This year’s fall musical, SpongeBob the Musical, will be shown on November 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th after ten weeks of preparation. It is about SpongeBob having a great day until it soon turns south; according to theater teacher Joseph Patterson.
“They hear these earthquakes that [shake] the entire town, so everyone gets really scared,” Patterson said. “And they get told that [a volcano is going to explode soon], and so the town has to figure out [if they should leave or if they should try to solve the problem].”
While Patterson did not pick this year’s fall musical, he did get to decide whether or not to keep it.
“[The musical] was chosen before I got here, but I had the choice to keep it or to let it go and choose something else, and I chose to keep it because I thought it was a fun musical,” Patterson said.
While Patterson does have some help with the theater production, he manages a lot of it himself.
“I have some help from other people… but most of it is me staying after school or working on it at home,” Patterson said. “Figuring out blocking, figuring out characters… figuring everything out and then approving everything.”
Patterson wants to apply the thought of working together to this year’s fall musical, which he learned from his past experiences in theater.
“[I’m trying to apply] that thought of working together. Creating a group of people [where] everyone can stand out, [while still being] a cohesive group” Patterson said.
Patterson believes that being involved in theater gives many people a place to fit in.
“It gives a lot of people a place to fit in,” Patterson said. “It’s a nice place where a lot of people can be themselves and feel accepted because they’re themselves, instead of having to fit into anywhere.”
The musical pit director for the SpongeBob production this year is Hannah Stevens; the choir teacher here at GEHS.
“I get to arrange the schedule and the instrumentation and conduct the instrumentalists under the stage or on top of the stage, depending [on] the musical,” Stevens said.
Becky Kunard, the accompanist at GEHS, is the vocal music director for the musical this fall.
“I teach the kids all the music that they’re going to be singing,” Kunard said. “…And then later, once I take that hat off, then I am the accompanist for the kids; so I play the piano throughout, and then in the pit with Ms. Stevens too.”
The band director last year is doing his sabbatical this year. Because of this, Stevens was asked to take his place as the pit conductor for this year, which she said yes to.
“They asked me to step in for that specific role… and I said [that I would] because I think that it’s a great thing for kids…” Stevens said. “I love musical theater and supporting it through the conducting and the instrumentation is really fun.”
Kunard has been an accompanist for over twenty years and she has played for musicals in other schools as well. But, she got the opportunity to be the actual vocal music director for the musicals after coming to GEHS.
“The opportunity [opened up] for me to become the actual vocal music director for the musicals, and I kinda just took that role on and I love it. It is so fun just watching the creative process,” Kunard said.
For Stevens, one fun part about the SpongeBob musical is that it is content that most students already know, which is different from previous school musicals.
“A large percentage of the school population knows SpongeBob, so when people hear that… they have ideas that are in their minds about it, [positive or negative].” Stevens said.
Stevens also believes that there is a great cast for the musical this year.
“I think we have a great cast of kids that are going to bring those characters to life completely,” Stevens said. “And it kinda goes with their personalities, and it’s cast perfectly. From what I’ve seen so far.”
Every song in SpongeBob is written by a different person, so the music has a lot of variety, which Kunard finds very funny.
“Some of [the songwriters are] famous. Like, John Legend, and Sara Bareilles, and the Aerosmith guys, and Plain White T’s, and… Panic! At The Disco… so the variety of the type of music in it is really funny,” Kunard said. There’s rap, there’s pirate song, there’s rock, there’s ballads, there’s country, it’s just really funny.”
Stevens did theater in high school, which she loved, and she believes that students find a family and a community through it.
“I think, just like anything, it’s a community,” Stevens said. “So, these kids bond together really quickly, ’cause they’re here for a long time. But they’re also doing things that they love… They just find a family and a community through it.”
Kunard believes that anytime kids are able to be provided with an opportunity where they can fit in and have fun, then they should be provided with it.
“I think any time that we can provide kids an opportunity to actually find a tribe or a family or a group that they [can really] just fit in with and have fun with, [then] we should do that,” Kunard said.
While Kunard wants the musical to have positive feedback overall, she specifically wants the audience to laugh a lot and appreciate the humor of the SpongeBob Musical.
“First and foremost, as a director you want to hear [that the production was amazing, the kids were great, the music was great, and the pit was great]. But I want [the audience] to laugh a lot, and appreciate the humor.” Kunard said.
Kunard also wants the lines and the “fun stuff” in the musical to be delivered well to the audience so that the musical gets more traction.
“ The goal [is always] to have the… lines and the little fun stuff in there be delivered well to the audience so that they can go home and [decide to bring their kids back the next night because it was so great]. So that the word spreads. I wish that for every musical,” Kunard said.
Stevens wants the audience to lean into the goofiness of this musical and have fun.
“This one especially just, to lean into the goofiness of it, probably, and [to] just have fun, and, appreciate [being] entertained and told a story about characters that they know,” Stevens said. “It’s fun, it’s [very] unique. So I hope that they give it a chance.”
