{"id":58581,"date":"2017-12-04T22:20:25","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T03:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/how-to-save-civilization-from-certain-disaster-take-a-cue-from-spongebob-on-broadway-yes-seriously-review\/"},"modified":"2017-12-04T22:20:25","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T03:20:25","slug":"how-to-save-civilization-from-certain-disaster-take-a-cue-from-spongebob-on-broadway-yes-seriously-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/how-to-save-civilization-from-certain-disaster-take-a-cue-from-spongebob-on-broadway-yes-seriously-review\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Save Civilization from Certain Disaster? Take a Cue from \u2018SpongeBob\u2019 on Broadway (Yes, Seriously): REVIEW"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to Save Civilization from Certain Disaster? Take a Cue from \u2018SpongeBob\u2019 on Broadway (Yes, Seriously): REVIEW<\/b>
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There\u2019s a reason kids like gummy vitamins. They\u2019re fun and sweet and colorful, with all their vital nutrients cleverly disguised. The <\/span>SpongeBob SquarePants<\/span><\/i> musical \u2014 which, yes, opened on Broadway last night \u2014 is loads more fun than mere chewy candy, and about a million times more colorful: hardly an inch of the Palace Theatre isn\u2019t covered over by some vibrant, shiny thingamabob or another. (The genius psychedelic set and costumes are by David Zinn.) <\/span><\/p>\n

But the wildly entertaining new musical also offers sage lessons in how to save civilization in the face of doom. So. Listen up, it seems SpongeBob\u2019s got our playbook.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fans of Stephen Hillenburg\u2019s Nickelodeon franchise will be happy to see the gang\u2019s all here, brilliantly sprung to life by visionary director Tina Landau. Along with book writer Kyle Jarrow, a host of pop-rock songwriters contributed their talents, including John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, The Flaming Lips, Panic! At the Disco, Sara Bareilles, David Bowie, and Brian Eno, <\/span>to name just a few<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s a buoyant and rollicking score that flows together remarkably well, thanks to music supervisor Tom Kitt.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, we\u2019re in Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob\u2019s native habitat somewhere under the Pacific. He lives in a pineapple with a pet snail that meows like a cat; his best friends are a dim-witted starfish and a whip-smart Texan squirrel. (Just go with it, you\u2019ve gotten this far!) But now doomsday is nigh: A volcano is set to erupt and wipe everything out.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As we know, the great war to come \u2014 for all of us \u2014 will be sponge\u2026er, man<\/a> versus nature. Here\u2019s SpongeBob\u2019s disaster playbook, courtesy of his new Broadway musical, so help us all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Put faith in science.<\/b> What may be hard to grasp for some is a cinch for Sandy Cheeks (Lilli Cooper). May her unwavering belief that she can save the world by crunching numbers be an inspiration to #GirlsWhoCode<\/a> everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be an asshole.<\/b> Looking for someone to blame for the apocalypse, some residents turn on Sandy the squirrel because she\u2019s the only land mammal (Cooper also happens to be Black, lending some resonance to this plot). Fear and ignorance are wack. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Value friendship over attention.<\/b> The show\u2019s great love story is between SpongeBob (Ethan Slater, in a breakthrough performance) and Patrick Star (Danny Skinner), who inadvertently attracts a following of sardines that think he\u2019s their savior. Adoration goes to his head, but it\u2019s only when he reconnects with his real friends that they stand a chance. So, yes, it pays to look up from your phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Put sentient beings before money.<\/b> This is apparently very hard for some people<\/a>! That includes SpongeBob\u2019s boss at the burger joint, the greedy Mr. Krabs (Brian Ray Norris). Fortunately he gets some sense knocked into him by his daughter, Pearl (Jai\u2019Len Christine Li Josey, whose voice you will not soon forget). <\/span><\/p>\n

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Know your worth. <\/b>This one gets driven home by Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, whose eleven o\u2019clock number, \u201cI\u2019m Not a Loser\u201d by They Might Be Giants, stops the show. It\u2019s a full tap extravaganza \u2014 on four legs! (Choreography is by Christopher Gattelli.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Most importantly, don\u2019t turn on your fellow\u2026well, whatever they are. <\/b>Sheldon Plankton (a wickedly funny Wesley Taylor) and his computer paramour (Stephanie Hsu) are the clear, and mostly ineffectual, villains here. But the real trouble comes when the citizens of Bikini Bottom turn on each other during the final countdown to annihilation. <\/span><\/p>\n

That they\u2019re able to bridge their differences, and SpongeBob and the gang get a happy ending \u2014 like, bubbles and confetti-cannon happy \u2014 may be where the real fantasy comes in. But you didn\u2019t think anything like this could actually happen, did you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent theatre features\u2026
In Broadway Revival of \u2018Once on This Island,\u2019 a Modern Fable, Beautifully Told: REVIEW<\/a>
Uma Thurman Opens in \u2018The Parisian Woman,\u2019 a Fiction That\u2019s No Match for Reality: REVIEW<\/a>
Amy Schumer Rains Down Laughs in Steve Martin\u2019s Curious \u2018Meteor Shower\u2019: REVIEW<\/a>
In Drew Droege\u2019s \u2018Bright Colors And Bold Patterns,\u2019 a Hilarious Portrait of Living Out Loud: REVIEW<\/a>
In New Musical \u2018The Band\u2019s Visit,\u2019 an Exquisite Meditation on Hopes Won and Lost: REVIEW<\/a>
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Transcendent \u2018Torch Song\u2019 Starring Michael Urie and Mercedes Ruehl Is Required Gay Viewing: REVIEW<\/a>
\u2018A Clockwork Orange\u2019 Shows Plenty of Skin, Skimps on Danger Off-Broadway: REVIEW<\/a>
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Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar<\/a>
\n(photos: joan marcus)<\/em><\/p>\n

The post How to Save Civilization from Certain Disaster? Take a Cue from \u2018SpongeBob\u2019 on Broadway (Yes, Seriously): REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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How to Save Civilization from Certain Disaster? Take a Cue from \u2018SpongeBob\u2019 on Broadway (Yes, Seriously): REVIEW<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n