The SpongeBob Musical At Birmingham Hippodrome Review

Reviewed by Kelly Victoria

We had the absolute pleasure of visiting the wonderful Birmingham Hippodrome last night to watch The SpongeBob Musical.

The theatre was all decked out to celebrate the infamous show with wonderful blue and yellow balloon displays to match the theming of the iconic cartoon as it’s bought to the U.K. for the very first time as a touring production.

It was my first time visiting the Birmingham Hippodrome and what an amazing venue it is. Staff are helpful and friendly and the venue has so much space making it a comfortable place to visit and never too overwhelming with crowds or people.

As we took our seats in the Middle Upper Circle we had a fantastic view of the stage. We were greeted with a bright colourful set which used lighting and tv screens to the side of the stage ready to immerse you into Bikini Bottom and a fun filled show.

Having come off Broadway relatively recently, I knew that the show was super popular there. However, I still wasn’t sure what to expect from a performance basically based on a Sponge living in a Pineapple under the sea.

I have to say though, I was pleasantly surprised. The storyline isn’t complex or particularly hard to follow. In short, the volcano in Bikini Bottom is sure to erupt and the undersea residents are convinced the end is nigh. However, they are keen to find a way to stop the eruption thus saving the undersea world and are looking for someone to lead the way out of the catastrophe. Thankfully, the wonderful trio of SpongeBob (Lewis Cornay) and his faithful friend Patrick Star (Irfan Damani) with the help of Sandy Cheeks (Chrissie Bhima) work together to find the best in each other and save the day.

Through the storyline you are treated to getting to know each and every one of the characters in depth and understand who they are. One of the things that I particularly loved is every character, whether they’re the lead or not, gets a chance to shine. The show is full of comedy, fun and high energy. However, there are some tender moments in the show too which really help you understand the vulnerabilities of these well loved characters.

The show is full of wonderful singing, vibrant dancing and colourful costumes. With lots of big bright choreography filled numbers which are all a delight to watch, the show is jam packed with vigour. Lots of the numbers have the whole cast filling the stage which make a real impact and add to the vibrancy of the show.

You’d be hard pressed not to love this show as long as you don’t take it too seriously and enjoy it for what it is. It’s the perfect show to take the whole family to visit and the children in the audience just loved it. There’s lots of humour that the kids will enjoy and special effects including smoke and bubbles. It’s the ideal performance to take as a first visit to the theatre for younger children. Especially as the show only runs for two hours including the interval.

The show starts with a pirate and some shipmates who introduced the show and starts the audience off with a short scene and tells us not to use our mobile and such. However, the second half of the show also starts with the pirate who ends up getting the crowd to sing and interact. Whilst this was fun and the children in the audience loved it. However, for me personally, it was a bit panto – by the way I LOVE pantos this isn’t a diss on them at all – I just didn’t really expect this from a touring production that’s come off Broadway.

Costumes have been cleverly designed by Sarah Mercade to represent the characters brilliantly. They are fun, colourful and true to the much loved cartoon stars we know and love.

The set forms part of the show and includes two screens on both sides of the stage. Richard Arnold plays Perch Perkins and is part of the cast through pre-recorded footage which is played perfectly in time with the scenes through the show. The set was big, fantastic and worked well to make you feel that you were right there in Bikini Bottom with the cast.

The whole cast performed with a huge amount of energy throughout the entire show and were incredible. Lewis Cornay played the perfect SpongeBob and his sidekicks Patrick Star played by Irfan Damani and Sandy Cheeks played by Chrissie Bhima were also fantastic.

Special kudos has to go to the ensemble who also played the roles of smaller characters in the show. Believe me, they had ALOT to do and did so brilliantly. Always giving their all, funny, high energy and just wonderful. There must have been quick changes galore going on behind the scenes, but you’d never know. They worked super hard but did a phenomenal job.

The orchestra were set on stage within the set and also wore costume. They were brilliantly used to perform on stage alongside the cast and even sang at moments in the show. They were used imaginatively and it was wonderful to see the orchestra actually perform live and in costume too.

The show is bright, colourful, dazzling and fun. Honestly, if you want to be treated to a night of entertainment with colourful costumes, incredible dancing, brilliant singing and lots of belly laughs splash out on tickets! It’s the perfect Easter holiday treat!

Rating: 4/5

The show is on from 11th – 15th April 2023

Tickets cost from £24.00

For more information or to book tickets, please see here.

For Tour dates please see here.