This was great fun tonight!
It's a hilarious irreverent teen comedy trapped in a kid's variety show framing, which dilutes it's impact, which is nonetheless massively lifted by some wonderful performances.
Some spoilers follow. . .
I'm a little familiar with the TV show as I saw a few episodes of Season 1 back in the day, when it was my now grown-up nephew's favourite show (and apparently Britney Spears's favourite show as well, or so I read at the time lol). However, the problem with this musical is the SpongeBob branding itself, and the consequent need to shoo in all the characters from the TV show.
The writers have found a great storyline (SpongeBob and pals must unite to save their hometown from the nefarious amoral scheming of Plankton and his computer sidekick, Karen, finding their self-worth and the value of bonding on the way), hit on a wonderful irreverent camp tongue-in-cheek broad comedic tone (similar to multiple madcap teen musicals such as you'd expect to see at Turbine Theatre, Southwark Playhouse or the Other Palace), written some exuberant and entertaining songs, got just the right performers to realise their vision, but they've been hamstrung into including too many subplots in order to namecheck extraneous characters from the TV show, who are irrelevant to the story, and who dilute the thrust of the plot into a kind of variety show.
For example, it's plain that the Pirate, Squidward, Mr Krabb and Pearl have nothing much to do with anything, and their every appearance, as enjoyable as they are, are a distraction.
If it weren't for this brand requirement to include irrelevant characters, there are easy fixes, that could add pace, flow and build to the story:
Squidward is basically melancholy lonely and grumpy Jacques from Shakespeare's "As you like it," and does not blend well with this plot's camp zany tone. His arc, concerned with demonstrating his hidden talents, is the same as SpongeBob's own arc, so the dazzling tap routine could easily be given to SpongeBob instead, strengthening the connection between audience and lead character;
The fourth wall breaking Pirate, connecting SpongeBob's animated world to the real live action world in the TV show, would be better served quipping on the principal plot action rather than be given his own extended unconnected scenes;
Pearl is a magnificent brat, seeking stardom and independence far from the reaches of her controlling money-minded father, Krabb, and Sarah Freer who plays her is such a rousing singer, and terrific belter to boot, that she would be better off melded to SpongeBob's own plot mission, as one of his sidekicks, along with Patrick and Sandy Cheeks, rather than having her own separate storyline.
Back to the main plot, though, and Divina De Campo is a magnificent villain, a powerful singer with a bent for camp malevolent scheming, who, in conjunction with Hannah Lowther's equally terrific and cartoonish Karen, reminded me of early John Waters camp villains, such as the scheming Raymond and Connie Marble who sought to steal Divine's title as the filthiest person alive in "Pink Flamingos."
Lowther, along with Chrissie Bhima's Sandy Cheeks (whose every tick and move endearingly embodied a chirpy chipmunk) and Rebecca Lisewski's Mayor (whose every movement suggested out-of-control mania for control), struck me as the most innately funny actors in the show, most fully embodying the spirit of camp irrepressible mischief. Lowther is hampered by a mask for her main role, and somehow triumphs anyway, but she is even funnier in the ensemble, mask off, cartoon hilarious.
The soul of the show, though, is Lewis Cornay's peerless SpongeBob, somehow evincing as much emotion as in Southwark Playhouse's "John and Jen," in which his double act with Rachel Tucker was one of the highlights of my musical year. He is a marvelous lead here, exhibiting infinitely more vulnerability than the SpongeBob of the TV show, and plucking heartstrings that anchor his cartoon character with real and recognisable human yearnings. Along with Divina De Campo and Sarah Freer, Cornay is, for me, one of the most talented singers, able to bring out comedy and emotions in equal measure, and sometimes all at once.
As Patrick Star, Irfan Damani is totally loveable, a worthy sidekick for Cornay's SpongeBob.
All in all, this is a great show, more for teens than toddlers, with the SpongeBob branding confusing issues about what this actually is, and how to market it. Tonight, the audience was 95 percent adults, so I think the word is out, at least for evening shows, if not for matinees.
If this is essentially a John Waters show, it's more Hairspray than Pink Flamingos: the individuals fighting to maintain their individuality and thrive in an otherwise conformist world are way too cuddly to be the former, even the villains lol.
Thematically, every theme is interesting: from the xenophobia encountered by Chrissie Bhima's Sandy Cheeks; to De Campo's Plankton's attempt to manufacture political consent through fear, ala Chomsky and Adam Curtis; to Freer's Pearl seeking freedom from her controlling family; to Cornay's SpongeBob's fight to find his inner worth; to Damani's Patrick's confronting the worthlessness of mass adulation. But, as with the characters, the themes are so overabundant that none hit as hard as they could.
Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this variety show to the tune of 4 stars, even if I felt a more focused show might have been even better.
