Nautical nonsense: "The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition" drops anchor at Williams Bay Middle School
The most famous streetscape in the undersea world of Bikini Bottom is this residential neighborhood, home to (from left) Patrick Star (Williams Bay eighth-grader Keller Cook), Squidward Q. Tentacles (Williams Bay seventh-grader Sophia Howarth-Yonkee), and SpongeBob SquarePants (Williams Bay eighth-grader Josh LeBaron).
When is a sponge “not just a simple sponge?”
When it’s the ebullient, happy-go-lucky SpongeBob SquarePants yer talkin’ ‘bout, matey!
The perennially hopeful and upbeat SpongeBob SquarePants (Williams Bay eighth-grader Josh LeBaron), lives in a pineapple in undersea Bikini Bottom with his pet snail, Gary. In Williams Bay Middle School’s April 27-28, 2023 production of “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition,” the stakes are higher than ever before as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world by a rumbling volcano, as chaos erupts in the community and lives hang in the balance. Just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage, saving Bikini Bottom with his bravery. Trying to prove to himself and the world that he is not “just a simple sponge,” SpongeBob resolves to save the day when everybody else has given up all hope.
Setting sail for The Bay last week, SpongeBob SquarePants and all his undersea Bikini Bottom friends and neighbors from the eponymous popular animated Nickelodeon TV series came to colorful, creative, spirited life on April 27-28 as Williams Bay Middle School presented “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition.”
Money-loving, self-absorbed Bikini Bottom restaurateur Eugene Krabs (Williams Bay eighth-grader Cameron Keith) and his boy band-crazed teenage daughter Pearl Krabs (Williams Bay eighth-grader Gracie Pils) are not seeing eye to eye in the “Daddy Knows Best” song scene in the April 27-28, 2023 Williams Bay Middle School production of “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition.” When Pearl tells her dad that meeting the Electric Skates boy band is the best thing that’s ever happened to her, Mr. Krabs tells her that her priorities are all wrong, explaining how money is the most important thing in life. An emotional and distraught Pearl then tries to share how her father doesn’t listen to her and doesn’t understand her, outlining their extreme differences.
A musical adaptation of Nickelodeon’s long-running children’s sitcom, “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition” took showgoers to the undersea city of Bikini Bottom, inhabited by ever-optimistic yellow sea sponge SpongeBob SquarePants and his quirky circle of Bikini Bottom neighbors, including friends Patrick Star, Squidward Q. Tentacles and Sandy Cheeks, and penny-pinching, money-obsessed restaurateur boss Eugene Krabs, owner of The Krusty Krab.
“Life is short and the end is near. It’s important to identify what you hold dear ... Let me tell you what counts more than all the rest — Money, money matters most! Money, money I can boast! Money, money — Make a toast to Money! Money! Money!” Hoisting his bulging bags of gold, money obsessed, self-absorbed Bikini Bottom restaurateur Eugene Krabs exults in his riches during the “Daddy Knows Best” song in the April 27-28 Williams Bay Middle School production of “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition.”
SpongeBob’s pleasant existence is abruptly interrupted when it’s discovered that Mt. Humongous, a nearby volcano, will erupt within the next 48 hours and completely obliterate Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob, trying to prove to himself, Mr. Krabs and the world that he is not “just a simple sponge,” resolves to save the day when everybody else has given up all hope.
Hatching an evil scheme down at his struggling fast food restaurant, The Chum Bucket, restaurateur and would-be evil genius Sheldon J. Plankton (left, Williams Bay eighth-grader Liam Beth) schemes with his wife and evil sidekick Karen Plankton (Williams Bay eighth-grader Izzy Chamberlain) for global domination — or at least Bikini Bottom’s corner of the world.
Fun and family-friendly, “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition” offers a timeless story of identity, crisis, and community while also being a witty allegory that examines and critiques the politics of the modern era, doing so in such a way where children will appreciate and understand the plot line, while adults read between the lines and extract even more from the musical’s message.
“Let’s have some fun together. We’ll be best friends forever. B.F.F. — that stands for us!” Bikini Bottom friends and neighbors Patrick Star (left, Williams Bay eighth-grader Keller Cook) and SpongeBob SquarePants (right, Williams Bay eighth-grader Josh LeBaron) celebrate their longtime Best Friends Forever relationship with the song “B.F.F.” in the April 27-, 2023 Williams Bay Middle School production of “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition.”
“Overall, I think that the show went very well and the students performed the best they ever have,” said show director Jessica Miles, choir director at Williams Bay Middle School-High School. “It was fantastic, and I could not be prouder of all of them. So many parents, community members, other teachers and students in attendance were raving about how good the show was. Keller Cook (Patrick Star) and Josh LeBaron (SpongeBob SquarePants) were phenomenal, always in character, always making the audience laugh with their character’s personality. They really were perfect for those leading roles.”
Famed Bikini Bottom rock band The Electric Skates (from left, Williams Bay seventh-graders Angie Tejeda, Elena Walker and Skye Virgin) rehearse the song “Bikini Bottom Boogie,” written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, in preparation for a benefit concert to raise funds to move everyone in Bikini Bottom away from a volcano that’s menacing the undersea community.
Both shows drew crowds of 215-220 each to the Lecture Center at Williams Bay Middle School-High School, attendance which Miles called a “fantastic” turnout.
The one-hour musical production, conceived by Tina Landau, is based on the TV series “SpongeBob SquarePants” by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Aired on Nickelodeon since 1999, award-winning “SpongeBob SquarePants” is the nation’s fifth-longest-running animated series.
Ms. Mayor (right, Williams Bay eighth-grader Dex Straubel) spends a majority of “The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition” trying to reassure the residents of Bikini Bottom — from left, Mr. Krab (Williams Bay eighth-grader Cameron Keith), SpongeBob SquarePants (Williams Bay eight-grader Josh LeBaron) and Sardine (Williams Bay eighth-grader Kaydence Warrenburg) — that the ineffective local government has everything under control as an undersea volcano threatens the community with total annihilation. Lives hang in the balance and chaos erupts in Bikini Bottom as the citizens await a solution to their dire predicament.
Staging the Broadway musical, adapted for younger actors and presented through licensure with Concord Theatricals, was an ambitious, but successful undertaking.
Miles
“There were so many students involved this year that have either never been in a musical before due to COVID, or were not in last year’s musical, but everyone did a fantastic job,” Miles noted. “There were many times that backstage workers and us in the light booth were dancing during both performances.”
Cast members were SpongeBob SquarePants, Josh LeBaron; Patrick Star, Keller Cook; Sandy Cheeks, Ciara Benitez; Squidward Q. Tentacles:, Sophia Howarth-Yonkee; Sheldon J. Plankton, Liam Beth; Karen Plankton, Izzy Chamberlain; Mr. Eugene Krabs, Cameron Keith; Pearl Krab, Gracie Pils; TV reporter Perch Perkins, Elena Walker; Bikini Bottom Mayor, Dex Straubel; Larry the Lobster and Cowboy Fish, Zach Scott; Old Man Jenkins and Cowboy Fish, Nick Gonza; Electric Skates — Angie Tejeda, Skye Virgin and Elena Walker; Sardines and Sea Anemones — Amelia Coulmann, Sasha Koledova and Kaydence Warrenburg; BFF Letters — Jose Espinoza, Degarya Sumiejski and Kyra Frederick; and French Narrator, Samantha Thompson.
Williams Bay Middle School presented “The Sponge Bob Musical: Youth Edition” on April 27-28, 2023 in the Williams Bay Middle School-High School Lecture Center. Show cast and crew pictured front row, kneeling, from left, are Brooke Peyer, Izzy Chamberlain, Angie Tejeda, Sasha Koledova and Amelia Coulmann. Seen middle row, from left, are Sophia Howarth-Yonkee, Kaydence Warrenburg, Ciara Benitez, Gracie Pils, Skye Virgin, Dex Straubel, Keller Cook, Nick Gonza and Will Sorensen. Pictured back row, from left, are Nicholas Kwiatkowski, Cameron Keith, Liam Beth, Elena Walker, Josh LeBaron, Zach Scott, Elliana Borgen, Lauryn Sikes and Nanao Tsuruta.
Members of the backstage crew were Brooke Peyer, Lauryn Sikes, Connor Lindloff, Nicholas Kwiatkowski, Aubree Kunes, Will Sorensen, Elliana Borgen and Nanao Tsuruta.
Banding together as friends to save the day, scientist Sandy Cheeks (left, Williams Bay eighth-grader Ciara Benitez), Patrick Star (Williams Bay eighth-grader Keller Cook) and SpongeBob SquarePants (right, Williams Bay eighth-grader Josh LeBaron), race against the clock and long odds to save their beloved undersea community of Bikini Bottom from volcanic destruction — and an evil plot hatched by would-be villain Sheldon J. Plankton.
Comprising the production crew were Williams Bay Middle School choral music teacher Jessica Miles, director; Samantha Thompson and Piper Janssen, student directors; Colleen Walker, choreographer; Jessica Miles and Jacob White set design and construction; Libby Anhold, sound technician; Drey Toro, lighting; Jessica Miles, Brooke Peyer Piper Janssen, costumes and makeup; Darla Thiel, photographer; and Denise Durkin, posters and programs.
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