For this year’s winter musical, the Williston Theater staged a production of SpongeBob: The Musical. Bringing the Nickelodeon classic to life involved a bounty of color—and a bevy of talented artists, actors, and producers. Here are some behind-the-scenes looks at what went into the performance this year.
“I was really happy with how well received the production was,” Theater Director Dr. Jorge Rodriguez said. “We were trying to communicate the joy, innocence, and inclusivity of SpongeBob. Those values seemed to be very well embraced—the audience responded with warmth and laughter.”
The creative freedom with this production was exciting for costume designers. Reimagining cartoon characters as real people allowed for designers to use color bounding—a cosplay technique—to create unique, yet distinctive costumes including Squidward’s prosthetic “legs” and Plankton’s green velvet jacket.
Soleil Richardson ’24 wasn’t just following dance steps in her performance as SpongeBob—she was also the assistant choreographer and put together two dance numbers performed during the show, “B.F.F.” and “Chopped to the Top.”
With multiple, quickfire costume, character, and musical style changes, this production required the cast and stage crew to be especially nimble.
The stage crew utilized a bit of everything to bring the underwater world of Bikini Bottom topside. Pool noodles served as plankton in the background, and rock climbing handles were installed on the set walls to act as colorful barnacles.
The use of a platform on stage allowed for multiple uses, including “caves” created underneath to facilitate actor and prop movement, and the verticality above to create scenes within one distinct set.