The SpongeBob Musical

SpongeBob SquarePants
The Broadway Musical
Playbill of the Broadway production
Music	Various
Lyrics	Various
Book	Kyle Jarrow
Basis	SpongeBob SquarePants by Stephen Hillenburg
Premiere	June 7, 2016 (2016-06-07): Oriental Theatre, Chicago
Productions	2016 Chicago 2017 Broadway

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical (originally titled The SpongeBob Musical) is a stage musical, co-conceived and directed by Tina Landau with songs by various artists, a book by Kyle Jarrow and choreography by Christopher Gattelli. It is based on the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants and made its world premiere in June 2016 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. The show premiered on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on December 4, 2017.

The musical opened to critical acclaim. With twelve Tony Award nominations, it tied for most-nominated production at the 72nd Tony Awards.

Before the show begins, a pirate sits down on part of the stage as the audience is taking their seats. The pirate is revealed to be SpongeBob's number one fan, Patchy, who has traveled from Encino, California to catch the premiere of SpongeBob's musical. Two security guards appear and tell Patchy to leave the stage, as the show is about to begin. Patchy objects, but the guards lead him out of the theater as Patchy claims he is a victim of pirate discrimination and sings the protest song "Yo Ho, We Won't Go". One of the security guards apologizes for the interruption, then tells the audience to enjoy the show.

SpongeBob SquarePants awakens and happily welcomes the day with his pet snail, Gary ("Bikini Bottom Day"). He greets various friends in his hometown of Bikini Bottom—including his best friend Patrick, his neighbor Squidward, and his squirrel friend Sandy Cheeks—as he walks to the Krusty Krab restaurant. At work, his boss Mr. Krabs tells his whale daughter Pearl she will manage the restaurant one day. With Pearl uninterested, SpongeBob hints that he dreams of being the manager. Mr. Krabs laughs at the idea, telling SpongeBob he is "just a simple sponge" and could not handle the position ("Bikini Bottom Day Reprise 1"). The day continues uneventfully until a violent tremor suddenly rocks the entire town.