Hamilton Southeastern High School senior Olivia Venable has the challenge of bringing a lovable cartoon character to life.
“I’m trying to capture the spirit of SpongeBob while still being me,” Venable said.
Hamilton Southeastern is presenting “The SpongeBob Musical” March 17 to 19 at the school’s auditorium. Shows are 7 p.m. each night with a 2 p.m. matinee March 19.
“We wanted to choose a show with great music and an engaging story,” HSE theater teacher and director Ethan Mathias said. “‘The SpongeBob Musical’ is a very new show and just a lot of fun. Right now we could all use a classic hero’s journey with catchy songs.”
Mathias said the students are having fun with it.
“I don’t know that they expected the demands of the show to challenge them in this way,” he said. “Bringing an iconic cartoon world to life on stage is not as easy as it might sound. There are a lot of moving parts, literally and figuratively, to this show, but there’s also so much playfulness and creativity in every aspect of the production.
“It’s been a joy to see everyone play and explore performing in a new way.”
Senior Emma Grim plays Patrick.
“There is definitely a difference between watching on TV and seeing real-life people on the stage several nights in a row,” Grim said. “The biggest thing for me is being able to implement the iconic cartoon moments. I don’t want to be too much like the cartoon. I want to add a different depth to it that we are trying to display. In the show, we are trying to display Patrick is worth more to his friends than simply being dumb. He does have a lot of great ideas, so I’m trying to portray (that) while staying true to this fun and light-hearted character.”
Carly Mankin, who plays Karen, is also one of the student directors.
“I really love ‘When the Going Gets Tough,’” Mankin said. “It’s this big number that Plankton is in when he’s trying to convince the town of a giant dream he has and to go along with it. It’s really fun because there are so many different styles of dancing and music, and it’s so different from the other songs.”
For more, visit hsedrama.org.
