Welcome back to my 'And the Tony Almost Went to...' series, where I take a deep dive into a show that was the (likely) runner-up in the Best Musical race of any previous Tony Awards year. With this year's telecast airing on CBS tonight, we'll be taking a look back at last year's Tony race which saw a critical juggernaut winning in the end, though what may have likely been the alternative surprised many skeptics when it opened early on in the 2017-18 season. In fact, the runner-up we'll be talking about just so happens to feature one of this year's Tony nominated actresses, Lilli Cooper.
Based on Stephen Hillenburg's long-running Nickelodeon animated series of the same name, SpongeBob SquarePants follows everyone's favorite undersea sponge as he goes on one of the biggest adventures of his life. The stakes are higher than ever before as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts, lives hang in the balance, and just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage.
When this project was announced, I pretty much had the exact same thoughts as everyone else, “The most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard!” Then when it was revealed that a bunch of recording artists such as Yolanda Adams, Lady Antebellum, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, and Steven Tyler were each going to contribute one original song for the score, I thought “Well, this is gonna be a mess”. This is especially coming from someone who has no disrespect for the property at all. I was one of those kids who grew up watching SpongeBob a lot in the early 2000s. Though audiences have felt that the cartoon itself has been facing a decline in quality ever since the fourth season debuted in 2005. In fact, creator Steve Hillenburg (who sadly passed away of ALS back in November of last year) originally intended for the 2004 theatrical film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, to serve as the show’s series finale. However, the property was still so successful, that Nickelodeon wasn’t ready for the series to end. So Hillenburg resigned as showrunner to pursue other projects before he eventually returned to the franchise in 2015.
After several years of development (which included a world premiere in Chicago), SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical opened on December 4th, 2017 at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. The original cast included Ethan Slater as SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Skinner as Patrick Star, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, Wesley Taylor as Sheldon J. Plankton, and Brian Ray Norris as Mr. Eugene H. Krabs.
The production received 12 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Ethan Slater), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Gavin Lee), Best Direction of a Musical (Tina Landau), Best Book of a Musical (Kyle Jarrow), Best Original Score (Various Artists), Best Choreography (Christopher Gattelli), Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Walter Trarbach & Mike Dobson), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Kevin Adams), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (David Zinn)*, and Best Costume Design of a Musical (David Zinn).
*denotes an award it won.
Yet, despite being a surprise critical hit of the season, it could not overcome the real critical juggernaut that was...
When this project was announced, I pretty much had the exact same thoughts as everyone else, “The most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard!” Then when it was revealed that a bunch of recording artists such as Yolanda Adams, Lady Antebellum, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, and Steven Tyler were each going to contribute one original song for the score, I thought “Well, this is gonna be a mess”. This is especially coming from someone who has no disrespect for the property at all. I was one of those kids who grew up watching SpongeBob a lot in the early 2000s. Though audiences have felt that the cartoon itself has been facing a decline in quality ever since the fourth season debuted in 2005. In fact, creator Steve Hillenburg (who sadly passed away of ALS back in November of last year) originally intended for the 2004 theatrical film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, to serve as the show’s series finale. However, the property was still so successful, that Nickelodeon wasn’t ready for the series to end. So Hillenburg resigned as showrunner to pursue other projects before he eventually returned to the franchise in 2015.
After several years of development (which included a world premiere in Chicago), SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical opened on December 4th, 2017 at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. The original cast included Ethan Slater as SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Skinner as Patrick Star, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, Wesley Taylor as Sheldon J. Plankton, and Brian Ray Norris as Mr. Eugene H. Krabs.
The production received 12 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Ethan Slater), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Gavin Lee), Best Direction of a Musical (Tina Landau), Best Book of a Musical (Kyle Jarrow), Best Original Score (Various Artists), Best Choreography (Christopher Gattelli), Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Walter Trarbach & Mike Dobson), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Kevin Adams), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (David Zinn)*, and Best Costume Design of a Musical (David Zinn).
*denotes an award it won.
Yet, despite being a surprise critical hit of the season, it could not overcome the real critical juggernaut that was...
Why Didn't SpongeBob SquarePants Win?: Despite all the critical acclaim and being based on a popular brand, SpongeBob spent months struggling at the box office (especially in such a venue as enormous as the Palace). Even after tying with Mean Girls for the most nominations, the show still didn't get that much of a boost. As we’ve seen in the past, Tony voters don’t usually like to waste any major awards on a production that's been struggling. Meanwhile, The Band's Visit was that scrappy little show that moved from Off-Broadway to Broadway, and was not only the most acclaimed new musical of that season, but it also proved to be more successful at the box office than anyone imagined.
According to the New York Time survey, several Tony voters said they went with The Band’s Visit, at least in part, as a protest against the commercialism of the other nominees (Frozen, Mean Girls, and SpongeBob SquarePants). One voter said specifically to the Times that “The Band’s Visit is an adult musical exploring grown up themes, unlike the other nominees.” Others said they weren’t sure what the fuss was about. Another voter told the Times “What a terrible year for musicals. This was the least worst choice.” Another said, “Had it been any other season with compelling competition my vote would have possibly gone elsewhere.” A few voters even said they were boycotting the category. As one put it, “I didn’t vote for best musical because there isn’t one.”
In the end, The Band's Visit won way more Tonys than what a lot of people were predicting. It wounded up with 10 awards for Best Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Tony Shalhoub), Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Katrina Lenk), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Ari'el Stachel), Best Direction of a Musical (David Cromer), Best Book of a Musical (Itamar Moses), Best Original Score (David Yazbek), Best Orchestrations (Jamshied Sharifi), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Kai Harada), and Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Tyler Micoleau). In fact, Best Original Score was swapped out for Best Book of a Musical on the telecast pretty much because a lot of people were expecting Tina Fey to win for Mean Girls. That pretty much backfired when Itamar Moses won.
As for SpongeBob, the show's Broadway run was cut short due to the planned renovations of the Palace Theatre, though the musical had also not met financial expectations. It closed on September 16th, 2018, after 327 performances at a loss of $18,000,000. On the bright side, SpongeBob is set to go on tour this fall (albeit, non-equity), and should be a popular option for high schools to produce in the future like The Addams Family, Seussical, and Shrek.
According to the New York Time survey, several Tony voters said they went with The Band’s Visit, at least in part, as a protest against the commercialism of the other nominees (Frozen, Mean Girls, and SpongeBob SquarePants). One voter said specifically to the Times that “The Band’s Visit is an adult musical exploring grown up themes, unlike the other nominees.” Others said they weren’t sure what the fuss was about. Another voter told the Times “What a terrible year for musicals. This was the least worst choice.” Another said, “Had it been any other season with compelling competition my vote would have possibly gone elsewhere.” A few voters even said they were boycotting the category. As one put it, “I didn’t vote for best musical because there isn’t one.”
In the end, The Band's Visit won way more Tonys than what a lot of people were predicting. It wounded up with 10 awards for Best Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Tony Shalhoub), Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Katrina Lenk), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Ari'el Stachel), Best Direction of a Musical (David Cromer), Best Book of a Musical (Itamar Moses), Best Original Score (David Yazbek), Best Orchestrations (Jamshied Sharifi), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Kai Harada), and Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Tyler Micoleau). In fact, Best Original Score was swapped out for Best Book of a Musical on the telecast pretty much because a lot of people were expecting Tina Fey to win for Mean Girls. That pretty much backfired when Itamar Moses won.
As for SpongeBob, the show's Broadway run was cut short due to the planned renovations of the Palace Theatre, though the musical had also not met financial expectations. It closed on September 16th, 2018, after 327 performances at a loss of $18,000,000. On the bright side, SpongeBob is set to go on tour this fall (albeit, non-equity), and should be a popular option for high schools to produce in the future like The Addams Family, Seussical, and Shrek.