Producers of The SpongeBob Musical announced partial casting this morning for the Broadway-aimed show's upcoming Chicago tryout. Leading the cast in the title role will be Ethan Slater, a recent Vassar grad who's been associated with the Tina Landau–helmed production in workshop stages; SpongeBob would mark his Broadway debut.
Lilli Cooper, who's appeared on Broadway as the original Martha in Spring Awakening and in a stint as Elphaba in Wicked, will be SpongeBob's squirrel friend Sandy Cheeks. Two other principal roles, Patrick Star and Mr. Krabs, have yet to be cast.
Rounding out the ensemble are Gaelen Gilliland, Curtis Holbrook, Stephanie Hsu, L’ogan J’ones, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Mark Ledbetter, Kelvin Moon Loh, Vasthy Mompoint, JC Schuster, Abby C. Smith and Jason Michael Snow.
The show, with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, book by Kyle Jarrow, music supervision by Tom Kitt and songs by an intriguing collection of pop stars, will play the Oriental Theatre June 7–July 3.