By Elizabeth Richards
The SpongeBob Musical will see its Maine premiere at Schoolhouse Arts Center this month and in addition, the organization has announced a massive fundraising campaign for total restoration of their building.
The
SpongeBob Musical opens on Feb. 24 and runs through March 6. Shows will be Thursdays, Fridays and
Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Cast members of the Sponge Bob Musical rehearse at the
Schoolhouse Arts Center in Standish. The musical will make
its Maine premiere this month at Schoolhouse Arts and runs
from Feb. 24 to March 6. SUBMITTED PHOTO
This show, while based on the characters made famous by the Nickelodeon cartoon from the 1990s, is an adventure story all its own, says director Zachariah Stearn, who is also the artistic director for Schoolhouse Arts Center.
When
the show opened on Broadway in 2017, Stearn said, it was met with mixed
reviews. But once it was out of
previews, he said, “It became a theater nerd’s favorite thing.” The music was
written by a wide range of artists, including David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, John
Legend, Sara Bareilles, and others, who each wrote one song, resulting varying
styles and genres throughout the show.
Those
who grew up in the 1990s watching the cartoon can get a sense of nostalgia
watching the beloved characters SpongeBob, Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles
and Sandy Cheeks move through the adventure.
“There are certain lines and moments in the show that reflect its
origins in the cartoon,” Stearn said. “However, for those who think SpongeBob
was just an annoying voice on their television, this is not a musical version
of the cartoon,” he said.
The
plot line deals with friendship, love, and community, all wrapped up in a fun
adventure. “From a director’s perspective it parallels exactly what’s going on
in our country right now,” Stearn said.
In the story, he says, Bikini Bottom is at risk of being destroyed by an
active volcano if the town can’t pull together. On one side is Sandy Cheeks,
urging the town to use science to reverse the problem. On the other is the villain, Plankton, who tries
to convince the town residents they don’t need to listen to science.
“At the end of the show there comes a moment where every character has a massive rising action realization,” Stearn said. The characters, particularly SpongeBob, Sandy and Patrick, realize that they all need each other. “That is a theme that is existing throughout the show. They constantly need one another to get them over a small obstacle or the larger obstacles they confront. It’s an extremely relevant piece, which I enjoy because it adds another level of character work for the actors,” Stearn said.
The
show features a cast of 28, ranging in age from 5 to mid-30s, that includes
students from Gorham and Windham, and many familiar faces, including Will
Searway as SpongeBob, Maddie Downey as Sandy, Joe Lambert as Patrick Star, and
Hannah Macri as Squidward.
As
an added feature, sign language will be interspersed throughout the
production.
“Our
focus has been on inclusion and diversity, and this is one of those ways that
we can continue to live up to that ideal,” Stearn said.
***There
will also be fully interpreted ASL performances on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27.
The cast of the show will be holding a
fundraiser, the Blackbox Teens educational trip to New York City. On Sunday, Feb.
20 at noon, children can come meet the characters, see them perform a special
song, and see the stage up close. Cost
for the event is $5 per child.
Schoolhouse
Arts recently announced a $2 million capital campaign, which is the estimated
cost of restoring the building from top to bottom, Stearn said. While there are no immediate safety issues, there
are many projects that were put off when the original schoolhouse was converted
to a theater in 1988, Stearn said.
The
building is 108 years old, he said, and it is time to address the challenges
they decided to just live with when it was originally converted. Some of the
projects include renovating the bathrooms and making them accessible, replacing
paneling on the side of the building, repainting the building, replacing windows
to make the building more energy efficient, restoring floors in the gathering
room, and adding a backstage bathroom.
“We
are not interested in tearing anything out unless it absolutely has to go,” Stearn
said. “It’s more of a restoration process than a remodel.”
Stearn
said they are working with the town of Standish to try and get an itemized
quote for every project. When that happens, they’ll hold a press conference, he
said, and announce the order in which these projects will be completed and the
cost of each one.
In
the meantime, he said, “We are reaching out to businesses and organizations
that share the same enthusiasm that we do in terms of providing performing arts
experiences and opportunities for our community and seeing how they can help.” Help can come in the form of monetary
donations, material donations, and even volunteer time, he said.
“It's
exciting, because I know what we could be,” Stearn said of the restoration
project. “Being around for 34 years we have definitely endured many challenges,”
he said, including economic challenges in the community, and most recently
Covid, which has changed how all performing arts venues operate, he said.
The
center has had overwhelming support for their public health policies, he said,
from actors, staff, volunteers, and audiences who are hungry to see live
theater.
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