“Are youuuu ready, kids?”
Perhaps the more appropriate question is how many adults who grew up with "SpongeBob SquarePants" are ready to take their children to see the musical version of their Nickelodeon childhood favorite?
"The SpongeBob Musical" brings a live-action version of the iconic giggling sponge and his friends to stage, where they face a catastrophe—that is, until an unlikely hero helps remedy Bikini Bottom. To avoid awkward, mascot-esque costumes, the actors in the musical maintain their human visages, so audiences will have to use their imaginations to conjure up visions of sponges, starfish, squirrels and plankton. And while the musical may have won some fancy-schmancy awards, in our hearts we know that nothing can top cartoon Sandy’s O.G. bop about coming home to Tampa.
"The SpongeBob Musical" opens at Tampa's David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts on July 21 and runs through July 26. Tickets start at $33 and are available via strazcenter.org.
Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.