[MUSIC PLAYING]
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I think the world needs
a SpongeBob musical.
- What is so appealing
about SpongeBob
to such a broad demographic
is an optimism at his core.
- I'm a fan, dude.
This is not made up.
- We are drawing on the biggest
pop stars in music today.
- We got songs from
a lot of people.
- We are making the show in the
spirit of SpongeBob himself.
That he's here to say,
let's have the bad day ever.
[END PLAYBACK]
ALLEN: Broadway's best creative
minds reimagine and bring
to life the beloved Nickelodeon
series with humor, heart,
and pure theatricality in a
party for the eyes and ears.
Be there when SpongeBob
and all of Bikini Bottom
face catastrophe until a
most unexpected hero rises
to take center stage.
The show has recently been
nominated for 12 Tony awards.
So let's kick this off and
we'll get into the songs here.
We're going to start out
with a song called "BFF."
Here we find
SpongeBob and Patrick,
shortly after the
citizens of Bikini Bottom
have learned that a nearby
volcano, Mount Humongous,
will erupt the following
day and destroy the town.
I lost my place.
There we go.
To Patrick's
distress, his friends
are stuck at home without a TV
but SpongeBob shows his friends
that imagination can get
them through any crisis.
Here to sing "BFF,"
please help me welcome
Curtis Holbrook and
Brian Ray Norris.
[APPLAUSE]
[CURTIS HOLBROOK AND BRIAN RAY
 NORRIS SINGING "BFF"]
[APPLAUSE]
ALLEN: All right.
So Brian, you stay up here.
We're going to get to
the next song called,
"Daddy Knows Best."
All citizens of Bikini Bottom
have different responses
to crisis.
Mr. Krabs, owner of the
most popular restaurant
in town, the Krusty
Krab, sees an opportunity
to make some quick cash.
Here, we find Mr.
Krabs, as he attempts
to teach his daughter,
Pearl, about what's
most important in life.
Here to sing "Daddy
Knows Best," again,
is Brian, and Jai'Len Josey.
[BRIAN RAY NORRIS AND JAI'LEN
JOSEY SINGING "DADDY KNOWS
BEST"]
[APPLAUSE]
ALLEN: Very, very cool.
All right.
So awkward transition to
some seating stuff, I guess.
Yeah, we'll just do it this way.
Everybody else come on stage.
We're also welcoming two more
to the cast, Lily and Curtis.
How you doing?
WESLEY TAYLOR: Wesley.
ALLEN: Sorry, Wes.
Curtis is over there.
Curtis is over there.
WESLEY TAYLOR: How dare you.
ALLEN: How dare you, yes.
Get evil on me.
Have you two introduce
yourselves, please.
So we can get--
WESLEY TAYLOR: My
name is Wesley Taylor.
I play Sheldon J Plankton.
ALLEN: The evil one.
LILLI COOPER: And
I'm Lilli Cooper.
I play Sandy Jennifer Cheeks.
[LAUGHTER]
ALLEN: Does anybody need water,
Brian after singing like that?
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: No, I'm good.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Sure.
ALLEN: You're good.
All right.
Sorry.
We actually forgot
to set the water.
So--
WESLEY TAYLOR: Get me one.
ALLEN: Behind the
scenes, live theater.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Oh, Jesus.
ALLEN: Put that anywhere.
WESLEY TAYLOR: It's going well.
It's going really well, guys.
[LAUGHTER]
LILLI COOPER: At least
she sings pretty.
[LAUGHTER]
ALLEN: Jae'Len was--
what did you call her,
12 out of 10, earlier?
LILLI COOPER: Yeah, she was on.
She was on.
ALLEN: She was really
excited to be here.
They've all had Google food and
they're all a little hyped up.
Did any of you actually
watch "SpongeBob"
when you were younger?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yup.
LILLI COOPER: Yeah, I did too.
WESLEY TAYLOR: It was like
yesterday for Jae'Len,
growing up, I mean.
LILLI COOPER: Growing up.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yes.
ALLEN: Growing up.
So--
LILLI COOPER: I did.
I totally did.
Do you guys remember Xanga?
It was like pre-mySpace.
ALLEN: The blog?
LILLI COOPER: Yeah, you
could like theme your pages.
And mine was
"SpongeBob" themed when
I was in Junior High School.
ALLEN: Wow.
So coming into these
characters, did
you have any
preconceived notions
of what "SpongeBob" would be or
what the characters would be?
WESLEY TAYLOR: No, I
actually didn't grow up
watching the show.
I was more of like a "Doug,"
"Rugrats" generation.
But then "SpongeBob" was after.
And I would see it
in the background
of-- on the TV and periphery.
And I recognized that
it was a clever, smarter
than the average cartoon.
And when I got offered
a reading, not the part,
but a reading, the final
workshop before Broadway.
And so I drilled Doug Lawrence,
the voice actor for Plankton,
in my ear for weeks, and just
tried to get it perfectly.
And then I got to the reading
and Tina Landau, our Director,
was like, we're not going
to be doing impersonations.
We're going to
split the difference
and bring a human interpretation
to pay homage of course,
to the cartoon but
bring ourselves to it.
That wasn't the question.
[LAUGHTER]
ALLEN: That was actually
a really good question.
Where you are now,
give us a sample.
Can you give us an
example of a line
where you are now
versus where you
wanted to take it originally?
WESLEY TAYLOR:
Yeah, that is good.
So like my first line in the
show is, quiet, computer wife.
This time it didn't work.
[LAUGHTER]
But I try to bring
a little bit more--
for the intro, I think
it's important to establish
the voice to help adjust to
people's ears from the cartoon.
But then you can sort of scale
back, the more you're on stage
and bring a little bit
more humanity to it
in your own voice.
So I try to split the difference
between this voice that you're
hearing right now and the
voice that I just did.
ALLEN: And were any challenge--
I guess, was any challenges
for the physicality,
going from a single celled
organism to multicellular?
WESLEY TAYLOR: They put me in
this incubator that shrinks me
every single night before the--
[CHUCKLE] no, it's
like really about just
using your imagination.
And again, we
adjust people's eyes
at the very beginning
with my intro.
I have a finger puppet that's
a tiny little Plankton.
And then we get rid of
it within the first 60
seconds of that intro so
that people can get it.
And I think in Chicago,
he had the finger puppet
the whole show.
And I really voted
to get rid of it.
Because I think we need to
treat our audience like they're
a little smarter than that.
And I think they totally get it.
LILLI COOPER: Yeah, absolutely.
ALLEN: So for the rest of you,
did anything change between--
Jae'Len, you're like
mesmerized with these captions.
[LAUGHTER]
JAE'LEN JOSEY: They're
really going fast.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Be
careful what you say.
This is going to get
written down now.
ALLEN: OK, so for the rest
of you, the different--
[LAUGHTER]
--the difference between
where you are now
and where you originally
saw the character
or thought the
character would be,
is there a big difference
for any of the rest of you?
LILLI COOPER: So I play
Sandy, which is a squirrel.
She's a squirrel.
And she lives underwater.
And on the cartoon she's
in an astronaut helmet
so that she can breathe
underwater because she's a land
mammal and she has lungs.
And in the Broadway
show, instead
of being in an
actual glass bubble,
I wear an Afro,
which is just really
awesome and rad to be able
to rock an Afro on Broadway
every night.
And it's sort of
representational
of the silhouette
of the character.
And sort of similar to what
Wesley was talking about,
I even got a note
last week where
Tina, our Director
was like, OK, so just
bring it down a little bit.
Because the pitch of my
character is very squirrely.
And so she always reminds us
to ground ourselves in reality.
And I always like to
think of our characters
as our human versions
of these characters.
So yeah, you watch
the show and you
think of these cartoony things.
And you think of how can I make
this the most cartoony version
of this character?
But what we really want is
to tell a relatable story
and to make it more
human than cartoony.
CURTIS HOLBROOK:
Yeah, so for me,
it's a little bit different.
I'm actually in the
ensemble of the show.
And I play--
I have like 23 costume changes
in the show where we're running
around doing crazy things.
But I understood SpongeBob.
And so I've had the
opportunity to go
on quite a bit over the
last couple of months.
And Tina, our Director,
has talked to me
about my version of SpongeBob
versus Ethan's version, which
have to be two different things.
I can't be doing an Ethan
SpongeBob impersonation
because that's just not going
to pop off the stage as much
as my version of the thing.
So I thought initially, of
doing this like charactery
version of SpongeBob.
And every time she's
come in, she's just
stripped it away more and more.
And she's actually
come up with this thing
of talking about having a dial.
And she will tell me
on specific lines,
OK, SpongeBob voice
at a nine there.
On this line, SpongeBob
voice at a two.
And so it's-- at first,
you're like, oh my gosh.
That is insane to have to think
about it that specifically.
But it's super, super
helpful actually.
And what we found is
that we can establish
the voice and the
character in the beginning
and then through--
she calls it SpongeBob growing
up throughout the show,
and the journey that
he's on, and how
he's having to really
become the hero and the man
to save the day.
And so his SpongeBob-y
boy voice goes away
throughout the evening.
It's just another
thing that Tina
has come up with in a
way of telling the story.
ALLEN: Tina, also nominated for
Best Direction of a Musical.
Yeah, Jai'len, what about you?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: What
was the question again?
ALLEN: The question was,
where your character is now,
how did that differ from
your original notion
of the character when you
first heard about the show
or read the script?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh.
They're spelling my name wrong.
[LAUGHTER]
So--
[LAUGHTER]
WESLEY TAYLOR: It begins.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: That's funny.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Diva.
ALLEN: For those
watching the video,
the captioner just apologized.
[LAUGHTER]
JAE'LEN JOSEY: That's funny.
That's cool.
WESLEY TAYLOR:
Caption guy's fired.
Jae'Len you just got
the caption guy fired.
How does that make you feel?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: So--
[BREATHE] So, Pearl is a
whale and in the beginning,
I was like, OK, so they
about to have me in a mascot.
I'mma have to wear this big
Pearl whale looking thing.
So I came into the--
that was my first--
that was my mindset coming
into the first rehearsal.
So after a while, I was
like, this is literally me
with platform shoes
on and just a--
the only thing
personally on my body
that makes me think
that I'm a whale
are the platform
shoes and the hair.
Other than that, you
just think me, or Pearl.
But I have this--
what would you call it?
Janelle Monet, type of bouffant,
type of hairdo that symbolizes
the-- what's it called?
What's the thing
that the whale--
CURTIS HOLBROOK: The snout.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: The snout.
Is it a snout?
Someone?
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: A head?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Face.
Head.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: A head.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Head.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS:
Quick, quick, Google.
ALLEN: It's got a mouth
and two eyes and a nose.
What is that thing?
Yeah, I think it's a face.
It's a little face.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: So that thing
is for me, is the hair.
And so it it's like
this large thing.
I think that it looks kind of
like an over-the-top Elvis--
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Pompadour
JAE'LEN JOSEY: --pompadour.
Yeah.
But it's not.
And the platforms make me
taller than everyone besides--
only when Alex is on the
stage, than I'm really not.
But-- he's one of our peoples.
But it makes me taller
than everyone on the stage.
And in the beginning,
I thought that it
was going to be a mascot
but it's basically--
I'm just a cheerleader
in platform shoes
and a good hairdo.
Does that answer the question.
ALLEN: Not really but it's OK.
We danced around it
but we got the idea.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: We got the idea.
OK, good.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Thank
you all for joining us.
[LAUGHTER]
JAE'LEN JOSEY: You now.
Go.
LILLI COOPER: That's
all the time we have.
Thank you.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: And they're
getting all of this.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: I mean,
of course, with Mr. Krabs,
there is definitely
the money Tourette's
that is very obvious
in the cartoon itself.
And I think for me,
approaching the character,
finding a way to justify
that I think I more or less
just started approaching
him as a single father who
has a daughter that is
getting bigger every day.
And it takes a lot of money
to feed a growing child.
So I think that was my way
of connecting those dots
and grounding it to
something a little more human
than just money, money,
money, money, money, which
is very much the cartoon.
WESLEY TAYLOR: I also
have an eye patch
that is my human interpretation
of the one-eye Plankton.
LILLI COOPER: And
two little braids.
WESLEY TAYLOR: And two
little Steven Seagal samurai
braids that are
representing my antenna.
ALLEN: It's funny,
none of you guys--
I guess Jae'Lin, a little
bit you talked about it.
But the costumes--
I went into the show.
And I was like,
how are they going
to do these animals
on stage, especially
like a whale and a
Plankton, and whatnot?
And-- because that's
obviously a lot
a lot of different thoughts.
And David Zinn designed
both costumes and the set.
We'll get in the
set in a little bit.
But the costumes are super
complex in their simplicity,
if that makes sense.
Brian talk about your
claws for a second.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Yeah,
I mean, my costume
looks like it could
be any guy who
runs a deli in New
York with the exception
of these huge, oversized,
massive boxing gloves, which
are representative
of the crab claws.
Yes, I wear a necklace.
Thank you, Jae'Lin.
So it's really, I think
what David Zinn, and one
of the things we talked a
lot about in the concept
of the design, is that
it's less about trying
to be these animals
as it is, creating
the silhouette of the characters
that you know and love.
And you put those gloves on
and it's almost immediate.
You just fall into a deep
squat and hold your arms out.
And that's it.
You've already done it.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: I agree.
Once you put on--
I mean, the platforms
are really high.
So you can't help but feel
to feel like a skyscraper.
So just like-- yeah.
Just like he falls
into his little--
LILLI COOPER: Yeah, there are
some costumes that physically,
sort of force you to
become these animals that
are on the show.
We have Larry the Lobster and he
has this very big muscle suit.
And so he can't actually
walk around with his arms
down because there's just
so much of his costume.
So he walks around like this,
like a big lobster would.
So some of the
costumes physically
force us to embody our animals.
ALLEN: I enjoy that
SpongeBob actually is just
people in overalls and--
WESLEY TAYLOR: Although
Ethan's body is already
shaped like a square.
I mean, his torso is like--
I mean, it's perfect.
ALLEN: He's Ethan.
He's good.
Now Curtis, you said you had--
do you literally have
32 costume changes,
or was that an exaggeration?
CURTIS HOLBROOK: It's like 23.
ALLEN: Or 23, yeah.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Oh my god.
CURTIS HOLBROOK:
It's pretty insane.
But some of the
costumes are taken out
of the visual aspect of it.
I play-- there's a rock band
that comes to Bikini Bottom
to help raise money
to save the town,
called the Electric Skates.
And so I play one of the
singers in the rock band.
And we are Skate fish.
And so we were on
various types of skates.
So I roller skate,
do skateboarding.
So it's just sort of taken out
of context, made a little more
abstract in that way.
But it's so fun for me in--
there's another character
that I play named
Cone Face, who is a crustaceon.
And I literally am like
this the whole time.
And I wear a traffic
cone on my face
with two tennis
balls as eyeballs.
So you get a
creature out of that.
But with the skates, it's
a little more up to--
like, yes, we're wearing skates.
But it's more up to--
I actually, before we started
rehearsal, was in Mexico.
And I was snorkeling.
And I found a Skate fish.
And I just started
following it around.
They are so disgusting.
The way that they like slither
on the bottom of the ocean,
and they're like this
weird gray color.
And so I think about that
every time I'm on my skates.
And something as simple
as a stop, when I stop,
I like [WOOSH].
It just becomes part of my
physicality, stuff like that.
Or like the guitar that we're
carrying, if I'm wearing it
on my back, it's like my fin.
So we get to be a
little more creative
in some of the costumes.
WESLEY TAYLOR: It's sort
of a genius playground,
in terms of what David Zinn
has established for us.
And it's like, no offense
to Disney or whatever,
but it could have
been a very safe,
expected, very big budget,
blockbuster set, costume sort
of thing with a rain curtain
and actual, more obvious things,
when it comes to under the
sea kind of production value.
But the genius of the show
is how creative and inventive
it is.
Making-- I mean, the
set and the costumes
are like assembled junk.
So stuff that you would find
at the bottom of the ocean
is what has made up our set.
So pool noodles are kelp.
And hula hoops are corals.
Instead of just the obvious,
trying to recreate it,
it's forcing the audience
to use their imagination.
And that goes with the
costume design as well.
It's just a bunch
of stuff that's
made into-- like a traffic
cone, and a golf ball, or tennis
balls, or whatever.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yeah.
My mom-- just to piggyback
off of what he said.
My mom said, this
is Nickelodeon.
Ain't they like a
billion dollar company?
So we could have been
underwater for all they wanted.
If they really wanted
a Blockbuster thing,
we could have been swimming.
Electric Skates could've
been some Electric Skates.
But like--
WESLEY TAYLOR: I don't--
Oh, you mean like real animals?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Skates aren't--
isn't that an-- what's that
thing that-- with the--
CURTIS HOLBROOK: A skate fish?
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Looks
kind of like a Stingray.
LILLI COOPER: Like a Stingray.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Stingray, yeah.
And--
CURTIS HOLBROOK: But
they're not Stingrays.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yes,
they are Stingrays.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: No
they're Skate fish.
They're different.
They look similar but
they're different.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: But he says,
those Stingray degenerates.
ALLEN: All right, so--
LILLI COOPER: Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
ALLEN: So I want to
back up for a second.
LILLI COOPER: So close.
[BLIP]
ALLEN: Let's talk about--
I want to talk about the set.
You mentioned the set.
The pool noodles,
the hula hoops,
all these amazing things.
The set itself is like a
giant Rube Goldberg machine.
It's incredible.
And there was actual bubble
design that went into this set.
And does anybody-- can
anybody speak to that?
Do you guys know about the set?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: You're
talking about the--
ALLEN: Like the
Gazillion Bubbles show,
that off-broadway
show, that crew
actually designed your bubbles.
Did you know that?
CURTIS HOLBROOK: No.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: No.
ALLEN: Yes.
LILLI COOPER: I
didn't know that.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: At the end?
ALLEN: Yes.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
ALLEN: No, I am not.
LILLI COOPER: I do know that
we went through a lot-- we went
through a whole transition.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Spoiler alert,
bubbles come out at the end.
Thanks, Allen.
ALLEN: You're under the sea.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Wait,
are you playing?
ALLEN: No, no I am not.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: They
designed the bubbles
that are make from
the bubble things.
ALLEN: Yeah, to make sure
that all of the bubbles
adequately fill the house and
look as appropriate as Tina
wanted it to be, they hired
the Gazillion Bubbles crews.
LILLI COOPER: And so that
they wouldn't come down
on the ground and we
would slip on them.
Like it's a very
specific kind of bubble
that isn't dangerous for us.
WESLEY TAYLOR: That
hurts like shit.
And when it gets in
your eye it like--
JAE'LEN JOSEY: It
tastes bad too.
WESLEY TAYLOR: It
was really bad.
LILLI COOPER: Just
Jae'Lin on stage.
ALLEN: I guess no one
can speak to that.
Cool.
It's cool.
You talk about Nickelodeon,
billion dollar business, right?
So I think all the money
went into the score.
That's just my guess.
For those of you
who don't know--
and I'm being
slightly facetious.
Those of you who don't
know, this is again,
nominated for Best
Original Score.
The music was written
by a slew of people.
I think almost every song was
written by somebody different,
including, for example, David
Bowie, Flaming Lips, Sara
Bareilles, John Legend,
Panic at the Disco,
They Might Be Giants,
Cindy Lauper, it goes on.
Every song is different.
Every song is unique.
How does-- when you heard all
of this music come together
for the first time, did that--
what was your first impressions
of everything when you
were finally hearing all this?
CURTIS HOLBROOK:
Well, I was very
lucky to be a part of the
from one of the early labs.
So the first lab
that we did was,
I want to say six years
ago, and we didn't
have a complete script yet.
It was just to show part of
what the show could possibly
be to Viacom for them
to write another check
for the next workshop, and out
of town, and all that stuff.
So we had songs
literally rolling
in throughout that
rehearsal process.
And it was pretty incredible.
Tina would reach out
to the songwriter,
and basically give them a
title of what the song could
be and a couple thoughts.
And the next day we'd have
a complete song to learn.
And almost every song
that was submitted
is still the song is there now.
It's pretty incredible,
like first draft situation.
And they're all
completely different.
Right?
They have to be.
And Tina's thought behind
that was that the show feels--
the cartoon feels very
spastic and things
are happening that are
not cohesive, in a way.
So she wanted the score
to feel that way too,
that it was very--
coming from different
genres and--
ALLEN: Has this ever
been done before where
they source that many different
songwriters for a single show?
CURTIS HOLBROOK:
I don't think so.
WESLEY TAYLOR: There's obviously
been jukebox musicals before.
But this is not a jukebox.
I mean, this is truly--
they were assigned.
Panic at the Disco, you
get the "I Want" number.
You get the "I Want"
song, the third song
of the evening where
SpongeBob dreams and wants
what he wants for
the whole show.
John Legend, you get the Act 2
ballad between the two friends.
They were each assigned
a specific part
of the show to write for.
And I don't-- no, I don't
think that's ever been done.
ALLEN: That's incredible.
But yea, Curtis
and Lilli, you two
have been in it
since Chicago, right?
LILLI COOPER: Yeah.
ALLEN: So how-- it was open
in Chicago in 2016, right?
LILLI COOPER: Yeah,
summer of 2016.
ALLEN: And then-- so how
long did it run there?
LILLI COOPER: About a month
and a half or two months,
including previews.
Yeah.
It wasn't very long.
ALLEN: And then
how did it change
when it came to New York?
LILLI COOPER: It's
changed a lot--
WESLEY TAYLOR: Me.
LILLI COOPER: --and a little.
He's here so--
ALLEN: Besides the cast.
LILLI COOPER: --for the worse.
No, I'm kidding.
It's changed a lot and a little.
I mean, the story overall
is pretty much the same.
I think it's just gotten better.
It's gotten tighter.
It's gotten funnier.
Some amazing people have
been added to the cast.
The music has actually changed
quite a bit, lyrically.
All the songs are the same.
Tom Kitt is the brilliance that
has created the throughline
of all of the different genres.
He's our orchestrator
and arranger.
And he has created
such an incredible way
of incorporating every
different genre of these songs
and making them work seamlessly.
It reminds me a lot
of a movie soundtrack.
And I think the
storytelling, in a way,
is very cinematic
in that way, that we
can have all of these
different genres
but it just works so
seamlessly, because it
works with what the
emotion of whatever scene
is happening in the moment.
But yeah, going back to
Chicago, a lot of the lyrics
have changed.
But overall, I just think
its better, and smarter,
and funnier.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: Well,
when we started rehearsal
for the New York
production, Tina
said that she had one of
her director friends come
to see the show.
And she was like,
everything is amazing,
and everything goes
on for too long.
So we basically just made
little trims in the show
to every number so that
things hit you in the face.
And then we're on
to something else.
So it doesn't just
linger too long
in song or one scenic element.
LILLI COOPER: We added
a lot of dance breaks.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: A lot of
dance breaks, a speed rap.
LILLI COOPER: Which are amazing.
ALLEN: Speed rap?
A
LILLI COOPER: Speed rap.
ALLEN: Oh right.
Yeah.
So I have to have a question
about the Foley design here,
in a second.
But if anybody in the
audience has questions,
we have two mics in the aisles.
You can start lining
up there and we'll
go to audience
questions in a bit.
The Foley design, for those
who don't know, what is Foley?
WESLEY TAYLOR: Foley's
the sound effects,
someone who is actually making
the sound of-- like when you
walk, they're making the--
I'm not being articulate.
Can you--
LILLI COOPER: Yeah, it's a
person making the sound effects
live.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Yeah, thank you.
ALLEN: Like in
movies, when it's--
CURTIS HOLBROOK: He
basically orchestrates
people's performances.
So like when SpongeBob walks,
like the squeaky walks,
any time I walk, he is right
there with me going [SQUEEKING]
LILLI COOPER: Or when I do
karate chops, you hear [SWISH]
and that's all him
pressing buttons.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Or when I stomp.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: I'm sorry.
ALLEN: Do you do-- don't you
do Foley noises live, some
of the noises live on stage?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: No.
ALLEN: Or did you record
them, you pre-recorded--
CURTIS HOLBROOK: No,
he does them for us.
ALLEN: Oh, he does?
CURTIS HOLBROOK: Yeah.
ALLEN: Oh, no kidding.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: It comes
across like were doing it but--
WESLEY TAYLOR: He has
about a million cues,
over a million cues.
He's like one of the
most valuable people
in that building.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: I stomp
and he makes it sound
like the place is shaking.
I don't know how to
elaborate on that.
ALLEN: It's a low rumble.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: A low
rumble every time I walk.
ALLEN: It's the low
end of the music that
makes the tenth floor here hate
us when we do musical events.
We're on the 11th
floor, by the way.
So talking about show
reactions for a little bit,
again, we got into your
own misconceptions.
But I feel like me personally,
I went, I said, oh,
they're doing "SpongeBob."
What?
And then, I went
to see the show.
And I was like, OK,
this set's cool.
Lets get into the numbers.
And then I started listening
and watching the show,
and I was like, this works.
This is brilliant and perfect.
And that was my own
perfect reaction.
It's now one of my all
time favorite shows.
And are you finding that's
consistent through your friends
or through the reactions
you hear outside?
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: I think
that's a reaction we get a lot.
One of the ways
it was put once is
that our greatest asset
and our greatest liability
is the name because people
have a very preconceived notion
of what that is going to be.
And there are a lot of
people who are like, oh yeah,
I want to go see that.
But you are definitely
going to have
those people who are like,
"SpongeBob" with a big question
mark.
But I don't know anybody
who had reservations,
who hasn't come to the show,
and ended up leaving, loving it.
And I think that's very telling.
And I think that's pretty
broad for most people.
WESLEY TAYLOR: I feel very--
this question is like
a hot topic for me
because I feel very
protective and defensive when
it comes to this show.
Because I believe
in it so fully.
But also because I
feel like there's
a lot of people
who have opinions
about what deserves to be
on Broadway, which I think
is so silly.
Because the idea
that a brand name
couldn't be creative or
artistically valuable,
is so absurd to me.
The fact that "The Band's Visit"
is the only musical right now
that's allowed to be
artistically worthy
is ridiculous.
If you go see our
show, you'll know
that it's the most creative,
inventive show that you've seen
on Broadway, in my opinion.
And I went to drama school.
And I thought I was like Daniel
Day Lewis when I graduated.
I took myself very
seriously as an actor.
And the first job I got out
of school was "Rock of Ages,"
this 80s jukebox, trashy,
bubble gum, rock musical.
And I was actually embarrassed
to invite my faculty to it
because I thought
it was less than--
I was still in
that snobby bubble.
And they came and
they were like, what
are you talking about?
This is the training.
This is comedy technique
at its fullest.
If you can't identify that the
work is in all art, and that--
anywho-- I feel like my career
since graduating drama school
has been the people show,
has been "Rock of Ages,"
"The Addams Family,"
"SpongeBob Squarepants,"
not "The Band's Visit,"
not "Next to Normal"
and the artistically
worthy shows.
And I find that, with
this show, it's such--
like he said, I am pressed to
find anyone who comes and sees
our show and leaves without
having their opinion changed,
their original opinion of
coming into the theater
with their arms crossed,
hoping to not enjoy
this corporate experience.
LILLI COOPER: And it's sort of
the best reaction we can get.
People come in sort of
wanting to hate the show.
A lot of people have
told me that they've come
to the show wanting to hate it.
And then they just
simply cannot.
And they sit there
with their arms crossed
and then they start to smile,
and they start to rock out.
And then start to cry because
it just creeps up on you.
And it's so good.
So it's a great
reaction that people
come thinking it's not going to
be good and realizing, oh wait,
I was totally wrong.
And this is creative, and smart,
and inventive, and wonderful.
WESLEY TAYLOR: We're all
very pleasantly surprised
with how the community
has accepted us
with the Tony nominations,
and the rave reviews,
and everything because it
could have gone the other way.
I mean, it's a stigma
with the title for people
to want to embrace it.
LILLI COOPER: It's
also-- another thing
to remind ourselves, and
everybody, and viewers,
and people who haven't
seen, is I think,
a preconceived notion that
is actually incorrect,
is that we are just replicating
a TV show and a story that's
already been done.
And it's a jukebox musical.
It's none of those things.
It's a completely
original story.
And it has completely
original music and lyrics.
And everything about it is new
and has never been done before.
So it's not just a TV show
that's being put onto stage,
or a movie that's being
put onto the stage.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: And I
think just like this series,
in terms of it being like this--
yes, it's an original story.
But it's also-- it's
not just for kids.
There's definitely
a lot for kids.
But just like the series,
there is super subversive adult
humor, adult topics.
We are covering ground like,
give me some examples, guys--
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Gun violence.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Everything
from gun violence to--
LILLI COOPER: Global warming.
WESLEY TAYLOR: I don't--
I mean, I don't know a more
politically relevant musical
right now on Broadway.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Exactly.
WESLEY TAYLOR: It is for Trump's
America in the truest sense.
And it's not even subtle.
LILLI COOPER:
Government versus media.
WESLEY TAYLOR: It's
not nuanced at all.
It's like hitting the
audience over the head
with it but in the best way.
I mean, I literally say the
lines, you're not welcome here.
No, no, I say, you're
not even from here.
Why should we trust you?
It's huge conversations
about inclusion, science.
Because Sandy is
obviously pro-science
and the antagonist characters
are not, are anti-science.
ALLEN: Well, you're
married to a computer.
WESLEY TAYLOR: I am
married to a computer.
So you would think.
You would think.
But I challenge her science.
And I say, oh, next
she's going to tell us
that tidal warming is real.
ALLEN: That was a very
sinister turn you made to me.
I was going to ask about
that, the audience reaction.
Has it-- does it differ from
the kids and the adults.
But it sounds like you
very clearly answered that.
Do the--
WESLEY TAYLOR:
Elizabeth Vincentelli,
who's the main critic for
the "Post" just tweeted.
I don't know if
you guys saw this.
But she just tweeted, it's a
show for people ages 6 to 96.
And I was like, well,
don't discriminate
against the 97-year-old.
But it was basically like,
every age will enjoy this show.
It is that sort of special.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: My father
broke out in tears.
I rarely see my father.
But he came to the opening and--
no, he came a few shows after.
And that was right when
we added the head shake
to the gun, the jellyfish gun.
And my father was like,
at the end of the show,
correct me if I'm wrong, but
you guys just shook your head
at the gun, right?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: I
was like, yeah dad
we were shaking our
head to the gun.
And he was like, wow.
Because my father, he's
a Georgia guy, southern--
he had that-- of course, he was
happy that his baby girl was
in a Broadway musical but--
ALLEN: This is your debut, by
the way, so congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Thank you.
But he was like-- but
of course, the title,
so he was like
"SpongeBob," I'm gonna--
it was always in the
back of his head.
But he was like, you guys
just shook your head to a gun.
It was just so much stuff
that he was very happy about.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Our
mayor character
has plenty of lines about,
don't trust the dishonest media.
She's tweeting at the beginning
of the musical instead
of governing.
She is-- I mean,
it's very obvious,
everything that's
happening, and clear,
Tina's intention for the show.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: What's
interesting about that though
is that most of the
politicalness of the show
was there in Chicago.
And the show-- we were supposed
to come right in after our out
of town tryout.
We closed in July and we were
supposed to come in September.
And then just getting
a theater in New York
is incredibly complicated
and difficult.
So it happened a year
and a half later.
And the show didn't change
much, in terms of that,
but it's like our show was a
little bit ahead of its time.
And it's actually made
the show more important,
just the timing of when
our show has come in.
LILLI COOPER: Right, our show
hasn't changed that much.
But our world has
changed so much.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: And the
things that we're in the show
political-wise--
political-wise?
Sure-- were things
that, at the time,
we were like oh,
that's so ridiculous.
That will never happen.
And then--
ALLEN: Look what happened.
CURTIS HOLBROOK:
Look at our world.
Yeah.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: I want
to quickly acknowledge,
Brian this is also your debut,
as well, your Broadway debut.
So congratulations
to both of you.
[APPLAUSE]
I didn't forget.
Don't worry.
I think, we have a
question over here.
AUDIENCE: Can
anyone of you share
how did you end up with this
job and what was your interviews
like for this job?
ALLEN: Tell us about
your interviews.
LILLI COOPER: That's so funny.
Jae'Lin just asked all
of the Google people,
how did you get this job.
ALLEN: She actually asked me
how we auditioned for this.
LILLI COOPER: How did
you audition for Google?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: They
took out the slide.
But they have a rock
climbing wall place.
WESLEY TAYLOR: I sort of
answered this question kind
of already but I was not a part
of the show like they were.
Me, Brian, and Jae'Lin are new.
So those two down there and
me are brand new to the show.
And I auditioned for the show
actually a couple years ago,
and it was between me
and another guy, who
ended up getting the part.
And he did it in Chicago.
So-- but I'm actually
glad that that happened
because I moved to LA and
I experienced some things
that I wanted to
experience in my life.
So it sort of worked out how
it was supposed to work out.
And I'm playing the part now.
And it was strange
because I was living in LA
and I got an email
saying, they'd
like you to come in
for this final reading
before Broadway, no guarantees,
but this could translate
to an offer for the production.
And so I came in and did
this three day workshop
and flew back to LA,
got off the plane,
and they called and said
that I got the part.
And so then I moved
back to New York
to start rehearsals
in September.
And that's how it went for me.
So that was my audition,
was the three day reading.
LILLI COOPER: I had three
auditions, I believe.
And it was probably
the funniest experience
I've had at an audition ever
in my life because the setting
that Tina created in the
audition room is just so fun,
and safe, and welcoming.
And you can't really say
that about every audition
that you go to.
Sometimes you walk into a
room of very cold people
behind a table and you feel
like you have to impress them,
as opposed to
collaborating with people.
And Tina would throw a
bunch of fun things at us.
And I had to make up a
karate dance on the spot.
And Ethan Slater, who
plays SpongeBob and I,
went to college together.
And he was in the
room for my audition.
And so we got to read together,
which was really wonderful.
And we obviously had like a
great history and chemistry
together.
So it was just a safe,
fun, thoroughly enjoyable,
creative experience.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: My
journey is a little bit
different with the show.
I didn't actually audition for
this show or this production.
I'd worked with Tina before.
And she just, back six years ago
when she wanted to experiment,
and we did what were called
movement labs to see how
these characters could move
and translate in a human form,
she called me and asked me
if I would just be involved.
So I did a couple
different labs, readings,
in the out of town.
And while I didn't audition,
every time I was in one
of those readings,
labs, or workshops,
I felt like I was auditioning.
Because every time they could
replace me or hire someone new
if they wanted to.
So it was always
sort of like, OK,
what can I bring this time that
will make me irreplaceable?
The roller skates did it.
[LAUGHTER]
ALLEN: Jae'Lin.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: You
have a great story.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh yeah.
So-- I was--
I was in New York.
I was doing an intensive--
I was getting ready to go into
my sophomore year of college.
And I was at a master class.
And it was a master class that
Tom Kitt, was the one who was--
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Orchestrating.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: --orchestrating
the master class.
And I sang for him.
And my friend in the
back was like recording.
I didn't even know that
he was recording the video
of the whole master class.
And I found it three days later.
And it went viral
like for two days.
But after all of
that was happen--
I was done with
the master class.
I was in a car
going to LaGuardia.
And I got a call
that they wanted--
LILLI COOPER: [INAUDIBLE]
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh,
that is very specific.
I got a call.
And they were like, we want
you to come in and audition
because I didn't know that
Mr. Tom was the person who
was on the director team.
That's right?
LILLI COOPER: Keep going.
You're doing so good.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: So I
went and auditioned.
And I was like, I need
to get ready for school.
So after all of this,
I went back to Georgia
with the mindset of school.
And I got the call
to do a reading.
And that's where I met Wesley.
And-- oh, and I met
all of these people.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Nope, just me.
Just me.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: And after
that three-day reading--
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: I
didn't do the reading.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yes, you did.
WESLEY TAYLOR: No, he didn't.
Remember, it was the other guy.
Remember, the little guy.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh,
it was a old guy.
Yeah.
I didn't mean-- I'm so sorry.
I am sorry.
Anyway.
I went home and I got the
call like two days later
after me being home in Georgia.
It was a very weird
process when I was home
because I was like I need
to go back to college.
But it didn't.
So-- so here we are.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Top that, Brian.
ALLEN: Nope.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: It
started when I was five.
I went through a three audition
process, very late in the game.
I mean, the show was
starting rehearsals in about,
I think, two months when
I first started going in.
So they were clearly
looking for just a couple
of very specific things.
And at the time, I was
actually in for a handful
of other projects as well
that were very serious.
And every time I would
go in and it would just
be this kind of
dark brooding, a lot
of whispering behind the table.
And then I would go in
for Tina and the creatives
at "SpongeBob," and it was
just this beautiful room
of warm, compassionate
people, who were like, hey,
you know what we're going to do?
We're going to
play a little bit.
You want to play?
And so every week as I was
going through these processes,
I slowly started sabotaging the
other ones, and going in going,
please be "SpongeBob."
Please be "SpongeBob."
And yeah, when I got the call
it was a pretty beautiful day.
And I get to share that with
some pretty beautiful people
too.
[AWES]
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh, about
the audition process--
I just want to piggyback
off of what everyone said.
I was so blessed
to have this have
been my first audition
because of course,
if I audition for
anything else, I'm
pretty sure that it's not going
to be the same experience.
I walked in
thinking, OK, they're
going to be behind that table.
And it's going to be--
there going to not have
any smiles on their faces.
And I walked in, and they
had the music playing.
And Tina was in
these jogging-- well,
she's always in these
jogging pants and hair wild.
And at first, before, I had this
really weird thought that they
had SpongeBob behind the table.
But it was actually Kenneth.
Kenneth is our
Assistant Director.
I thought that they--
[LAUGHTER]
Anyway.
LILLI COOPER: Again, tangent.
WESLEY TAYLOR:
Kenneth was SpongeBob?
Our Associate Director, who's
got like tall blonde hair--
JAE'LEN JOSEY: I
thought he was--
I thought they had SpongeBob
already in the room.
But for me, it
just felt so good.
Because I'm already like
all wacky, crazy girl.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: You?
You?
Really?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Anyway, it was
just a beautiful experience.
WESLEY TAYLOR: This is
your last interview.
LILLI COOPER: Ever.
ALLEN: They love her.
She is the youngest of the cast.
This dynamic has been throughout
the whole day, regardless
of every thing.
This is a beautiful,
beautiful cast.
They do--
LILLI COOPER: We
all love each other.
ALLEN: We're running
short on time.
We are running short on time.
So we can take-- sorry, just
one more question over here.
AUDIENCE: Thank you
all so much for coming.
I love musical theater.
And I'm a singer too.
So I want to know, what
would be your dream role
in a musical past,
present, or future?
LILLI COOPER: Fun.
That's a great question.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS:
Google, the musical.
LILLI COOPER: Mine is, this is
hopefully a long time from now
but I would love to play Mrs.
Lovett in "Sweeney Todd."
WESLEY TAYLOR:
That's really good.
I got to play one of my dream
roles a couple of years ago.
I was the emcee in
"Cabaret" down in DC.
And I would love
to do that again.
I still got another 10 years--
I played it pretty young.
So I would like to have
another shot at that.
And also "Floyd Collins," which
is a musical that Tina wrote,
actually, our director,
she wrote the book to it.
And I think that's one of the
most gorgeous musicals ever
written.
And I don't know if I could
sing it but I would want--
LILLI COOPER: You could do it.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Thank you.
That's I was waiting for.
ALLEN: You could do
anything you want.
CURTIS HOLBROOK:
I have a couple.
When I was 13 years old,
I saw the national tour
of "West Side Story."
It came through my hometown
of San Antonio, Texas.
And it was such a
magical evening.
And I've thought,
that's what I have
to do for the rest of my life.
And I saw Christian
Borle, if anyone
knows who Christian Borle is.
ALLEN: He's been on this stage.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: He played
Riff in this production.
And Stephen Pasquale
played Tony.
So it was like a pretty
magical experience
that I didn't know I was having.
And so, the 2009 revival
happened with Arthur Lawrence,
who wrote "West Side Story."
He directed our production.
He was 91 years old.
And I was hired for
that production.
It was sort of like
full circle moment.
So Riff in "West
Side Story" and then
Cosmo in "Singing in the Rain."
The Donald O'Connor part,
which I got to do out of town,
with Tony Yasbeck as Don.
The two of us together,
it was really awesome,
original Gene Kelly
tap choreography.
It was incredible.
I have a really
weird dream role,
which is the Scarecrow
in "The Wizard of Oz."
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yes.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: I just
think it would be so funny,
the physicality of that.
And so that's the one
that I'm waiting for.
ALLEN: You heard it here.
JAE'LEN JOSEY:
Skip me real quick.
You go.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: I mean, as a
character guy, it's hard for me
to pick one.
I would love to play
Sweeney just once.
And Nathan Detroit
in "Guys and Dolls."
I would-- but I
think my biggest one
is, I would love to do "Shrek."
Hello, Donkey.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Yes.
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Just once
I'd like to do "Shrek."
WESLEY TAYLOR: So good.
You should do that.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: I, forgive
me because I might not
know the names to these people,
to the characters, forgive me.
But--
BRIAN RAY NORRIS: Dream role.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: My dream role--
I'd loved to sing "Meadowlark."
Please help me
because you guys know.
I would love to
sing "Meadowlark,"
"You Don't Know" from
"Next to Normal."
WESLEY TAYLOR: Yeah, any others?
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Oh,
and I'd love to be--
WESLEY TAYLOR: You should
be Kate in "Wild Party."
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Kate
in "Wild Party."
I would love to do that.
And for some reason, I
just want to be Shug Avery.
WESLEY TAYLOR: Oh yeah.
That'd be perfect.
You should do that.
LILLI COOPER: Say that first.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Shug Avery.
ALLEN: There you go.
JAE'LEN JOSEY: Shug Avery.
ALLEN: Well, thank you all
so much for being here.
Everybody, please go
to the Palace Theater,
at the beautiful Palace
Theater, 47th and Broadway.
You can visit them online
SpongeBobBroadway.com,
on Instagram, and
Twitter, @SpongeBobBway.
And then we actually
have one more song
that they will
perform for us here.
Did you know that?
All right.
Everybody help me give
them a round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
So I will leave the stage
after I introduce this.
This song is called "Simple
Sponge," sung by SpongeBob.
A fry cook at the
Krusty Krab, SpongeBob
dreams of becoming
a manager one day.
But few believe
in his ambitions.
Before SpongeBob can rally his
best friends Sandy and Patrick
to take on Mount Humongous,
he needs to give himself
a little pep talk.
Here to sing "Simple Sponge,"
one final time on stage,
Curtis Holbrook.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: Thank you.
[CURTIS HOLBROOK SINGING "SIMPLE
 SPONGE"]
[APPLAUSE]
ALLEN: Keep it going.
One more round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
Good job.
Good job.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So wonderful.
CURTIS HOLBROOK: Thank you.
ALLEN: All right.
Let's go eat froyo.
[CHUCKLE]
