Carousel, Summer or Spongebob?

I would recommend several other shows, but of those three, I'd easily go for SpongeBob.

Do not waste your money on this disaster of Carousel.

Let me start this by saying that Carousel is one of my favorite pieces. I saw Carousel and Summer both last weekend and can’t think of anything I would hate to sit through as much as what I saw. This is a botched Carousel and Summer was a fun regional production at best. (LaChanze was out, but her understudy did her best with the material.)
Spongebob is wildly creative and I truly love the show and the world Tina Landau has created around it. I walked into previews expecting to tell everyone of the mess I had witnessed. I’ve since gone back multiple times and recommended it to countless people. Go with the sponge Hands down.

Is there a narrative to Spongebob? I don't know the show but is it going to feel like I'm at a kid's show?

I listened to the CD the other day and like about 4 or 5 of the songs, which is more than I expected. It's so difficult to be in NY and not see Carousel. Weird.

theaterdude2 said: "Is there a narrative to Spongebob? I don't know the show but is it going to feel like I'm at a kid's show?

I listened to the CD the other day and like about 4 or 5 of the songs, which is more than I expected. It's so difficult to be in NY and not see Carousel. Weird."

I haven’t seen any of these shows yet. I am seeing Spongebob in June. Before it opened, I never would have guessed I’d want to see it. Based on reviews on here plus professional critics’ reviews, I had Carousel high on my list until it entered previews. Then it went off my list completely. Then some of the reviews were positive so I put it back on the list. Then I realized I had to cut one show from my June list so I am now not seeing Carousel. It has a strong score which even most critics agree is well sung in this revival, features great choreography even if some of the dance numbers don’t make sense in the context of the plot. Reviews of the acting though has been mixed-to-bad for most of the cast, with the exclusion of Mendez’s Carrie. She’s an apparent front runner for Featured Actress at the Tony Awards. However, the biggest complaint is about how O’Brien has altered the book (and inexplicably cut some songs) to deal with the book’s perceived outdated view of domestic abuse.

As someone who considers himself a Donna Summer fan (although not a super fan), I have not heard one flat out rave of the show. It doesn’t interest me at all. Snippets of disco masterpieces fit into a plot that whitewashes her life to emphasize her Christian faith at the expense of minimizing her allure to her gay audience.

So, as I’ve said I have not yet seen any of the three shows. My preference is obviously Spongebob. The consensus by most seems to be that it wildly exceeds expectations, features some particularly great performances (most notably Slater’s) and imaginative stagecraft. The storyline isn’t going to win any awards and the songs are hit-and-miss.

So, I think it is between Spongebob and Carousel for you. It really comes down to your gut instinct. I do doubt Spongebob will ever experience a revival. Maybe it’ll tour? If it does, I’m not sure it will be able to recreate the stagecraft and will most probably not feature Slater’s performance. Carousel, on the other hand, will likely experience another revival again and it is hard to imagine any future revival being more poorly revived than this one.

Hope you let us know what you decide and your thoughts afterwards.

If you consider yourselves to be connoisseurs of great music, then go hear the great music sung by a talented cast with a large orchestra.

The music alone should be enough of an attraction. Thousands don't go to see hundreds of annual productions of Carmen because they dig the libretto.l

I saw SpongeBob Sunday. Chose it over Carousel. Big mistake. It is an overpriced children's show. Came as close to walking out at intermission as I ever have. Thought Gavin Lee's big number might provide redemption It didn't and two women in front of me must have been thinking the same thing as they left immediately after his number. I can't imagine Carousel being worse (or Frozen for that matter.)

Updated On: 5/31/18 at 06:50 AM

As someone who grew up with Spongebob from the beginning (I’m 24), I was bemoaning what dreck this could’ve possibly been. When I got tickets from a friend, I decided that it was worth a show. The book is pretty much a 15-minute serial stretched to 2.5 hours, but I was enraptured by the ingenuity of the production design and I really felt the cast working hard to win me over, and they did. I left feeling like the world sucked a little less.

Carousel was beautifully sung and danced, but left me totally cold (aside from Renee Fleming).

Summer, aside from the performances by the Donnas, was an utter travesty all around. Honestly, Colman Domingo and co. Should be ashamed of themselves for their Wikipedia-style desecration of an icon.

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theaterdude2 said: "Thank you all for your comments. If you've been following along, you can see that there's no clear winner even on this thread!

There are obviously detractors of both shows. Just asI think I'm sold on Spongebob, someone writes to say that they were underwhelmed, and the same goes for Carousel.

Seeing as I am a fan of Carousel, saw the Lincoln Center production which I loved...I still wonder how I could go wrong with it even if it's just to listen to the score again well sung on Bway with a full orchestra. But then I think of the production design and performances of Spongebob and I get stuck again!

I've never ever had a problem with indecision like this before when choosing shows to see.

2 new pieces of news: lots of people saying cast members of Spongebob have been out, and last night over at Carousel, Renee Fleming didn't finish the show...I need to see if I can find any news about who will beout when I go, which is a only a day away. Perhaps that will make the decision for me. For example, if Ethan is out of Spongebob, I wouldn't go.

Thoughts?"

You should follow Curtis Holbrook and Jesse JP Johnson's social media pages. Curtis is currently on vacation, however, and I don't know when he returns so if anyone will cover Spongebob, it's Jesse. Those two cover Spongebob and always post when they go on for Ethan. Additionally, you can always purchase rush tickets for Spongebob after the board goes up as they play in a huge house and rarely sell out. Spongebob attendance has been pretty great lately, except for some ensemble members who went on short vacations over the holiday weekend (Lauralyn, Brandon, Curtis) and Brian Ray Norris (Krabs) missed a day. Ethan is known to be out for matinees, so I think if you see an evening show he'd be on. Spongebob > Carousel any day, especially if you've watched the Lincoln Center production. The decision is ultimately up to you, but I think you should see Spongebob. It's rare that anyone leaves there without a smile on their face.

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taylortrensch said: "Ethan is known to be out for matinees, so I think if you see an evening show he'd be on. Spongebob > Carousel any day, especially if you've watched the Lincoln Center production. The decision is ultimately up to you, but I think you should see Spongebob. It's rare that anyone leaves there without a smile on their face."

Hold up, I have a Saturday matinee (6/23) ticket to see Spongebob Squarepants. I heard Slater didn’t do Sunday matinees. Are you saying Slater doesn’t do Saturday matinees either?

Spongebob is the most fun I've had at a musical in at least 10 years. That would be my pick.

This was literally my conundrum today. Couldn’t decide what to see. Already had tickets to Cursed Child, Band’s Visit, and Frozen.

I went with SpongeBob, and got great $79 tickets with the discount code available at www.broadwaybox.com

if you saw/liked the lincoln center performance, then do not go see this version of carousel. because you'll be comparing it the entire time and it doesnt hold up.

i say spongebob :)