Time to head back to a pineapple under the sea.
“SpongeBob SquarePants,” the Broadway musical based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series, will end its run on Sept. 16 after a bit less than a full year.
While the closing is officially being blamed upon previously planned renovations to the Palace Theatre, the musical (which received expectedly strong reviews for its trippy visual flair and feel-good spirit) has struggled to remain afloat at the box office.
It won only a single Tony Award, for scenic design.
Plans are underway for a national tour and to release amateur performance rights.
Jeremy Jordan heading back to Broadway in ‘American Son’
Jeremy Jordan (“Newsies” on Broadway, “Supergirl” on TV) has joined the cast of “American Son,” a new family drama co-starring Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale, which beginning in October will play Broadway’s Booth Theatre (currently home to the hit revival of “The Boys in the Band”). Written by Miami attorney-turned-playwright Christopher Demos-Brown, “American Son” is set at a Florida police station where a mother has come in search of her missing teenage son. In a statement, Jordan said the play “forces us to listen. Even when we disagree, even when we know we must be right, it reminds us we still have to listen to each other.”
‘Spider-Man’ parody receiving comeback
When “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” struggled to make it through its endless preview process back in 2011, multiple musical parodies of “Spider-Man” and its backstage drama materialized. One of them, “The Spidey Project,” has returned under the new title “Peter, Who?”, with a revised script and new songs. It will be presented July 25 to 29 as part of the 2018 New York Musical Festival.
Spotted . . .
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Elisabeth Moss at “My Fair Lady” . . . Hugh Jackman at “Angels in America” . . . Sam Smith, Michael Urie and Ted Allen at “The Boys in the Band” . . . Brendon Urie and Jack McBrayer at “Mean Girls.”
