I’m aware of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon on which this musical is based, but not exactly familiar with it. I’ve gotten a good giggle or two watching a few minutes of this gleefully surreal show, but before seeing this adaptation, I wouldn’t have been able to name a single character outside of the titular lead. So there are a fair number of inside jokes here that went right over my head. That said, I found this relentlessly silly and colorful show irresistibly enjoyable.

In SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, the whole of Bikini Bottom, our hero’s beloved home town, is endangered by a nearby volcano on the verge of erupting. SpongeBob and his intrepid friends fight daunting odds to save the day.

I knew this would be something special when I found out that Tina Landau was directing. Landau is one of a small number of directors who have successfully applied an avant-garde background to commercial theatre work. Puppets, projections and stage tricks are used liberally but judiciously, and so are breathtakingly simple staging strategies that communicate complex moments. The end result is a fun-house ride of a show that celebrates optimism and imagination.

The entire cast works tirelessly, none more so than SpongeBob himself, Ethan Slater. Slater is compact, flexible and well-built, so much so that a friend of mine has taken to calling him SpongeBob HotPants. He also has boundless energy and cheer, which suits the role to a T. Also magnificent is Gavin Lee as SpongeBob’s sourpuss coworker Squidward, especially when tapping the living daylights out of Christopher Gatelli’s kinetic choreography for “I’m Not A Loser.” Recommended.

For tickets, click here.

To learn about Jonathan Warman’s directing work, see jonathanwarman.com.