Spongebob cast recording thoughts?

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 9/23/17 at 12:23pm

I had the pleasure of listening to the recording. I'm very pleased and a lot of songs put a smile to my face. What are your thoughts?

Updated On: 9/23/17 at 12:23 PM

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 9/23/17 at 3:56pm

I like the orchestrations, and it's nicely and crisply recorded, but it's hot garbage.  The score isn't the slightest bit cohesive and the character voices are like nails on a chalk board.  This might just be one of the worst scores that I have ever heard.  This very easily could have been placed alongside the likes of Annie, You're a good man Charlie Brown, and Lil Abner if they had gone with a strong musical theatre composer instead of like twenty-something or so pop artists (many of whom don't know how to write for musical theatre).  It's nicely performed, but I was longing for some funnier and wittier lyrics.  The songs are catchy (some of them.  Others are real clunkers), but the lyrics tend to fall flat.  They're just not funny.  I saw the show in Chicago and thought that the score was cute and that the show would evolve, but evidently, the score has been solidified and I saw the finished product.  The show was decent when I was viewing it as a work in progress and I wasn't analyzing the score out of context, but the music just doesn't work.  It's atrocious.  I don't see this getting many Tony noms except for the technical aspects (the set is stunning) and Gavin Lee, who is great and is the most successful in capturing his character.

Basically, I wish they had gone with someone like Cyndi Lauper who knows how to write for the stage or just a great musical theatre composer (the Lopez team could have done a nice job on this if they weren't occupied with Frozen).  They also should have waited until they moved to Broadway to record the album so that they could have continued their work on it.  I love the cartoon and so do my kids, but I just feel like this wasn't successful in capturing it at all.

[Golenboybway]

Posted: 9/23/17 at 5:06pm

Do we think they will record a new album once on broadway? There are a lot of new cast members 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/23/17 at 5:11pm

^i doubt it

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/23/17 at 10:22pm

Maybe one of the worst things I've heard. Just plain awful. The voices are grating. Everyone's doing this nasal pitched sound that is awful. And I couldn't even keep track of who was what character because all of the men basically sounded the same. I'm not even sure what the Spongebob voice is? It doesn't sound like the show. It's just a bunch of nasal singing. 

The songs are terrible. Why are there so many ballads and mid-tempos?! This is a show about a sponge! Have some fun songs. The David Bowie song is terrible. The only decent song is the Panic at the Disco song. It's fun, but like all the other songs, it doesn't say much. None of it seems creative of interesting. Like, of course there's a big tap dancing number. But that's not new or interesting. Or clever. The show should be funnier and more fun. I can't see kids wanting to see this over Frozen or Aladdin.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 10:04am

How to make this musical ten million times better:
1. Let Jonathan Coulton write the entire score, as he wrote the only decent song in it.

2. Lie and say all the celebrities wrote the songs to bring in the audiences.

 

My friend brought up how there'd be 20 winners if this show won the Tony for Best Score. I told him that if this show's music won a Tony over The Band's Visit or (God Forbid) Frozen, I'm quitting theatre. I've always wanted to be an actor and a playwright, but if the ships sinking, I'm grabbing a life vest and jumping.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 1:04pm

Ethan Slater's singing voice is a strange musical theatre/alternative pop/animated character hybrid, and I, for one, am totally into it. I haven't listened to the album in its entirety, because I'm waiting to see the show first, but, from what I've heard, quite a few of the songs have really beautiful melodies. For example, (I Guess I) Miss You, by John Legend, sounds like it could be a standout in any "serious" musical. It's a lovely song, from beginning to end. I'm really looking forward to this show!

[Alex M]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 1:48pm

I think im part of the minority here but I love every single song on this cast recording. It might help that i just love Spongebob in general though.

[BOM]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 2:44pm

I enjoy the majority of the album, but will admit that Jonathan Coulton should have wrote all the music. Bikini Bottom Day is easily the best song on the album. Would have loved to see what else he could of come up with.

Updated On: 9/24/17 at 02:44 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 2:58pm

Super Sea Star Savior (Yolanda Adams): Has nothing to do with anything.

I did see the tryout and the song is part of a subplot where the anchovies believe Patrick to be their religious leader.  It's a terrible subplot that is nothing but a device to separate Patrick from Spongebob, but the song does have something to do with the story.  I might have liked Just a Simple Sponge if the staging and choreography hadn't been so amateurish and ineffective.  Tomorrow Is is really just one phrase repeated ad nauseum with trite lyrics in an attempt to close out the first act with some sort of anthem.  It's almost as empty as Bikini Bottom Boogie, with the exception that Tomorrow Is actually has a connection to the book, tenuous as it may seem.  (I Guess I) Miss You is okay, but the verses are mediocre melodically and lyrically.  They exist in a much stronger version as Without Love in Hairspray.  It's when you get to the chorus, the song is far more interesting.

I do think that some of the songs actually come off better on the CD than they did on stage.  For example, Poor Pirates is quite good, but the pirate stuff on stage is overlong and gets tedious very quickly.  And Best Day Ever sounds cute on the CD, but I don't recall a thing about it from the stage production and after listening to the song on the CD, it's immediately forgettable.

Honestly, Chop to the Top is still the most infectious melody and my favorite bit of staging from the tryout.  I wanted to whole show to be that seamlessly creative, simple and effective.  It's the only song from the show I love to hear repeatedly.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 8:24pm

CT2NYC said: "Ethan Slater's singing voice is a strange musical theatre/alternative pop/animated character hybrid, and I, for one, am totally into it.  I'm really looking forward to this show!"

And well you should.  I traveled to Chicago last year specifically to see the show - something I have never done before - and absolutely adored it.  Will be in NYC to attend two preview performances as well.  I'll be very interested to see what changes are made.

The score is pure pop bliss to me and each song fits the character/situation it was created for.  The actors are perfectly cast and the production design is wonderful [think CATS junkyard set, only under the sea and in florescent colors] and extends out from the proscenium.  It may help slightly to be a SpongeBob fan, but just watching one episode of the series can pretty much bring you up to speed on the individual characters and tone of the show - both on screen and on stage.

Squidwards [curmudgeons] are encouraged to stay far, far away for this piece,  but SpongeBobs [eternal optimists] both young and old should rejoice. 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:25pm

I woudln't say I'm a fan/not a fan of the original show, but just that the actual musical could be so much better. Nothing is very exciting. The songs are fine, but why, in a musical about Spongebob Squarepants, would there be so many power ballads? Do we really need a "For Good" Wicked style ballad for Patrick and Spongebob? So stupid. 

[Jake01]

Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:30pm

"Do we really need a "For Good" Wicked style ballad for Patrick and Spongebob?"

I mean, I understand where you're coming from and I get your point, but still: I thought that song was very memorable and it has stayed with me and my friend for the past year. We've been looking forward to the cast recording release for it primarily. Something about it that touched a cord...

Updated On: 9/25/17 at 11:30 PM