SpongeBob musical sure to be a GHS theater pearl

Vibrant crew, cast leverage power and possibility of gender-fluid roles

BY DEBORAH GRIGSBY DGRIGSBY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea and plans to be center stage March 9 at Golden High School?

SpongeBob SquarePants!

And this year, Stage Right Productions presents “ e SpongeBob Musical,” a 180-minute under-the-sea adventure lled with all your favorite residents of Bikini Bottom.

But the stakes are higher than ever in this dynamic stage musical, as SpongeBob and the gang face the destruction of their undersea home. But just when all hope seems lost, an unexpected hero rises to show how the power of optimism can save the world.

“It’s a unique production in that it almost feels like a juke box musical,”

GHS theater teacher, production manager and troupe director Allie Matsuo said. “ ere are popular songs throughout and all the songs are written by popular music artists from the 1980s until today — a lot of wonderful nods to music and we’re having a lot of fun referencing them.”

Matsou and assistant troupe director Tyler Roach admit the show wasn’t their rst choice, but it has worked out nicely.

“It checked all the boxes were looking for,” she explained. “We were looking for an ensemble cast where’s not really a lead character, where there’s a lot of di erent people who get to shine, we were looking for something modern, something that had nods to classic musicals—which this has a ton of them, and we wanted something would bring in our community as well as our school.

Matsou added that the selection has also been very welcoming to Golden High School’s growing community of gender- uid and trans students.

“We have a really large community of students who identify as all across the gender spectrum,” she said. “We have students who are transgender and who are undergoing the different stages of that transition, and one of the things that we wanted to do was to really nd a show that would allow them to shine in a role in which that they could dress and present the way that they are most comfortable at any stage in their

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FROM PAGE 16 transition — or for someone who identi es as gender uid and they are able to present themselves however they would like to be presented through that character.”

Matsou explained that many times, classical musical productions tend to pigeonhole actors into certain roles.

“For example, if you have a high voice, you’d have to play a female role and if you have a low voice, you’d have to play a male role. And this show lets you play any character regardless, and the music is written right in the middle of the sta and can be taken up or down.”

So, what should you expect?

Matsou says to be ready for a lot of fun and a lot of audience interaction.

She also says to not discount the show “if SpongeBob wasn’t your thing.” While the show is suitable for all ages, the goo ness is punctuated with great music and powerful message.

‘ e SpongeBob Musical’ runs March 9 – 11 in the Golden High School Auditorium.

For tickets and information,

Additional Information

Golden High School Auditorium

701 24th St. Golden, CO 80401

Schedule and tickets

7 p.m., Thursday, March 9

7 p.m., Friday, March 10

2 p.m., Saturday, March 11

7 p.m., Saturday, March 11

To buy tickets: www. stagerightgolden.org

Prices:

Adult, $12

Student, $10

Child (under 5) or Senior (over 60), $8

Run time and more:

Approx 180 minutes, one 15-minute intermission

Appropriate for all ages. All sales are final. Latecomers will be seated at the end of a scene or song. GHS strives to start on time out of respect for performers’ time. This venue is a wheelchair-accessible venue. This venue o ers wheelchair-accessible seating.

This show has strobe lights.