Review: The Spongebob Musical – Youth Edition

'Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?’ If you don’t immediately know the answer to this question, then it’s entirely possible that you might not be a regular cartoon viewer or don’t have children who gorge on animation. The answer to that question is, of course, Spongebob Squarepants, the titular hero of the hugely popular noughties Nickelodeon cartoon and cult Broadway musical. It’s now available in a slightly pruned youth edition.

We’re in the underwater community of Bikini Bottom where our hero, Spongebob, harbours dreams of one day becoming the manager of the Krusty Krab restaurant, where he works. When a sudden and unexpected tremor from nearby Mount Humongous terrifies the townsfolk, the boo-hiss baddies Plankton and Karen (yes, Karen) hatch a plan to leave the township, leaving it down to our hero to convince people to stay and try to save the town. Will our yellow and porous hero manage to avert disaster? Will he finally get to be with Pearl, the girl of his dreams? This is a bouncy family musical so, duh, of course he will, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun finding out.