Saturday evening’s performance of “The SpongeBob Musical” by the Youth division of the Murray Bridge Players & Singers was certainly memorable! The cast, in full swing and heading towards the final wave were suddenly hit with a power failure. There had been outages across the town during a stormy day but any confidence that all had been rectified was cruelly dashed. To the supreme credit of the young cast and with special kudos to the quick decision making of the directional and technical teams, a couple of floor based lamps together with laptop powered sound saved the day. There was just sufficient light and sound for the cast to pick up from where they were cut short and for them to finish the show. It was an admirable effort from all concerned and rightfully received a warm and generous accolade from an appreciative audience.
I had not seen a production of SpongeBob before and found the musical score to be toe-tappingly bright and breezy. The plot is not complex! The overarching question is, can SpongeBob rally the help of all the sea creatures and prevent an imminent obliteration of “Bikini Bottom” by a rumbling volcano that is threatening to erupt? Well, dear reader, I think you know the answer to that one! The cast of young Murray Bridgeians varied considerably in age ranging from 17 down to 8 years. As an ensemble they were ably directed in movement, vocals and action by directorial duo Hannah Smith and Amelia Rooney. At all times the cast looked good, concentrated on their routines and were an energetic contribution to the end product.
Within the cast of around 30 there were some promising performances. The three Electric Skates (Owen McCullough, Rhy Honeychurch and Khyden Swinbourne) bobbed up regularly as a humorous rock’n roll trio. Together with Pearl and the cast they knocked out a lively “Bikini Bottom Boogie.” Freddie Mitchell was a very crabby and demanding Mr Eugene Krabs. His daughter Pearl Krabs was played in a positive and punchy manner by a well voiced Lucky Rudgley. Their voices combined well in the number “Daddy Knows Best”. The two Planktons, as competitors to the Krabs food dynasty, made for a striking and well timed duo. Tilly Millan as Karen Plankton used her pretty singing voice to good effect and especially in concert with the mellow bass baritone of Braeden Watts (Sheldon Plankton). Watts possesses the makings of a fine voice worthy of tuition! His spoken vocal delivery was also excellent.
Morgan Hoff injected loads of zest and energy into his most effective portrayal as Squidward Q Tentacles. His confidence and poise on stage bodes well for future roles. Emily Green was the French narrator with an interesting accent. Bonjour Emily! Zak Langton whipped in and out of the township Bikini Bottom uttering various proclamations as its Mayor. And Archer Stephens as news reporter on the scene, Perch Perkins, kept us up to speed re the volcano’s state of play. Things were developing so fast!
As science type, Sandy Cheeks (Zoe Foran) promoted her bubble theory to prevent the “Big Bang” happening. Foran demonstrates a voice strong and true, particularly with the duo “Chop to the Top” with her good pal SpongeBob. They were a really good combination. Emory Chilvers impressed as an energetic and effervescent Patrick Star. She exuded both confidence and poise throughout the performance. I’m sure we will see her on stage again in the future. Ava Miller as SpongeBob gave us an extremely well executed and controlled performance. Her command of the stage from the beginning to the end was palpable and, along with fine vocal delivery, she ably led the fray.
All things technical, especially costumes (Katie Millan) and set design (Trent Baker), were apt and effective. The hall’s sound system is very good and worked a treat per courtesy of Matt Button, Daniel Humby and Zoe Foran until the dreaded power outage. Fortunately that occurred in the latter phase of the show and was extremely well handled by all backstage personnel led by Andrew Broadbent and assistant Georgie Coulthard. Even the FOH crew got into the act! The MBP&S Youth Theatre production of “The SpongeBob musical” proved to be a bright spark within a wintry day of power uncertainty. The Show must go on…and it did! Bravo!
