Back in 2004, beloved kids' cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants was celebrated with a soundtrack album featuring the likes of the Flaming Lips, Wilco, the Shins and Ween. Now, the undersea character has inspired another impressive gathering of stars, this time for a Broadway musical.
According to Entertainment Weekly, The SpongeBob Musical will debut at Chicago's Oriental Theatre with a run from June 7 to July 3. After that, it will have a New York season on Broadway for the 2016-2017 season.
The cast of contributors is truly staggering, as there will be original songs from David Bowie, the Flaming Lips, the Dirty Projectors, John Legend, They Might Be Giants, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At the Disco, Lady Antebellum, Plain White T's, Jonathan Coulton, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
Beyond that, The SpongeBob Musical will be directed Tina Landau, who co-conceived the work with a book from Kyle Jarrow. Music supervision was handled by Tom Kitt.
Landau said in a statement, "We're taking our leads from the TV show but this is an original story, with an original design approach, and original songs written just for the occasion by an amazing array of songwriters." Casting has yet to be announced.
Earlier this year, SpongeBob was celebrated with a feature film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
Below, revisit the Flaming Lips' song "Spongebob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy."
According to Entertainment Weekly, The SpongeBob Musical will debut at Chicago's Oriental Theatre with a run from June 7 to July 3. After that, it will have a New York season on Broadway for the 2016-2017 season.
The cast of contributors is truly staggering, as there will be original songs from David Bowie, the Flaming Lips, the Dirty Projectors, John Legend, They Might Be Giants, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At the Disco, Lady Antebellum, Plain White T's, Jonathan Coulton, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
Beyond that, The SpongeBob Musical will be directed Tina Landau, who co-conceived the work with a book from Kyle Jarrow. Music supervision was handled by Tom Kitt.
Landau said in a statement, "We're taking our leads from the TV show but this is an original story, with an original design approach, and original songs written just for the occasion by an amazing array of songwriters." Casting has yet to be announced.
Earlier this year, SpongeBob was celebrated with a feature film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
Below, revisit the Flaming Lips' song "Spongebob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy."
