"SpongeBob SquarePants" musical set to hit Broadway
Nautical nonsense is on its way to Broadway: The musical "SpongeBob SquarePants" is coming to New York.
The stage show, based on the hit Nickelodeon animated series, will include original music by big names like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper and even the late David Bowie. Other contributors run the gamut, from The Flaming Lips to T.I.
Bowie's posthumous song "No Control" with Brian Eno will be in the musical. The deceased superstar has had a long-running connection to "SpongeBob," as he also voiced Lord Royal Highness in the 2007 TV movie "SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis."
The musical's design team also holds some serious street cred. The team includes designers from "Fun Home," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and "Spring Awakening."
The show's website describes the plot as a story that follows SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom as they face "the total annihilation of their undersea world," according to a statement. "Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage."
The show premiered in Chicago last year. Ethan Slater, Lilli Cooper, Danny Skinner and Gavin Lee are set to reprise their roles when "SpongeBob" hits Broadway on Dec. 4.