyrus Keenan Westcott is so beautifully slimy in his portrayal of Plankton, while Lindsey Krier brings the exact right amount of snark and bite to Karen, Plankton’s computer wife. Kyrus blows the audience away during “When the Going Gets Tough”, and Lindsey and Kyrus have a really fun and dynamic relationship on stage; their growth as a couple and the rekindling of their love, albeit, through evil scheming, is so much fun to watch. Mark Gollihur and Faith McCleery as Mr. Krabs and Pearl do a great job of portraying the struggle of clueless-father and misunderstood-teen-daughter. Faith’s vocals are incredible, and she nails the brattiness of cartoon-Pearl.
Every single performer does a phenomenal job of adding to the Bikini Bottom feel. Camryn Ragland deflects government responsibility shadily as the mayor; Zachary Moore makes the audience feel like part of the show as Patchy the Pirate; Abraham Bogale floored me with his incredible bass vocals and impeccable comedic timing as Perch Perkins; William Young is hysterical as Old Man Jenkins. And the ensemble?! Good grief, they are the hardest working folks on the stage, and it all pays off. Everyone in the ensemble cycles through the scenes, either as new characters, or as living pieces of the set, and, honestly, that makes all the difference - the show is much more engaging than it could have been without the same ensemble members being a constant part of each scene in different capacities. The ensemble is made up of Katrina Edwards, Amber Kusching, Sophia Palese, Jamie Sheffer, Connor Twigg, and August Walker - all exceptional performers, all so funny, all could get a whole paragraph of their own about how great they are.
Director Matthew Weil succeeds in bringing an incredibly fun and engaging production of SpongeBob SquarePants to life at the Ritz Theater. Who knew a show about a potentially catastrophic event could be so joyful?
The SpongeBob Musical runs Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays now through July 30th. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/ritztheatreco/6520.
