SpongeBob SquarePants (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,349)
See it if you enjoy silly quirky popcorn musicals, you enjoy great acting, incredible singing, amazing direction, fun costumes overall great show
Don't see it if you can't see past the title/character/show, you can't laugh in the theatre, you hate flashing lights and loud sounds, you want a smart play
See it if You love great sets, special effects, and lots and lots of colors. It's mesmerizing!
Don't see it if you really want a plot of any shape or size.
See it if You want to see a really good musical that you didn't think you wanted to see. You don't mind being in a theater full of kids.
Don't see it if You hate being in a theater full of kids. You're so jaded that you won't let yourself enjoy a truly wonderful musical based on a cartoon. Read more
See it if You want a wild tale of friendship, optimism, adventure, exquisite staging, dance & song and an incredible creative evening at the theatre!
Don't see it if You don’t like sponges. Or whimsy. Or spectacle. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but I was blown away by the talent and humor.
See it if you think it might be possible to create a full Broadway extravaganza out of a bathtime squeezetoy and come away with lessons to live by
Don't see it if you think the existing tv shows/toys/fan base define the limits of imagination
See it if You love the creative elements of musicals and want to be swept away to another reality via the score, designs, direction and performances.
Don't see it if You are want traditional & grounded creative elements in a show, lack imagination and humor or don't want to revisit the wonder of childhood
See it if you want to be unexpectedly surprised to find a show that is an evening of total fun! I was completely entertained by this original musical
Don't see it if you want a serious play and don't want to see a show based on a cartoon character. Read more
See it if you wanna be surprised by the power and careful craft of a musical based on a cartoon. See it if you're open to something earnest & bizarre.
Don't see it if you only enjoy highbrow or edgy material. Read more
Critic Reviews (60)
"Fun and smart and festive and joyful it is. In spades...It’s a colorful spectacle that feels intoxicating and exciting before the show even begins...Ethan Slater making his Broadway debut, gives about the best performance of a sponge that one could hope for...Every underwater creature is playing their part swimmingly...Time will tell if it is a success financially, but as an artistic endeavor, they have surprised the Broadway world and hit that pineapple out of the park."
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"The 'save the world' plot is simple and easy to follow, with musical numbers that attempt to move the action forward with little success...Tina Landau has created an inventive production that provides enough amusement and razzle dazzle to satisfy audiences that are familiar with this famed Nickelodeon character and his cohorts but will not in any fashion keep the interest of serious theatergoers. It is a vibrant spectacle that sparkles but does not shine."
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"Tom Kitt has helped assemble a tuneful and eclectic score...All of this makes for many enjoyable moments. But it’s still difficult to justify devoting two and a half hours to a cartoon sponge...Despite all the terrific talent and pleasing razzle dazzle, a theatergoer who isn’t seven years old or stoned or an unusually empathetic parent may secretly wish before the 150 minutes are up that Humongous will destroy Bikini Bottom soon and let us all get back early to dry land."
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"One of the most creative animation-to-stage adaptations I’ve seen...Although the plot is paper thin, there is much more here than meets the eye. Self-help advice is liberally dispensed in musical form from artists in all genres...An original cast recording that is catchy and contagious. The musical variety is just one of the many things that makes this show a genuine crowd-pleaser. The energy that this supremely talented cast gives is beyond electric...Don’t resist this gem."
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"This exuberant, expensive and sometimes enervating spectacle -- directed with utter confidence by Tina Landau and featuring typically thrilling choreography by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli -- is likely to give you whiplash...I’m not sure the creators’ idea to have over a dozen notable songwriters contribute to the score was a gamble that fully paid off. There are a few too many songs for the show’s own good, and far too many musicals styles are on display here."
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“This tidal wave of nautical nonsense has turned the Palace Theatre into an eye-poppingly colorful seascape filled with subaquatic life ranging from petite plankton to lumbering leviathans…Staged with unceasing zest…and a confetti-covered…beach ball party, 'SpongeBob SquarePants' defies you to be bored...Within all the nutty behavior and antics, a few adult-oriented thematic points are made…Expressive vitality, visual ingenuity, vibrant musicality, and consistently exceptional performances.”
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"The most exciting sequences arise when Landau puts cartoon plots aside and concentrates on delivering the sugar-shock visual pleasure...This raw bar of composers makes for a lack of musical cohesion...But more conventional book musicals don’t have David Zinn’s blissfully eye-popping set and costume design...Design and performances aside, 'SpongeBob' is as perfunctorily entertaining as it is insistently forgettable."
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"It’s all admirably imaginative. What the designs, direction and performances rarely are is magical, inspired, or outrageously fun, although the two Rube Goldberg-like machines that thrust 'molten' beach balls onto the stage can be called 'ingenious'...Severely hampered by Kyle Jarrow’s flat, witless book...What keeps 'SpongeBob' afloat are the original songs by Sara Bareilles, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, and others."
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