The struggling SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS — Page 2

No matter what one thinks of the show (and "who cares?" is my opinion), the reviews were not "unanimously positive."

Brantley (the only reviewer who might significantly affect ticket sales) wrote "...you will probably adore this musical if: a) “SpongeBob” was a formative influence of your childhood; b) you are a stoner who tokes up to watch reruns of the show on YouTube; or c) if you are a parent of “SpongeBob”-bingeing progeny and found its sensibility crept into, and wallpapered, your weary mind. If you are none of the above, you will find your patience sorely tested."

That quote alone would qualify his notice as mixed, at best.

Updated On: 2/13/18 at 12:21 PM

markypoo said: "So what?

is a generic term used most often when the user finds his or her self utterly defenseless."

I did literally mean "so what."

The costumes in this show sketch out the characters enough for me to enjoy — they're not literal, and that's fine. This isn't a theme park (depending on your definition of the phrase). I've seen maybe half of one episode of SpongeBob, but as I am a functioning American human being who absorbs American pop culture, the costumes were close enough that I knew who was who.

Does that longer version of "so what" satisfy you?

markypoo said: "2) I literally defy anyone to explain its plot to me in anything slightly resembling coherency"

A volcano is about to destroy Bikini Bottom, so they try to save their town by dropping a device into the volcano to prevent it from going off?! Pretty easy.

I thought the show was a mildly pleasant mess. Sure, the main volcano plot is rather basic, but the ridiculous subplots littered everywhere were nothing more than distractions in order to shoehorn as many familiar characters into the show as possible. I went in looking forward to the show and left disappointed. I'll enjoy listening to a few of the songs from the score, but it's not a show that's going to stick with me in any significant way. Judging from the sales from the Chicago tryout and currently on Broadway, the show just wasn't good enough to generate the buzz needed to push the show beyond the stereotypical expectations of a theme park kiddie show, which was its biggest obstacle to defeat from the start. And it sounds as if there were no significant changes after the Chicago run, which fizzled out pretty quickly.

Yes, but after the subscriber dates ran out, attendance dropped considerably and discounts were everywhere.

I had really low expectations going in to see the show last week especially from the comments on this board. i also have to lower my expectations because of all the children that were going to see it.

My expectations were not exceeded. The children in the theatre behaved better than the adults. There was a group in the rear center orchestra that kept screaming out throughout the show. i wasn't sure if they were cast members or groupies but they were pretty obnoxious.

I didn't the set was all that after hearing about the "build out" and the music was unmemorable. The cast does work it's @ss off and SpongeBob must be exhausted after that show. He was very good, but still a little creepy. I thought the direction was very creative and I especially like the number with the sponges and black lights. We thought about leaving at intermission but my husband knows I hate to do that even though we got TDF tickets. We both thought the show was more suited for a themepark setting however and not a theatre on Bway.

My daughters have tickets for the show on June 17th, hope it makes it !!

TFMH18 said: "FWIW, I also think the show really suffers being at the Palace. If it were at one of the smaller more intimate houses, I think the artistry would be far more prevalent. But because it is in this cavermous, massive house, it much more easily lends itself to carnival-like. (I for the record adored the show and am bummed to see it struggling so.)"



There is no way they would have booked this show in a small house. That makes absolutely no sense. It's a huge show and was designed that way.

I agree with the post that this "product" will clean up when it is released for schools, but the Broadway version will lose a lot of money, which the producers can certainly afford.

Deep pockets or not, I cant fathom producers being ok with losing money. The show tanked in the summer in Chicago (on Goldstar daily) and theatre half empty when I saw it. No idea what led investors to think that NYC would be any different.

It might do fine on the road, but it will be going into houses with big subscription bases. Still, no one will be making any money on this one.

They overestimated the interest. Let's take a show from Chicago where it tanked to NYC where it tanked and run it for months while losing money, so grammar schools can perform it. Sounds like a brilliant business plan.