By David Stahler Jr.

SpongeBob and Patrick laugh and dance, arm in arm, while Squidward mopes, Sandy calculates, and Plankton schemes amid the brash neon and pastel colors of an undersea world. 

But this is no cartoon; tonight the audience isn’t seated before the glow of a TV set but the brilliantly lit stage of Alumni Auditorium as a company of Lyndon Institute actors and dancers perform to the music of the pit band settled stage right. It’s opening night and the annual musical is off to a roaring start.

This year’s selection, The SpongeBob Musical, may seem like an unusual choice at first glance. After all, the frenetic children’s cartoon—a Nickelodeon staple that features an absurdly (to some, annoyingly) optimistic sea sponge and his fellow denizens of Bikini Bottom—isn’t what one normally thinks of when it comes to high art. But the musical has a solid pedigree, enjoying a two-year run on Broadway, twelve Tony Award nominations, a North American tour, and musical contributions from artists like John Legend, David Bowie, and Cyndi Lauper, as well as bands like They Might Be Giants and The Flaming Lips.

Director and LI theater instructor Crenshaw Lindholm ‘15 wasn’t sure at first, either, when a few students approached him with the idea. “It took me a little while to come around,” he joked. “But then I started listening to the music, and I was shocked at how good it was. It’s got a campy, over-the-top style that you would expect considering its source material. Normally, when I get done with a musical, I don’t want to hear the songs for a good long time, but with this one, I’m still listening.”

Aside from the award-winning score, the production checked several other boxes for Lindholm. “It’s never been done in this area before,” he noted. “It’s also a comedy—which we were looking for. And it has lots of roles.”

This last element was especially important to Lindholm, whose program embraces the concept of inclusive theater.

“Inclusive theater is grounded in the idea that anyone who wants to participate can. If you audition, we’ll find a role for you, no matter what level of skill or what kind of background you have. We have experienced actors, of course. But we have kids in this year’s show who are special needs students and some who have never acted or sung in front of an audience before. Everyone brings a strength with them, and a lot of what theater is about is discovering those strengths and featuring them on the stage.”

This means there are no cuts. And if a student wants to be part of a production but is anxious about being on stage there are always other roles, from being in the pit band to working as a stage technician (aka “techie”).

“Theater is transformative. Perhaps the biggest joy for me is watching the performers grow through the rehearsal process and do things they weren’t sure they could do when they started out. By the time it comes to perform on stage, they have developed a new kind of confidence, something they often didn’t have before.”

Junior Vincent Courtemarche is one of those novices. “[Music Instructor] Mrs. Norwood brought me in,” he said. “I was nervous about being on stage and really thought I would just do tech, but I kind of got talked into it.”

Courtemarche, who earned big laughs in his role as Patchy the Pirate, is glad he did. “It’s an incredibly inviting community. I was a little intimidated at first, but everyone started engaging me right away. It’s a super supportive group with a lot of camaraderie. You come off the stage after a scene and everyone is back there telling you how great it was. But even if you make a mistake they’re still supportive because everyone is human. You learn that it’s okay to struggle a little and not stress about it.”

What makes a musical particularly special compared to other forms of theater is the fact that it is inclusive in a different way—bringing every part of LI’s arts program, both performing and visual, together. Theater, dance, choral and instrumental music, set and costume design—it’s all there.

Susanne Norwood, LI’s music instructor, plays piano and leads a talented group of student musicians in the pit band playing a host of different instruments, from drum kit to bass to guitar to a variety of woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments. 

“Working on large-scale productions provides a unique platform for LI music students to showcase their musical talents, both in the pit band and on stage. For students in our pit band, especially, it’s a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in playing for an extended period of time, something they don’t necessarily experience through a normal concert format.”

Dance instructor Rebecca McGregor has always been on hand to help choreograph the actors’ dance routines during their musical numbers, but this year featured a new dance element when she asked members of her Dance Company to perform on certain songs.

“Bringing Dance Company into the production this year definitely made it different. I saw our dancers working with artists helping paint set pieces, working with the actors to help them with their choreography,” McGregor noted. “It was nice seeing them on stage with the actors—it really helped fill out the stage for certain numbers. And it’s kind of fun to see the differences between the groups. Dancers tend to be pretty serious and all business when it comes to their routine, while theater kids are not afraid to cut loose during warm-ups and rehearsals. In some ways, it helped my dancers get out of their comfort zone a little.”

McGregor enjoys also helping the actors with their dance routines. “It gives me a chance to work with a lot of kids I wouldn’t normally see.”

This year’s production also featured another first—a supporting J Term class devoted to the visual element of theater. Art Instructor Elly Barksdale ‘00 was a constant presence through rehearsals, helping guide students through the design process to create costumes, props, and set pieces. 

“Working with musicals is one of my favorite tasks,” Barksdale said. “There’s always the challenge—what do we have to work with? What can we make? And it’s rewarding being on hand every day and watching the production come together.”

It wasn’t just the students involved with costume and set design who took advantage of J Term. For the last three years, the annual musical—which traditionally took place in the fall— has used J Term to complete the majority of its preparation for an early February show. With cast members enrolled during C and D blocks, the musical essentially becomes an intensive half-day program for the three weeks of J Term, a change that Lindholm appreciates.

“I love doing the musical during J Term,” he said. “It gives students the experience of being in a professional theater company, almost like Broadway, in which actors spend work days rehearsing in preparation for weekend shows.”

It also supports the theme of inclusivity. “Being able to hold rehearsals during the school day allows a lot of our students who depend on after-school bussing to participate. It also allows the four of us [art department teachers] a chance to work together. Normally, we’re spread across all corners of campus, but for three weeks we get to spend half the day together. It’s really special.”

Norwood, McGregor, and Barksdale each echoed the value of being able to collaborate so closely together for such an in-depth period of time.

While the number of weeks of rehearsal time is more compressed, the depth of experience makes a difference. Junior Maida Stahler, who played the title character of SpongeBob Squarepants, values this aspect of it. 

“I really appreciate getting to spend half my day doing something I love. Especially not having to hold practices after a full school day when everyone is tired. Overall, it gives you a longer period of time to rehearse, so you get a good momentum going.”

For the performers, it’s not just about the art, it’s also a chance to spend time with friends.

Senior Alex Sirois, who played SpongeBob’s pal Patrick Star, made the most of his final role after many LI musicals. 

“It’s really a kind of found family,” he said. “I was so comfortable with the community we created. There’s a strong social aspect to theater. The production is not just something you think about during rehearsal, it’s something you obsess over, and you quickly discover so does everyone else. There’s something comforting about not being alone in loving something so much.”

For Sirois, it felt good to end his acting career at LI with The SpongeBob Musical. “It’s definitely the best musical I’ve been a part of. It’s this zany, charismatic, over-the-top show, the perfect kind of thing to bring in a crowd, partly because SpongeBob [the cartoon] is such a nostalgic thing for so many people. And I love doing comedy. You get a chance to experiment with the delivery and really let loose.”

Stahler felt the same about the musical. “The humor is very campy. And it’s so fun to bring those familiar characters to new life,” she said. “But I also would say I was surprised at how much of an emotional core the story has.”

The play—which features the town of Bikini Bottom being threatened by an imminent volcanic eruption—explores themes of friendship, loyalty, and tolerance when the residents have to learn to come together to save themselves. 

This year’s show not only united all elements of the Art Department, it brought the community together. Parents helped build sets and sell tickets. Local schools came together when four hundred middle school students journeyed to LI’s campus Thursday morning before the show’s weekend run for a special dress rehearsal performance.

The outreach, coupled with the choice of a well-loved children’s cartoon being brought to life on stage, led to one LI’s best turnouts in years.

“All three shows were well-attended. A lot of people from the broader community, especially families with kids who had come to the dress rehearsal, turned out to watch.” Lindholm noted, adding with a laugh, “For the first time ever, I think we actually made a profit!”

Something Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob’s boss at the Krusty Krab burger joint, would surely appreciate.