The Spongebob Musical that BROKE Broadway... 

Who ARE you?!!!!!! This is AMAZING! How'd you know/find all THIS?! Oh, and mostly: thank you.

Wait, a big corporation not wanting to take a beloved pop culture icon and milk it for money? Instead focus on the creative process and only green light it if it brought something new to the table? What?

ah yes the two genders, batman and powerpuff girl

i have never seen a broadway actor who embodied their character as much as ethan did with spongebob

Suddenly, I'm thinking of that line from The Producers: "How could this happen? I was so careful. I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did I go right?"

I know what led to the success 1. The cast 2.The story 3.the music 4. I can go on forever

sponge deserved every one of those 12 tony nominations

I hope, like Beetlejuice, they find another theatre to perform at.

Who else agrees that “When the Going Gets Tough” is one of the best villain songs in musical history?

“Eventually crying when they break into Best Day Ever at the end.” BITCH SAME

I was prepared to laugh at a failure and cry over how they slaughtered my childhood hero I wasn't prepared to laugh at their jokes and cry over how beautiful that screenplay was

I adore how Landau took this seriously and really went deep to understand it and why Spongebob worked as a show. I wish we had more people like her making shows and movies.

"A beautiful collage of creativity." *shows all the Junji Ito-inspired moments but neutralizes it with Handsome Squidward*

I will continue to rant and rave about this show and just how perfect all the cast are. In my head Gavin Lee IS the humanised Squidward, I can’t imagine anyone else.

They really did strike gold with Ethan Slater. He is one of the main reasons the show was so well-received imo.

What if you Wanted to go to heaven But god said "Not vice"

I had seen the teasers and everything for this musical but I didn't know that Stephen Hillenburg actually HELPED with the musical, so I ignored it because I feared it was going to be another cash grab by Nickelodeon... but I'm so mad I didn't try to watch it in the first place. This musical was great to bring back old school Spongebob and make me feel like maybe everything wasn't going to be awful. So I watched the entire show and I fel in LOVE. I never expected a SPONGEBOB musical to become one of my favorites. BFF is actually a song that me and my best friend sing together often. This show has heart and it made me so happy. Not to mention the cast is diverse AND amazing.

22:00 actually this was the plot of a SpongeBob episode many forget about it I forget the name but basically, a volcano is gonna erupt and destroy everything but the episode takes a different route from the play and decides that a sacrifice of the most depressed person must be made to appease the volcano, of course, everyone looks to Squidward then it turns out that it was only his house that was needed and the day was saved.

I always thought that the SpongeBob Musical cast had StarKid vibes: joking around, recording and posting videos of them being hilarious and silly behind the scene, not worrying about doing it right, just about having fun. This video reinforced my view. More than I ever I wish I could see the musical.

I can't believe I actually watch a 39 minute video about SpongeBob the musical. I liked it.

"What went right?" They actually cared about it and put effort into it. 'Nuff said.

I remember almost tearing up at the finale when they sing "best day ever" and then instantly thinking to myself, "wait, a SPONGEBOB musical is making me feel like this???"

I just want to thank you for mentioning David Zinn. I feel like no one ever gives designers credit but David not only made a tony award winning set, he also did the costumes. So thank you for giving credit where credit is due.

I was so lucky to see the show live. It was amazing. How Ethan Slater can basically BE SpongeBob while singing flawlessly in a million different styles, and doing backflips all over the stage is beyond me. It was the most fun thing I've ever seen, which is rare these days. We so often find things that are thought-provoking and complicated, which I love, but it's nice to be able to forget about the complicated things in life and just have fun. It was such a shame that critics didn't see it the same way, they didn't see how genius it is to have fun. I truly wish more people had taken their chance on the show.

I noticed that they were so proud of their kelp. It was cute how they kept bringing attention to it. I kinda felt bad for the coral on the other side of the stage ;-;

You know it's a big topic when it starts with a news reel montage. Once again, you approached this topic excellently, and really dove deep into how this bizarre concept managed to work. Even if it sadly didn't run for very long. I always respected the show from a design standpoint and it was cool to hear you go into it in such detail. This might be a weird comparison, but it kind of reminds me of the Lion King. Stylized enough so you recognize the characters ad environment, but not hiding the actor underneath. And instead finding a middle ground to get the best emotional reaction. I've only heard like, two songs from this show though. So maybe I'll finally take the plunge and give the rest of the show a listen!

SpongeBob is Immortal, Hillenberg knew that. It transcends just a cartoon, he's a representation of keeping your inner joy and child like spirit when you grow up. It appeals to grown ups and kids. I'm so happy to see this went well, here's to another 20 years of SpongeBob!

Not this showing up on my recommended after the relationship dropped😭😭😭😭

For a second I thought that the "unlikely inspiration" was the director getting high

I adore this musical but sadly it's unlikely I'll get to see it in my country anytime soon

IP is really not that hard of a concept. It's just intellectual property. Everyone knows what copyright is in the RU-vid community. Basically, at it's core, it protects artists from having their ideas stolen. It only gets completely when you get into, like, Disney.

I want Landau to make a Fairly Odd Parents musical, with all the magical stuff that happens in that show and all the magic that goes through her brain, I think it would be amazing!!

RELEASE THE BROADWAY SONGS ALREADY NICK The show was not promoted very well, when I asked about the show, the response isn’t “I love that show” it was “There’s a musical?” I’ve seen more ads for the Henry Danger “musical” episode in one day then I’ve seen for all of the Spongebob one.

Unfortunately a Sneak Peak of this musical being live recorded which I saw as an ad received a lot of hate. One of the comments said a person had a trashy opinion for actually liking it.

but there isn't a spongebob episode called doodlebob, there's Frankendoodle from season 2 and Doodle Dimension from season 11, which the clip is from

I'll always remember when they showed Spongebob at the Macy's parade. I had already heard of the show and fallen in love with the album and designs, but my mom was still skeptical. So I had her watch the presentation at the parade, and the SECOND Ethan showed up on the screen as Spongebob and started doing his thing, she just said 'Oh...he's PERFECT.'

I had to stop the video at 22:16 to ask myself "Am I really looking at Brendon Urie in a video about Spongebob?" And yes. Yes I was.

Is anyone else recommended this after the recent news? 👀

"ma-caw-bray" hurt me in a way I didn't expect.

One of the best parts of this musical is the fact there were different people working on the songs, hence the fact that the genres range. The cast is diverse and unbelievably talented, the stage, props, and costumes are unbelievably eye-catching and creatively beautiful. It's something anyone of all ages can enjoy, much like the earlier seasons of the show. The SpongeBob Musical is one of my top 3 favs, and Bikini Bottom Day and Best Day Ever give me such nostalgia-

... and now they’re making a bee movie musical

fantastic video, this channel is ridiculously underrated! :))

I don't know why, but hearing Spongebob's cartoon footsteps live on stage accompanied by the actor just made me laugh out loud. :")

Gosh, I remember the initial announcement and when everyone was dunking on the first photos on social media. There was a tremendous expectation and plenty of people wanted any excuse to hate it, but it defied the odds. I'm surprised by the integrity of Nickelodeon to only sign off on a certain quality that was unanimous.

How tf did I not know sooner

Can we also talk about the song no control from the musical? For a musical based off a children’s show that song is actually really dark

It really shows that Landau was the right director for the job, I really appreciate the care and consideration she seemed to have taken in all the aspects involved in the show.

When I saw this live on TV I love the color and the music but I didn't know the dialogue was so heartfelt and amazing I love this play so much

Y'know, I was just watching this at first to get excited for the new TV recording of this show, but now I realise just how much of a miracle this show is. Like, before I thought it was great (not Sondheim great, but just ..... great), but now that you've emphasised how much of an actual, non-exaggerating creative triumph of theatre this show is, you've made me remember why I love both Spongebob and theatre in the first place. You just earned a new subscriber, mate. Keep up the good work!

"They can't be making a broadway musical about us!" "But they are! And they're using... ... ...*actors*

This musical was absolutely amazing. I loved the songs and designs, as they weren’t annoying and bad compared to what was Phineas and Pherb live. It was really clever, funny jokes, great and catchy songs, as long as many great references to the original show, actors, and movie! No wonder Stephen approved the project! (And he was there for the premiere in 2017, as the source material was also created that year.)

now, bring Invader Zim on Brodway and I've seen everything

bruh this show is seriously the world to me, it makes me so happy and i fell in love with the actors and characters. i cried so hard when it closed. but next you gotta do shrek the musical, that show surprisingly is super good :)

"we live in interesting times" really hits different in 2022 huh Brendon

My parents didn’t let me watch spongebob

I appreciate your short speech at the end about the value of creative play. I am 70 and have been working in theatre since I was a teen. It is all about collaborative play with director and cast playing hard to make a memorable show!

I knew very little about this, but it's really cool to learn more! Thanks for the superchat and stopping by the stream today! If you don't mind me I'll just be enjoying!

I was one of the many skeptics going into this musical, but I gave it a shot. my family got tickets to it, and I purposefully went in absolutely blind. I'm very proud to say it is still, to this day, in a three-way tie with Great Comet and Hadestown as the number one Broadway show I have ever seen. I'm an absolute nerd for set design, as I did stage crew/theatre tech for roughly eight years in a row growing up. every. single. bit. of the scenery was magical. it's incredibly vibrant and fun and inspiring and creative. the show literally envelops you. I'm so glad it got that Tony (though it undoubtedly deserved more accolades)! the music was so, so good as well. I still listen to it! four years later!! and the costume design is top-notch. I feel that even though it did get critical praise, it's not super well-known. so when you did a video on it, I absolutely had to watch, even if it's almost three years old at this point. it definitely had that indie feel, which I found to be something indescribable until you mentioned it in this video. it was also absolutely fun for anybody of any age. of course I saw many little kids excited to see their favorite characters, but there were plenty of adults and even older people, too. I remember waiting in the lobby before the show opened and being so amazed at how many different kinds of people were there. my 50 year old father, who did not grow up with SpongeBob, obviously, was the most enthused out of my family! this show was so special and magical. I feel like it closed much too soon, but I also don't know if it would have lost its allure with time. perhaps I'm glad we will never find out. I know they did a professional recording of the show and aired it on Nickelodeon (I also watched that, of course!) but I hope they release it in an accessible form for people to enjoy to their hearts' content. I know it obviously won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I feel like so many people have to see how marvelous this show was. (whoops! went on a bit of a rant there lol. as you can tell, I love this show to death)

I'll never stop being amazed at how squidward's legs look so real

My favourite news broadcasts are when you can see all the chrome tabs they used for their background pics.

I will continue to rave about this show until it gets the revival it deserves. This was the most fun I’ve had at the theatre ever. The cast was so talented(Gavin and Ethan deserved those Tony’s so bad). The story was so beautifully done and the set was so creative that I wanted it in my bed room and the songs were so lit and fun. It was everything everyone loved about Spongebob. It was Fun.

This was a fantastic video Brendon. And thank you so much for the ending conclusion about actors having fun and not worrying about profit or awards. I tell my bf that every time he's in a show. I know for me, when I am in a show, if I'm telling my part of the story well and it's so natural and authentic, people will take notice. Also saw the SpongeBob Musical in OKC last week on opening and closing and it was the best thing I ever saw because of every single actor, not just the main leads, just enjoying themselves and having fun. I would definitely want to be a part of that show if given the opportunity to.

I just saw it yesterday and it was amazing 10/10! Everyone had an amazing voice and the songs are really well written and it’s really funny!

10:12 SpongeBob is officially a sea sponge, not a dish/kitchen sponge.

This musical is forever stained due to Ethan slater being a nasty cheater, yikes 💀

“Old episodes...Scenes like this, from doodle bob” *shows the lame doodle bob sequel*

This show struck gold from beginning to end, I think. I legitimately think this deserves a Tony, if it hasn't won anything.

I loved this musical but not after what Ethan Slater did. He literally cheated on his wife with Ariana Grande! And his wife and him already had a kid!

10:12 spongebob is actually a sea sponge who just resembles a dish sponge. The creator said the only reason he has a square shape is to emphasize his nerdiness. Hes a yellow tube sponge to be exact.

When I first heard that they were making a Spongebob musical, I thought it was the worst idea ever. Fast forward to years later when I saw it and screamed with the rest of the audience when Patrick said "Is mayonnaise an instrument?"

I've never heard of you before, but holy *angry dolphin noises*, this was a damn good quality video.

Totally off topic but seeing the director, Landau, I was stuck by just how unusual it is to see a professional woman not fully made up. Especially when I was interrupted by a literal makeup add. It’s refreshing actually, and made me realize I absolutely have been desensitized to peoples actual faces. I think that’s why I like indy stuff. She’s my new favorite director.

This is one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME!! Thank you so much for covering it. I was supposed to see it on its tour, but because of the virus, it got cancelled. Thank you for talking about it and allowing me to bask in its glory. :’)

I found an uploaded copy of the show earlier today. I watched for a minute before I clicked off without a second thought. But then I found this place... halfway through, I went back and I saw everything you explained. This really was amazing elaboration on what work went into this new leg of 🧽 spongebob. Good job sir

The fact that I had a chance to see this musical performed live and lost it due to COVID and quarantine will always be one of the biggest disappointments in my life

I really liked all the props and effort put into it. I especially like how the cast interacted with the setting like spongebob climbing the volcano, or banging the rocket to get everyone's attentions or playing with the stretchy sofa. The entire musical is just filled with creativity.

When I was in New York for the first time, I was around 13 years old. We were staying right next door to the Palace Theater, and we had an extra night so we decided to get rush tickets for the show. My dad was skeptical. He didn’t want to go, he almost just stayed at the hotel. By the end, his mind had changed. It was truly one of the greatest shows I’d ever seen, and that’s saying something. Thanks for this video, I love watching this show get the recognition it deserves. I took down my playbill I had on the wall and kept smiling while I flipped through it.

Holy shit dude, you're such an underrated youtuber! I hadn't even realised that you had below 1k!! I felt like I was watching a huge, generic popular channel but I couldn't be more happy to be wrong! Keep up the good work, dude!

I had the pleasure of watching the Spongebob Musical live in Philadelphia and even though it wasn't the New York Broadway cast, the cast that was in the Philadelphia show did a fantastic job. Hell even i sat next to this girl who was apparently the best friend of the guy playing Spongebob himself.

"It goes without saying the real world and the cartoon one play by different rules" Proceeds to spend the next minute describing how the real world and the cartoon one play by different rules

I was one of the biggest nay sayers for this show when I heard about it. But when I actually saw and heard it, my mind was so blown with how amazing and deep it actually was. The fact that the script was derived off our town totally makes sense, especially SpongeBob’s monologue before the volcano goes off. It sounds similar to Emily Webbs monologue before she passes on to the next life.

And now its star is breaking marriages 😅

It's kinda' weird that The Pee Wee Herman Show never got brought up once in anybody's mind, because Paul Reubens had kinda of already laid the template for how a Sponge Bob character would be in real life since that's sort of what he'd been doing since 1981.

i was able to see it on Broadway a couple times and I've been watching the TV special of it over and over, and i just want to say that it's an amazing musical! everyone in the cast is great

I love this musical so much, it's sort of my happy place (listen to the soundtrack at least a couple times a week, watched the bootlegs a million times, seen the show live 3 times) it always puts a simile on my face when nothing else can, so glad this video is realy digging deep into what makes it great!

Really want to see the cut section on the Foley artist

I played guitar in the pit orchestra for a community theater production. I still haven’t seen the show, despite knowing it inside and out. Musically, Tom Kitt’s arrangements are just genius!

I was really surprised watching the nickelodeon 2019 special, they tackled so many hot topic issues that were relatable for adults. Feeling under appreciated at work wanting that promotion, how government loves to act like they hear people's issues without doing anything about it, people attacking science as a solution to the world ending, money or leaving behind others in a crisis as a solution to natural disaster. Politics and the media being at war. Some people isolating themselves and drinking it away, others giving into cult like crowds and beliefs. Racism being brought up twice, and presented two different ways with pirates and "air breathers". "Outgrowing" your friends when you grow in success. All presented with humor and whimsy I was so impressed!

Here are some of my favourite of the tweets shown: “Like Plankton is literally two inches tall Like Plankton the lil animated guy, not Wesley. Wes is like 5’9 or something idk I googled it” (32:11) “TWO SHOWS TODAY THAT MEANS YOU CAN WATCH US SAVE BIKINI BOTTOM TWICE” (32:16) “Gavin Lee invented tap dancing” (32:18) “How much muscle has Spongbob built from flipping patties? A lot probably cause those biceps on Ethan are WILD” (32:28)

The lack of appreciation for the amazing talent that is Tony award winning choreographer Christopher Gattelli in this video is upsetting me

I gifted my friend tickets to this show for her birthday and we went together. We cried and laughed through the whole show. It was truly the best Broadway production I’ve ever seen.

What I always figured would be difficult is convincing actors to go along with the idea. But the makers not only found a cast, the cast nailed it.

"Sounds like a lot of hoopla to make over a little Krabby Patty." Me: OH GOD THE NARRATOR GOT ABSORBED IN THE HOOPLAS'!

I love this show! It got me laughing, crying, and I loved every song that played in the musical!

God I don't know how to describe how much this musical means to me? I remember way back this got first announced, but we saw no more than a couple pictures of the characters lower face. I think I was like, "huh. I mean I'd watch it." And that was it. Cut to the pro shoot, released on RU-vid a bit before Christmas. I watched it out of boredom and was simply blown away. I mean, it was crazy how much this musical grabbed me by the heart and didn't let go. I loved SpongeBob as much as any kid born in the 90's, but it wasn't like, I Have to watch Spongebob or I'll die, you know? But this musical....The perfect blend of nostalgia and refreshing new stories! I just, literally I can't think of what to say to this! I can listen to the soundtrack all day, and pick out any little song for how I feel. This musical helped get me through some deep depression. The lyric, "In The World Renowned" especially got to me. (In planning on getting a tattoo of it) It really helped me see that, while there can be some Super Shitty stuff going on, there's always gonna be beautiful things to. What's so wrong with seeing every day as the best day ever? Then, maybe a month or two before C*vid hit. The musical came to where I live. I strong armed my dad into going with me. It was truly, truly some of the best hours of my life. I was smiling the whole time, and eventually, crying and smiling. Even my dad, who's pretty neutral about musicals, said he loved it way more than he was expecting to! I'm so grateful I got to see this in person. I'd see it again in person in the future if I could. I even started writing more fanficiton for the musical! And started to like my writing again! Okay. I could on on forever. But I'll stop here. Thank you for making this, and thank you to every single person who worked on this musical.

Beautiful work! My new favorite channel as both a theatre professor (for non-theatre students) and a video essay/doc geek. Bravo, my dude!

9:10 that’s from a later episode that had doodlebob reappear! you can tell by the cleaner (and toonier) art style! great video tho!

The show had a lot of heart and love in it, and that showed through everything from acting to set to costumes to music. It was a true collaborative effort that came out beautifully

I was so confused when I heard that spongebob had a musical and assumed it was a cash grab but out of curiosity and love for musicals and spongebob I watched it and fell in love. The musical wasn't enough for me and I begun to search behind the scenes stuff too and learned so much interesting facts about this musical and the hard work put in it to make it work. It goes to show that with enough hard work even a old time franchise like spongebob can still live strong in other media

I remember watching this a while back and I realized, there has been scenes have been cut from this, what gives?