Northwest Spring Production: The SpongeBob Musical

As the school year approached its final weeks, the Waukee Northwest Theatre Department worked diligently to make The SpongeBob Musical come to life. 

The musical opened in the Northwest auditorium on April 22 and closed on April 24. Auditions were held on February 8, with callbacks the day after. Rehearsals began right away on April 10. Mrs. Payton, a literary arts teacher at Northwest High School, supervised and directed the play. Behind the scenes, students worked for over 1,000 hours to create many interesting colorful costumes and props to bring together the story of SpongeBob.

Jack Andersen, a sophomore, plays the lead role of SpongeBob. Andersen has been in many theatre performances such as Comic Book Artist, where he played Mr.Wonderman; Willy Wonka, where he played Augustus Gloop; The Trial of The Wicked Witch, where he played Hansel, and most recently Fools, where he played the magistrate. This is the first time that Andersen has played a leading role. Andersen commented, “My favorite part is going to rehearsals because I really like seeing everything coming together.” 

Part of making a good musical includes teaching, learning, and cleaning up choreography. Junior Keegan Foell plays Larry the Lobster as well as is a dance captain. Foell is also involved in show choir. Foell added, “I just kinda have to watch them and see what moves they’re struggling with or not necessarily getting, and I just go through those moves.” Bella Hohenadel, a senior, also helped with some dancing in The SpongeBob Musical. Hohenadel choreographed the tap dance section in the musical. Hohenadel plays the mayor in the musical and is also a part of the dancing ensemble. Hohenadel explained, “It’s a lot of just running around trying to help people figure out choreography and trying to help people know where they go on and know what their lines are but it’s a lot of fun.” 

The musical is around two and a half hours long, and the story follows SpongeBob through what starts out as a normal day in Bikini Bottom but quickly turns into chaos. Bikini Bottom fish must risk it all to save their home. But before they face a terrible loss, a hero steps up to the challenge. 

Tickets were on sale at the door, and shows were on Friday, April 22 at 7:00 pm, Saturday, April 23 at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, April 24 at 2:00 pm. The show took place in the Waukee Northwest Auditorium.