From a pineapple under the sea… to Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/05/2023 (1174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Who stars in a musical that soon you can see? SpongeBob SquarePants.

With Sandy and Plankton and a pack of sardines? SpongeBob SquarePants.

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, there’s no need to drop to the deck and flop like a fish: the Winnipeg Studio Theatre’s Studio Works Academy is putting on its own version of The SpongeBob Musical, a Broadway smash based on the beloved animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg.

Director Brenda Gorlick, the mother of two former SpongeBob addicts, was already well-versed in the world of Bikini Bottom, the sea-floor town where SpongeBob lives, breathes and giggles.

“We had SpongeBob clocks, towels and radios,” Gorlick says. “Now they’re 24 and 27. I kind of wish I kept all that stuff.”

Since the series premièred on Nickelodeon in 1999, SpongeBob hasn’t lost steam: the goofy member of the phylum Porifera has starred in three feature-length films and become a multibillion-dollar industry unto himself, all while holding down steady employment at the Krusty Krab.

Aside from its iconic theme song, composed by Mark Harrison and Blaise Smith, the animated series is filled with musical numbers, along with a jaunty score stuffed with twangy ukulele and vaguely Polynesian rhythms. So it was no major surprise when an adaptation of the cartoon debuted on Broadway in 2016.

The musical version features compositions by about a dozen artists, Gorlick says, including Sara Bareilles, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, David Bowie, Lady A, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith: as a shapeshifting rectangle, SpongeBob transcends genre.

It was a hit: directed by Tina Landau with a book by Kyle Jarrow, it received 12 nominations at the 2017 Tony Awards.

Now a cast of 25, ranging from 10 to 27 years old, will do their best to bring Bikini Bottom to downtown Winnipeg.

Starring as SpongeBob is Al Gilbert, who Gorlick says has “all the chops.” Cadence Brandt is Sandy Cheeks, the astronaut-suit-wearing squirrel. Phillip Rogalsky plays the dim-witted but bright-eyed Patrick Star. Amalia Hickerson is the cantankerous Mr. Krabs, with Maija Buduhan playing his bubbly daughter Pearl. Geoffrey Heal is the wicked, single-focused Plankton, with Taryn Martin playing his wife/assistant/computer Karen. Zoe Reider is Squidward, SpongeBob’s gloomy, Tiki-head-dwelling neighbour.

The team has been hard at work getting ready, including a lengthy commute for some cast members. “Sandy is driving in from Steinbach,” the director says.

Gorlick hopes it will be worth the trip for audiences looking to enjoy SpongeBob’s wacky blend of slapstick comedy, high-stepping musical numbers and dynamic choreography.

Are you ready, kids?

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com