‘SpongeBob the Musical’ coming to Santa Rosa Junior College

One of the joys of live theater is that it brings the great characters of literature to life — Hamlet, Hedda Gabler, SpongeBob SquarePants.

All right, that last one is more like an icon from pop culture, but SpongeBob has had his own stage career beyond his TV cartoon beginnings.

“The SpongeBob Musical” opened in Chicago in 2016 and on Broadway the following year. And in 2018, it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards.

The Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts department will open its own production of the show Nov. 18 on the Burbank Auditorium’s main stage.

Unlike Hamlet and Hedda, the characters from the SpongeBob TV show, launched in 1999 and still running, aren’t human. Looking exactly like the creatures from the show isn’t an option for mortal actors.

That presents a challenge for the production’s director, Reed Martin, and his cast and crew.

“I looked for actors who could portray the spirit of the characters,” Martin said. “Samuel J. Gleason, as SpongeBob, embodies the character’s playful, positive personality.”

In the title role of SpongeBob, Gleason comes to the show with a lifelong love of the character.

“I grew up with SpongeBob. It was super fun and also super creative. One of my earliest performances was doing impressions of the characters,” Gleason said.

“There are some things that are done in the TV show that would be impossible for a real person to replicate,” he added. “But the way SpongeBob moves and talks in the TV show does influence my physical and vocal interpretations.”

The show’s costumes hint in a witty way at the characters’ trademark attributes without attempting exact recreations.

“These are not full-body outfits, like Goofy at Disneyland,” Martin said. “In the cartoon, Sandy Cheeks is a squirrel who wears a helmet, because the action takes place underwater, in Bikini Bottom.”

Colleen Scott Trivett, the production’s costume, wig, hair and makeup designer, made the shape of Sandy Cheeks actress Phoebe Pruitt’s hair reminiscent of a helmet.

The same approach applies to Patrick Star, a starfish. “Patrick has hair that sticks up like the point of a star,” Martin explained.

Aiden Pryor plays Patrick Star, with Andy Templeton as Patchy the Pirate, Calvin Sandeen as Sheldon J. Plankton and Jim Frankie Banks as Perch Perkins. The show features a cast of 29.

“It’s like an old-fashioned song-and-dance variety show,” Martin said. “There are a couple of well-known songs in the show: the theme song from the TV show and ‘Best Day Ever.’ But it’s not a traditional Broadway score. There are songs by well-known artists, including Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend and They Might Be Giants.”

Martin is a Sonoma native and co-founder of the internationally known Reduced Shakespeare Company, loved for its comically condensed stage versions of the classics. As a faculty member, Martin also has directed several shows at the junior college.

The show features music direction by Nate Riebli, choreography by Alyce Finwall, vocal direction by Mark Kratz, scenic design by Peter Crompton, props by Theo Bridant, lighting design by Robyn deLuca and sound effects by Grace Reid.

“We have a sound effects artist live onstage,” Martin explained, “so you’ve got cartoon sound effects coming to you from the stage.”

In addition to all the fun, the play has some thematic content, too.

“In the play, Bikini Bottom is threatened by the potential eruption of Mount Humongous, the towering volcano of doom,” Martin said.

“It brings up a lot of stuff, about opened-heartedness, xenophobia, trust, medicine, government, science, sustainability, recyclables,” he added. “Sometimes a comedy can make a point better than a serious drama.”

Gleason, starring as SpongeBob, wants the audience to know the play is more than just an adaptation of the television series.

“There are plenty of references to the TV show,” he said, “but there is also a great amount of original content.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.