SpongeBob SquarePants (Broadway)
Closed 2h 30m
SpongeBob SquarePants (Broadway)
82

SpongeBob SquarePants (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets

82%
(1331 Reviews)
Positive
88%
Mixed
8%
Negative
4%
Members say
Entertaining, Clever, Funny, Delightful, Great staging

About the Show

Nickelodeon's beloved cartoon icon comes to life on Broadway in this new musical featuring new songs from some of rock and pop's greatest luminaries.

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Member Reviews (1,331)

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1085 Reviews | 265 Followers
83
Ambitious, Clever, Delightful, Funny, Intelligent

See it if a fun show , good story behind it. Very good directing and staging. Not just for kids but for everyone of all ages.

Don't see it if it can be silly, not for the serious theater goer. If you are not into shows like school of rock, or any show that has kids themes too it.

989 Reviews | 346 Followers
70
Imaginative, Endlessly energetic, Disjointed, Unpleasantly loud, Garish

See it if you're looking for fun-for-the-whole-family. SSP is aimed at kids. Its cleverness will hold adults, but it is grating. Song quality varies!

Don't see it if you want sophisticated fare. SSP is broad, loud, in-your-face, over-the-top. Sometimes charming. Some good performances. Some great effects. Read more

716 Reviews | 219 Followers
80
Delightful, Quirky, Upbeat, Funny, Refreshing

See it if Happy cartoonish fun. Pleasing song and dance. Charismatic actors. Immersive set. Helps to go with a kid who knows the references.

Don't see it if You are looking for something more serious, or have no exposure to the TV show.

754 Reviews | 124 Followers
74
Colorful, Multi-talented performers, Great puns, Weak plot, Strange costume choices

See it if you like noisy colorful performances with screaming, crying children wandering the aisles.

Don't see it if you expect characters looking like the cartoon, you require plot complexity, you don't expect cheap off-off B'way techniques on B'way.

716 Reviews | 157 Followers
86
Clever, Delightful, Great singing, Great staging, Dazzling

See it if you're a fan of SpongeBob, family shows ok for kids, colorful costumes, zany sets, music by many popular composers, sight gags, clever dance

Don't see it if don't like SpongeBob or shows based on kiddie shows, farcical jokes & overwrought characters, scores created by many writers,

650 Reviews | 284 Followers
79
Spunky and highly entertaining - but mindless - musical evoking the delightful sponge and his weird underwater community

See it if full Broadway treatment - wonderful sets, costumes, dance, orchestra, super-kinetic performance by Ethan Slater as Bob

Don't see it if though like TV show humorous & whimsical, ultimately succumbs to standard Bdway shtick: silly plot, rock concert finale; meh music

655 Reviews | 129 Followers
100
Funny, Great staging, Entertaining, Delightful, Colorful

See it if it help to know Sponge Bob a little. Have a break from life and its funny. you like musical.

Don't see it if hate musical, bright colorful, and if you hate Sponge Bob. Read more

688 Reviews | 116 Followers
84
Entertaining, Great staging, Quirky, Clever, Dizzying

See it if Knowing exactly who it is & what it wants to say, SpongeBob is quite charming Fabulous! set & engaging ensemble go a long way to win us over

Don't see it if Too long for it's own good With too many songs extending a flimsy book it skirts dangerously close to eye-glazing But kills it in the finale

Critic Reviews (60)

The New York Times
December 4th, 2017

"Tina Landau’s exhaustingly imaginative production...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 (like my date for this show) a parent of 'SpongeBob'-bingeing progeny. If you are none of the above, you will find your patience sorely tested...Tune out until the next amazing set piece, and then gape at the ingenious reconfigurations of objects."
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Time Out New York
December 4th, 2017

"A joy. Like its irrepressible yellow hero, played by the peppy and limber-limbed Ethan Slater, the show is unabashedly committed to imagination and dorky enthusiasm...What send the show soaring are David Zinn’s sensational costumes and set...In the end, 'SpongeBob' succeeds because Landau and Zinn make even the most complicated musical staging look and feel like child’s play. It wants you to have fun. Soak it in."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
December 4th, 2017

"It’s a truly gloomy soul who’ll be able to leave without mirroring the dopey grin with which the show’s absorbent yellow hero responds to his buddy’s existential angst...Under the joyfully maximalist hand of Tina Landau, Bikini Bottom gets the more-is-more-is-more-is-more treatment — with a DIY twist that’s both endlessly charming and integral to the production’s spirit...Is it too much? Nah, no such thing...I left realizing that I had smiled for literally every minute of it."
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New Yorker
December 9th, 2017

"In heavy times, we can all use a little nonsense. (The good kind)...Here’s where the real twist comes: the show is very good. This is largely thanks to Tina Landau, its conceiver and director, who fills the stage with visual wit, from giant Rube Goldberg machines that spit out bouncy boulders to Zinn’s relentlessly clever costumes and sets...An all-star roster of artists supplied original songs but the standout is 'I’m Not a Loser,' by They Might Be Giants."
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The Hollywood Reporter
December 4th, 2017

"There's a certain whiplash effect, to be sure, in jumping from Bowie/Eno gloom rock to bubblegum pop to country to gospel to more conventional show tunes. But there's also a generosity of spirit here that, together with the playful visual imagination and the extremely likeable, racially diverse cast, proves hard to resist...Musical-theater snobs should probably give 'SpongeBob' a wide berth. But audiences willing to go with its demented escapism should find plenty of fun."
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Entertainment Weekly
December 4th, 2017

"A head-spinningly packed Act I spends far too long setting up these various threads...Act II is much smoother, and features some of the show’s highlights, like Squidward’s gorgeous tap number...It’s something of a challenge to stay fully invested and interested in this world for two hours and 30 minutes. But 'SpongeBob' certainly deserves points for creativity...Overall, it’s an entertaining, if overstuffed and a bit too experimental, homage to the long-running cartoon."
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Variety
December 4th, 2017

"Kyle Jarrow’s book retains the two key elements of the Nicktoon: the cheerful sea sponge’s unquenchable optimism and his selflessly heroic efforts to rescue his friends ...Landau’s hallucinogenic stagecraft transcends the show’s television origins by speaking a visual language that’s three-dimensional and boldly theatrical...It’s not as much of a gimmick as it seems, but without a signature sound, there’s no signature style. What there is, though, is plenty of giddy, goofy fun for all."
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The Wall Street Journal
December 6th, 2017

“Ms. Landau and her superb cast never feigned enthusiasm and never just preached to the converted. They believed. And as a technical achievement, the show is extraordinary...Pure silliness readily mixes with knowing kitsch...The cartoon is transformed into a combination campy circus, rock concert and amusement park...In addressing those adolescent issues, the play is fervently sincere peddling pedantic homilies."
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