SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical with Gavin Lee and Danny Skinner

Published May 19, 2022, 9:00 AM

Ever wondered what it might be like to go from cartoon to reality? Gavin Lee and Danny Skinner were given the distinct privilege of playing Squidward and Patrick in SpongeBob’s experimental and explosive Broadway musical. Hear stories from the stage as Gavin and Danny share their unique experience of physically embodying the cartooniest cartoon characters, and all the challenges along the way.

This is fensive freaking I can think it just sounds bad doing it together. Every little thinking that I could think of, it just sounds better doing it together, doing it with you. Welcome to SpongeBob binge Pants, Nickelodeon's official podcast about all things SpongeBob. I'm Hector Navarro and I'm Frankie Granding. We have got a fantastic episode for you today. Frankie and I had the distinct pleasure of talking with two stars of SpongeBob square Pants the Broadway musical, Danny Skinner and Gavin Lee. Danny played Patrick on stage and Gavin played squid Word. This is our first of two episodes covering the musical. The second one will be with Wesley Taylor, who plays Plankton, and Ethan Slater, who plays SpongeBob himself. But the wonderful interview you're about to hear right now with Danny Skinner and Gavin Lee covers what it was like to translate such a cartoony cartoon into a stage show starring human beings, and their experience in shaping and performing in the musical live. There were challenges along the way, like Gavin having to walk around with four squid word legs and great behind the scenes stories. And if you haven't had a chance to see it yet, good news, the musical is available to watch right now on Paramount Plus. So, without further ado, here's Frankie and I talking to Danny Skinner and Gavin Lee. What was your relationship to SpongeBob when you started auditioning for the musical, were you guys big fans of the show? Well, Gavin Handen, Oh yeah, I got an email or a cool from my agent saying they're doing this uh SpongeBob music, but they're not calling it a SpongeBob musical at the moment. It's all very much under wraps and they don't want the Broadway world to know that it's happening. So it was just called the Tina Landau Project when I audition for it. And Tina Landau, of course, is the amazing lady who created this this version of SpongeBob, this stage version, which was very different to the cartoon but also had all the best bits of the cartoon in it. So so getting that first audition, I was like, okay, it's first squid word okay um. So I immediately popped on ten episodes of SpongeBob to get myself into the world because I'd seen SpongeBob, you know, on the TV. But I can't say I was a fan, you know, I was already in my forties. Perhaps I was, you know, I had missed the boat of like joining it when it started. And after I watched a few episodes and laughed a lot, I then at the voice memode on my phone whenever Roger Bumpers spoke, whenever the Squidward spoke, because I was like, I'm gonna have to go into that first audition into a carbon copy of his voice or as best I could. Um. So, yeah, I I just recorded all of Squidwards lines and then try to sound like him doing the lines that I'd been sent. It would have been so much easier if they'd sent us an episode and we could have listened to the episode and I could have just copied him. But as it was, this was fresh new script that Squidwood had never said before. So it was like, try and be Roger doing Squidwood and then take that into the audition room. And um, I'm very glad to say that on my very first audition because we I think me and Danny. We had three or four auditions along the way. Um. Immediately Tina said, I'm not expecting you to do a carbon copy of Squidwood, and I was like, oh, thank god for that, because who can sound as brilliant as Roger Bumpers. Um, so after that first edition, you could let the accent go a bit and just make him your own Squidwoods, which I found you really did. But also I think you did also give Roger like a lot of like, you know, love, you really did. I thought it was truly truly masterfully done, as was as was your port trial Danny. Danny, what about you? What was your original relationship with Patrick Starr? Yeah, yeah, so non British accent is Danny. I was a huge, huge fan of SpongeBob before the project. I grew up with some SpongeBob. So I remember growing up in like I think it came out when I was really just starting intermediate school, like right in the middle school area. And uh, I was sitting on my parents bed and watching it and uh and previously with like Rocco's Modern Life and seeing the character of Heifer. Uh, I'm a big guy. And so when I saw Patrick come out from underneath his rock. I was like instantly in it. I was like, there is a cartoon character that is my shape. Fantastic, So I had I brought that all the way in and so when I got the audition, there was not a script written at the time, so they were very hush hush about it, and and they sent over actually one of the SpongeBob episodes, and being a fan, I immediately was like, oh, this is not the Tina land Out project. This is a SpongeBob SquarePants. The casting director was all coy about it and said I'm gonna send a picture over and then send a picture. Was yeah, I don't you have to send it over. I know what it is. I did the scene with the Sunday, I got to tell him about the ugly Barnacle. I got through that entire scene. Was my first audition was getting to do that, and again, just like what Gavin said, uh, Tina really immediately was like, you don't have to do the exact voice of So that took an immediate pressure off because I can't do what Bill does and got to do my my own version. Sack. This crazy schedule makes it hard to be me, just sa track, Danny. Can you can you remember, Danny? When it was the Tina Landa project, the characters weren't called the SpongeBob characters, and I wish I remember what I can't. I wish I kept that bit of script. It was so long ago now, but I mean SpongeBob was called like bubble Butt or something, yeah, like bubble Bart or something like that, and I wish I could remember. I was like this weird grumpy guts or something. It wasn't that rubbish, but it was like not squid words, and I was like, why is it? I mean, I think it's SpongeBob, so why are we not using the names? But it was all very hush hush then, and it wasn't definitely coming to Broadway, and they didn't want the world to know. It was so um we had so funny that these like seemingly like secretive methods probably did trick some folks. I mean, you guys had some awareness of SpongeBob. Danny, you were like a minute, I know exactly visit, but I'm sure that there are incredibly talented actors who auditioned and they're like bubble Bart. I've never heard of this Okay, let's give it a go. Like maybe they didn't have a cultural awareness. It seems crazy, but there have to be people who are not super aware of SpongeBob as an entity. So I think that's so so funny. Well, I on have my side, sad far beyond this place, I've been developing a one man show starring and as yet I discovered young, handsome and very leggy talent. I call it call specta. We'll set aside, like your guys familiarity or awareness of the SpongeBob cartoon before getting this audition, just as stage actors, what were your initial impressions of the musical as you started to learn more about it and realize who was making it? What did you guys think? Well, I mean we should say that Danny, along with Ethan, who obviously was the wonderful SpongeBob in the show, you guys were attached to this project way before me. We started up in h and it was and it was a movement workshop, so they they specifically asked us to come in and and so my my angle and it uh is that I I love physical comedy, so I love everything about that world. And so that's really how I got my before it was even a musical, it was can cartoon characters live in bodies on stage? Will that even read? Because they had no interest in doing the big mascot heads like you would see at Universal Studios, which had their place it's amazing, but they wanted, you know, for a tow act musical. Later evening, Ethan, who was SpongeBob, we got to play around with, like would it be funny if this happened? Yeah, it would be funny. What can your body do this? Yeah? What if you got on my back and I did this? Yeah? Let me and and Ethan is made of rubber, so he was able to do literally everything, and I got to anchor a lot of it. My biggest question for everyone involved is did you get hazard pay? Should have got has a pay because anyone's see the musical. Near the end, he has to climb the volcano, which the set was basically about a hundred ladders all stuck together in different angles with a hole in the middle to represent the volcano. And one day in Tech, I think Tina said to Ethan, Okay, we want you to climb this a SpongeBob, how do you want to climb in it, throw it upside down, you know, and Ethan being young and slash stupid, the most convoluted crazy climbing of this volcano wall. And as he was doing it, you want to go, Ethan, you have to do this eight times a week, volunteer. But I mean, Danny, we saw the bruises, the cuts on his hands, on his hips because he was in the harness so he was secure, but he could still fall and bash into it and it was all made out of metal. And he's a crazy guy. I think this is a good those are your last words. He needed to be in phenomenal shape to do that show eight times a week, doing you know, two on Wednesday and too on a Saturday or whatever it was. I mean, we were all busted because it was a very physical show. Just back to like Danny's describing the sort of movement class of it. I just picture a bunch of scientists and lab coats standing around a TV screen with the carp clipboards, being like, can we do this? Is this achievable? Can we kind of like that, except that you had the most brilliant Broadway minds in a room, and you had a bunch of clowns walk in and instead of beakers and things, it was legitimate pool noodles, balloons and like stuff you'd find in the store, like David Zen like coming in and being like Tina having conversations I need more pool noodles and like that was a real conversation, were like, what is more juggling balls. I'm quite envious that I was. I came into the project delay. I basically came in for the tryout in Chicago, which then transferred to Broadway. So by the time I came in there was a full on script that admittedly changed an awful lot during the rehearsals. Danny can tell you like, oh, at one point, you know SpongeBob and Patrick went to the moon and came back. Well, there was there was at one point a fortune teller that came into town to tell about how the end of the world was going to happen, and of course as it would, and uh, it was a big old like want want at the whole story was misunderstanding the whole music. Yeah, so for good reason they had to go through that version to get to the great version that they got to um, which is to Nickelodeon's credit, because I will say that I think a lot of people once they did here that SpongeBob SquarePants was going to be a Broadway musical, had a big old I roll like I think that they were like, oh, sure, how is this? How is this going to happen? So that's the Nickelodeon's credit that they did not force the process. They allowed it to organically happen. So they let us play around with pool noodles so that we can get for six years and then eventually we're like, okay, well now story please. Uh But it was yeah, well there was a fortune teller and the end of the world was actually the end of the discount that the fortune teller was offering, and that was the misunderstanding. So there was one point where there was going to be giant bubbles that we actually got into and floated around in, and I think they did the cost of that and they were like, no, yeah, we can't imagine that. There was lots of different throw it against the wall, see if it works, and then we had a test audience. At one point we did a workshop at Classic Stage Company, which, if you know New York City, is a wonderful off Broadway theater. They basically took all the seats out, rearranged the entire space and built like the test version of it was like a candy store. It was beautiful, these Neon colors. So what you saw on the Broadway thing, we had a little, little off Broadway little version and a workshop for a test audience. Then that wasn't any that wasn't for any paying audience. Nicoladon paid for all of that just to end the product then look at it and go back to the drawing board, and I mean, it's just amazing. They didn't want to just PLoP an episode of the show the cartoon onto stage and hope it worked. They really spent the years working with actors and creatives to end up with the in my opinion, brilliant show. I'm sure they were very important Nickelodeon people that then had meetings with our creators, with the director, with the musical director, with the choreographer, and then the next day Tina would come in and say, okay, we're changing this bit and we and we would not know whether that was her decision or Nickelodeon's decision, but I know that Nickelodeon were very much Tina, We've picked you to put this show on stage, do what you want to do, and she did, because you look at our characters and we don't necessarily look like the cartoon. And that's Tina going, I'm not making Ethan yellow and square. Uh. Bob works in a burger place and he's having fun with his best friend Patrick. As long as we have imaginary imagination, right because we're BFF b f F best friends forever. Oh, I still don't get it. I got you and you got me. I don't need my glasses on. And so I laughed that we looked so human. I mean in a way, I was the only character that they really did feel. Let's look at the cartoon. He's got tentacles. He's got really Squid has got you know, as he's got six tentacles, two arms, and four legs. And they felt that the actor playing in the stage version needed to have those extra legs. But everyone else just kind of looked kind of looked like a human being, had the essence. And Tina like to say, the d n A of the cartoon character within them. We should talk about those legs right now. They were amazing. How how heavy were they were? They difficult to work in you as an actor. What was your process into like getting into them and working with them? Yeah, I mean I spent hours second, literally hours with David's in our fabulous set and costume designer, just in front of a mirror with these kind of again kind of pull noodle material. Um. The legs were made out of so they weren't particularly heavy except they were obviously a real pair of shoes on the end, and the feet, the fake feet were made of wood so that they were heavy enough. But we spent hours in front of the mirror, usually me in profile with my little squid with squat you know, bent knee's feet together, and I just wanted those fate legs to look identical to my real legs. I didn't want it to look like, oh, there's a pair of feet legs out the back, and wanted you to think which ones are the fake legs. And then the next thing was now Chris Telly the choreographers saying, put four tap shoes on, Now what can do with tap shots? So it when it went from can you walk in them? Too? Can you tap dance with them? And they were a pain in the neck, especially in the wings, mainly in the wings because where you don't realize you do this, but when you when you want to walk behind someone, you kind of look at their head and you presume that you can then just walk behind them. So people would walk behind me and then linsimply tripped over my feet that were sticking out the back all the time. So I learned pretty early on in the wings, I had to be up against a wall so no one could pass behind me because they would always trip over my fake feet. In those legs. I only fell down the stairs twice because also what you don't realize is when you have when you have two feet that are attached to your feet pointing backwards. As soon as you take the first step down on the stairs, your back foot, the fake foot is still on the top step and you put your foot on the next step down, so you immediately tilt forward and literally fall down the stairs. The only way to go downstairs is to turn around and walk backwards like you're going down the ladder. We also had a like an order of how to get onto the elevator, so certain people had to get in at certain points, and they couldn't go on the elevator until the certain person was in their position, so that a person would be me that I had to get in go to the back because I because I was in the way. My legs are in the way of everyone else. What I love about what you two and the whole cast on the musical did is that in an animated cartoon you have a voice actor who supplies one part of the character and then animator or anime tours supplying the movement and it's a collaboration. But with the show just you guys up on stage and Gavin you describing the legs and you're figuring out how that works. You still took on the mannerisms and the the outline, the shape of squid Word, the way that you had were standing is I'm like, that's how squid Word is drawn. And Danny, you so often in the show had your hands in this Patrick Star shape to kind of create the shape of these characters. Was that something that was again discovered in the process of like how can this even work? Or was that something that you guys knew from the beginning whoever's Patrick has to have their hands like this the entire time. That was very much part of the discovery of through the entire workshops. Uh, there was always constantly subtraction happening. Actually that was like so the very first time. Uh, just like Gavin had some some legs in the back and that that stayed. Uh, there was a there was a moment they made foam hands just to see to like find out like the silhouette of like what what it would be like if you know it was what do you call those oven mits and like uh, and seeing if that if that's what we need to be able to do the certain positions and like keep things and how he points and and then we realized, well, actually you just need to point with your whole hand and that actually accomplishes it and we don't have to add anymore. Because it was so important to find the d n A and keep it human so that you instantly identified in the audience with with the individuals on the stage, so that never really you know, it felt otherworldly, but it was still very much of our world that you check this out. The incredible stretching then because the drinks one of the things you were talking about, like the people in the room. The most important voice to me in the room was Steve Hillenburg. He came and was a part of this. His reaction to what we were doing, because I know that he was skeptical. He had the same question that Tina I think initially had and she's expressed, which is what is this? What am I doing? Even Tina had that that thought initially when it was pitched to her. But but Steve's approval and his tear filled eyes about something that he loved so much, especially towards the end of his life, which it's just to me, there there is no greater honor as somebody who was a fan of something than being in the room with the creator and then having the approval of that wonderful human being on the product. So that I just wanted to say that that was that was the best. We have a full on cost photo from the tryout in Chicago with Steve seeing slap bang in the middle of the cost and everyone involved the show, and it was such a brilliant um that's so great time whenever he walked in the room or was it the data And then also we didn't have Tom Kinney or Bill in the room until opening on Broadway, which was terrifying. That's it's never it's never an okay feeling to be like, okay, let's go open the show press weeks done, but also the original voices are here. The people who created these roles are going to be And the audience opening on on Broadway was amazing. All the press was there, you know, all being asked to do interviews with all the different press outlets, and they decided to pair us up with the original voices. And you're like, so there's Roger bump Us, and I'm like, oh my god. And of course they're being very gracious something they Danny on that night because it's basically about our version that night. So they're like, oh my gosh, what you've done with the role, and you just and you as the act want to go, thanks very much, but you're the real deal. And then and so we're so we're interviewing with all these reporters together with your voice sake, and and of course then they say, oh, can you both do the voice? And of course Roger Bumpus is happy to do the voice left right and sentences his voice, and then and and as as the act to playing the role and says, You're like, don't ask me because he's not going to be as good as him. And you're just gonna in your head going to go, well, he's not very good, is he? So I think I pulled the squidward face a few times, but I was like, no, I'm not doing the voice when the real voice is standing right next to me. Good aiming and and welcome to the first annual squid Word Tentacles Talent Show sponsored by the Krusty Crab Home of the Crabby Patty because no one else would give it a home. When when Bill said, uh, no, this is Patrick, No, this is Patrick, we got to do that exchange back and forth, is this Patrick the whole thing? And I got to do with Bill. I'm gonna I'm gonna be the one that jumps on that opportunity. Yea ten times. Yeah, he was so generous. But it's it's always like when you're next to the you know, a legend like Bill, You're like, actually, you take the pictures. You were the my picture there when your picture it was the real deal. So it was it was an odd night, wasn't it. And then and then jumping forward to um when we actually you know, filmed the musical for Nickelodeon from the TV and then we actually had Tom Kenny in the show What is Happening? It was stupid because we always had his voice because he for the Broadway show, he was the French narrator Salu and welcome to this quiet corner on the ocean floor, teeming with all the many kinds of undersea life. So his voice was with us every night on Broadway. But we didn't have the actual body of Tom Kenny, who obviously played Patchy the Pirate in the TV version. That someone was employed to play Patchy um and opened a one and act too, and had kept trying to get on stage and wanted to get into the theater to see and Patrick and SpongeBob Punchbob. That's right, I George, I'd be back. Oh there you are three. One of the greatest joys right now, this many years out from the show, is that the licensing is now going out high school's, regional theaters and amateur productions as well as small as I love. I love doing that. You've mentioned that because my my town here in New Jersey is the middle school is doing the SpongeBob musical. So lots of the kids that I know in this community, lots of my children's friends are in this version of sponge out here, and so I'm going on I have I've never seen SpongeBob on stage. I was in it, I didn't ever see it getting character and just give so many notes. If I just walked down the aisle of the auditory, the two extra legs on going get out of my way, I'm here. The great thing about this musical is design wise, you can go anywhere you want. You know, you haven't got to make it look like the cartoon. And they always ask, They're always like, would you have any advice about how to play the character? And I'm like, be you as you because you are? You have their form? Is there with Bill? You do you? Tina wrote a note at the beginning of it for casting about how inclusive it can be and how even characters like Patrick. I know that there are productions because of that casting note that have been cast with females, which is phenomenal. That's it's really I want to see that. I want to see that production. Yeah, yeah, I mean I've been sending photos of lots of girls in high school doing a production and they're playing Squidward and I'm like, brilliant. None of these characters have to be boys or girls the cartoon and their cartoons and your sea creatures, so you can be the only sex you want exactly here. This is weird. I like having all around, get all friends that I mouth that really sounds like everybody who's working on this show really took to heart those messages and SpongeBob that that became the sort of thesis of the show. All are welcome here, and those are in the cartoon too. They're there there. They don't hit you over the head with those messages at the end of every episode, you know, like today, kids, we learned something like it's just there. It's baked into these characters and it's it's so so great to see that SpongeBob being able to take on this different existence, is different life, that you guys still had that core, heartfelt message in there and taking it to that level. It's Wonderful's Ricky has your jet pack save you? Were there any fun live Bluebird moments? Because it's live theater, anything can happen. What was your favorite? So that was only one time Patrick never made his his flight, uh, and it was you know, backstage, I'm supposed to up on a fly thanks spoiler alert, up on this fly thing and the jet pack got caught in one of the cables. Happens. There's all these safety protocols, and the safety protocol is, okay, back down, we're not going to go. And so I'm looking at the stage manager like what do we do? What do we do? What do you do? It's like, just just go. And so I'm supposed to fly over all these people and I remember Lily Cooper's face, oh my goodness, and Ethan looking at me and they're on the ladders and I'm supposed to come and like I'll save you, and I come running in and I'm just hands up walking on the stage and this big budget Broadway musical walking across the stage, and their their eyes they're supposed to be looking up, they just go. They look right down and they just follow me through and then back up right into the into the moment, and like, you know, just kept going. But that was the one time that Patrick never made his fly. That's always a backup plan, even if it's lame. Just walk on. And immediately immediately went into like should I be making And Mike Dobson, who was our fully artist, we had a live fully artist on this the set, which is incredible, and we got the whole bank of all the Nickelodeon sound effects from SpongeBob, so we had them at our arsenal. I was like, at that moment, my brain immediately went, I need to make a noise, and so immediately you did a c picopter completely. I mean it was supposed to be a jet pack and you went, you don't know what comes out of your mouth. You know, every single sound effect that you heard during the Broadway show was made by one guy and all his instruments. Because because Ethan had a SpongeBob sound as well, didn't he Yeah, yeah, so we both had um our walking sounds, and of course every time I squatted, I had my I had like a vart sound. It's a great day, squid word. In fact, I'd say could be the best day ever. You say that every day and it's always true. By Patrick, I'll see you skill What have I done to deserve this? And still funny Dobson. It was brilliant because it wasn't totally set. He would have to just follow what I was doing. So sometimes just to annoy him, you know, I'd like instead of doing eight walks, I'd do six walks and then a couple of runs, and he'd have to be like, you know, and I'd do one extra step when I'm just contemplating something I've just squat and he'd be there every time. He would never miss my sound effects, and I love him for that. I feel like that added that added to this feeling of like they're really doing an animated world in live action, in the moment, life just live. It's amazing, yeah, because it would have been so easy for all the sound effects to just be pre corded, someone press a button, but instead he Mike made all the noises. Mike had so many squeak toys with different tones. I cannot tell you, Like, you know, the drum kit. He had all the different squeak ones. There was the pig one, there was the rubber chicken. Everything. I love the In the TV version that we did, he's on stage, so they moved for the TV Verse, they moved him on stage so he's they're visible, so you know, oh, that guy's making all the sounds for us. You know, it was very cool. He was very featured for the TV version. Hello, Hello, shot Spice, Hello guy making all the sounds. Hello everyone at home, Hello Sky, Hello Flowers, Hello either way, anyone who has not seen the musical please do go onto Paramount Plus. It is available seven whenever you would like to, and you can see wonderful, two incredible performances as well as everyone else in this amazing, amazing musical. I have to say, we closed the Broadway show and it was Danny, how did you feel what whole year later when you never think you're going to put that costume on again and you're never going to see that same group of people again. All in one room, we all got this email saying Nickelodeon has decided they want to film the stage show we've closed a year earlier, getting that email saying would you like to go back into rehearsals for two weeks all randomly fly to England to go to a theater in England and record it. I mean it was one of walking into that rehearsal room after a year away was one of the most joyous feelings. Danny, what do you feel about the TV filmed version? Is just brilliant. You get you get an email that's like, hey, you want to go goof around with your best friends in a room again? Yeah? Absolutely, I would love to do that. That filming one was was really was wild to get to put the suit back on again. We have to say a because of the people we were working with, but there's all the fans. The Nickelodeon and all the fans had such a big part of the joy of that. The fans were brilliant. They accepted our version of their beloved SpongeBob and they couldn't get enough of it, and it made us the actors, feel amazing once again. Huge thanks to Gavin and Danny for spending some of their time with us and sharing those great stories. Frankie and I were legitimately thrilled. They're the best. Remember to tune into our next episode on the Broadway Musical, where we're gonna talk to Plankton, Wesley Taylor and SpongeBob SquarePants Ethan Slater. Until then, keep watching cartoons and live theater or buy h

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