cartoon favorite SpongeBob SquarePants may now be getting ready for his Broadway closeup, according to Entertainment Weekly. EW reported that Nickelodeon "confirmed" a SpongeBob musical is being developed for a potential Broadway run, with a score provided by a mixture of classic and contemporary rockers from Aerosmith and T.I., to Sara Bareilles, Lady Antebellum and John Legend. The network even revealed the show's opening number, "Bikini Bottom Day.鈥�
One theatre type is already attached to the project: , the member who is better known for more intellectual, Off-Broadway fare.
The news came right after the long-running cartoon released its second feature film, "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.鈥� The film has already grossed more than $200 million and exceeded the performance of the first SpongeBob movie.
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Here鈥檚 the news the theatre world has been waiting for, and it comes as no surprise: Hamilton, the most buzzy show in years, will transfer to Broadway. We all knew that. The question was would it be this season or next season? And it will be next season. Hamilton will bow at the Richard Rodgers Theatre July 13. It鈥檚 a risky move, as the folks who hand out theatre awards, including the Tony, may have forgotten about it by the time spring 2016 comes around. And, in the meantime, the producers have to sell a season鈥檚 worth of tickets without the benefit of using phrases like 鈥淭ony-winning鈥� in their advertising.
and producer and the creative team made the unusual gesture of calling the press corps together Feb. 24 to announce the news. (Usually, an emailed press release does the job.) , who wrote the show and played Hamilton, will transfer with the show to Broadway.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast in Hamilton at the Public Theater
One guy who will not be traveling with the show to Broadway is , who got great reviews for his hilarious turn as King George III in the musical. James has his another Broadway show to attend to: , which begins previews March 23 at the St. James Theatre, and in which he has a lead role.
Taking James鈥� place will be , who has not been seen on Broadway since his Tony-nominated role in the hit rock musical . Since then, he鈥檚 become a television star, thanks to 鈥淕lee鈥� and "Looking." Groff is expected to continue with the musical when the show transfers to Broadway.
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must be suffering from tonal whiplash these days. The always-working actor jumped from the madcap comedy of It鈥檚 Only a Play on Broadway to the wrenching, five-hour drama of The Iceman Cometh at BAM. Iceman concludes March 15, and this week the producers of It鈥檚 Only a Play announced Lane would return to the revival March 31 and stay with it until it closes June 7.
This is no doubt music to the wallets of the producers. The one-time sold-out hit鈥檚 fortunes fell sharply after Lane left the cast in early January.
Lane may get a chance to leap back into the deep end once more. Producer 鈥� who apparently is very eager to pay a lot of union overtime 鈥� may be in talks for a Broadway transfer of the The Iceman Cometh, according to Deadline.com. BAM was not able to confirm or deny the potential transfer.
