Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview: Brian Martin and Eric Van Tielen of Wayne State University's 'The SpongeBob Musical'

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Exclusive Interview: Brian Martin and Eric Van Tielen of Wayne State University's 'The SpongeBob Musical' · The BSB Podcast

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  Bikini Bottom is arriving soon at Wayne State University's Hillberry Gateway with the SpongeBob musical.
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  today.
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  We're speaking with the director of the musical, Eric Von Thielen and the SpongeBob himself, Brian Martin.
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  Thank you so much for being here today.
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  You too.
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  How are you two doing?
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  We're doing good.
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  Thank you for having us.
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  We are so excited.
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  This is such a cool show to be bringing to Wayne State.
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  I'm an alumni of Wayne State myself.
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  I got my bachelor's and my master's from there and I've seen so many shows.
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  But we're going to start with kind of, know, Eric, how is the rehearsal process been so far for the SpongeBob musical?
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  Well, the first thing I want to say is that we have an incredible cast portraying these characters in Bikini Bottom.
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  And when I first proposed this show, uh my assignment from the department was to get a show that is family friendly and that a lot of people want to come to.
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  And this was the first thought that I had.
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  And we have had nothing but fun throughout the rehearsal process.
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  And we are very, very excited to put this show out for the public.
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  It's such a cool show to pick for this because it truly is both family friendly and so like it's 100 % SpongeBob from Nickelodeon but just on stage.
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  Yeah, this has a really wide-ranging audience.
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  There are a lot of college-age kids who grew up with SpongeBob.
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  There are full-grown adults who grew up with SpongeBob, and now they have the chance to introduce it to their kids.
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  It's gonna be a lot of fun.
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  Brian, about, what is this kind of like for you, stepping into the world of SpongeBob and Bikini Bottom?
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  I mean, did you grow up on the show?
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  No, actually, I wasn't allowed to watch SpongeBob when I was a kid.
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  My parents thought it was really annoying.
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  ah So I had to do a lot of binge watching the show um in the last month or two to figure out kind of the physicality and the voices of the character.
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  It's a really physical process.
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  um It's been.
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  It's been very, very physical, like getting it in the body.
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  Yeah.
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  I would definitely say that I've seen a production of this before and it's so interesting how much it's still SpongeBob.
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  Like it's so much energy.
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  have to kind of embody this, again, this animated character on stage and everybody is so unique to who their character is.
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  But it does take a lot of, I would assume, work to be able to do that.
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  Yeah, it's two hours of bouncing off the walls and running around on stage nonstop.
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  It's really, it's fun.
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  It's a lot of fun, but it's arduous.
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  It's hard.
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  So kind of, I'm hoping to kind of hear from a SpongeBob himself about like, what's the story for those who maybe aren't familiar with the SpongeBob musical.
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  Yeah, so basically SpongeBob wakes up just like any other day and he's in his town of Bikini Bottom and then all of a sudden there are some earthquakes happening.
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  And so he gathers his friends and they all realize that there's a volcano that's about to destroy the town.
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  So he has to climb the volcano, he decides with his friends and throw this device that Sandy the Squirrel has made and throw it into the volcano.
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  And along the way, know, some missteps happen.
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  and he makes some mistakes, his friends make some choices that he doesn't agree with, but he still has a job to do.
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  And so it's kind of about his journey to the top.
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  That is the perfect summary for the show without giving too much away.
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  But truly, is, it is like uh a normal episode of SpongeBob, but just expanded upon with music.
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  And like, it's so, it's really kind of awesome to have all sorts of aspects and all those characters that people know.
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  ah Eric, again, with this being such a family-friendly show for all ages, why did this feel like maybe that it was the perfect show to bring to the Hilberry?
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  I think the thing that I like most about the show itself is that it is about a community of weird sea creatures who come together to kind of like solve the earth's problems.
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  And so while it is super fun and it is built for a younger audience, there are themes in this show that definitely resonate with an adult audience that speak to what is happening
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  in our world right now.
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  And so one of the things I'm excited about is that it's a piece that really is for everyone.
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  And I think even if you are a person who has never seen a single episode of SpongeBob, even if you are a person who dislikes SpongeBob, there are things in this production that
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  you will find delightful, that you will find resonant, and I think you might leave the theater feeling very happy.
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  There's quite a few themes here in this show that are a lot deeper than maybe you tend to see in like a kid's show.
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  Like, oh I mean, we're dealing with kind of like ostracizing people, know, Sandy's what she's dealing with and like the end of the world, you know?
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  And so it's interesting to have some of those, like you said, those things that people could pick up on even if they're not SpongeBob fans.
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  Yeah, I imagine that anyone within earshot listening might have existential feelings of dread right now considering uh where our planet is at, whether it is an environmental or a
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  political point of view.
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  But I think people understand what it feels like to gather as a community and find hope.
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  And that's what this is about.
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  Absolutely.
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  So Brian, with you playing such an iconic role such as SpongeBob, first off, who is SpongeBob to you?
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  Because you said you kind of you you had to binge a lot of the show.
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  You're just kind of learning who this is.
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  So who is SpongeBob to you as the actor?
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  SpongeBob, I think he's a uh guy that's naive and kind of has a youthful view about the world, um but he has a positive outlook on life and he believes that he can do anything
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  that he puts his mind to.
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  And I think that at the core of the character, that's the biggest thing about him that I wanted to bring to the character.
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  Is that where you kind of start your developmental process for a character such as this?
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  Is like by finding that core value and then bringing it to life?
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  I think when I'm trying to find a character, the most essential traits of that character and who they are as a person kind of guide how I play it, essentially.
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  Sure, absolutely.
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  So what do you feel like is maybe the hardest part of playing Spongebob?
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  Oh, the physicality.
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  It's so much cartoon logic being brought into the real world.
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  And so there's such a challenge of putting that onto the stage and making it look like a cartoon without, you know, and still keeping it grounded in a sense.
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  So it's difficult.
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  Eric, how do you find the balance while staying true to that original cartoon or cartoonish features of the show while creating something new for stage?
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  Yeah, that's actually a really good question because when an audience member comes to see a theater piece, their expectations are that they see a theater piece, right?
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  So this is not us trying to be an exact replica of the cartoon.
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  They are not seeing a two-dimensional show.
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  We are live.
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  We are in 3D.
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  And this show was developed by a very well-known theater practitioner named Tina Landau, who has deep roots in the theater community.
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  And so the show that you are seeing
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  My task for the designers was to create a 3D experience for the audience.
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  So we have to kind of like toggle that line between make believe and real life.
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  It has to feel like it has the essence of the original show, the cartoon, but it also has to be safe.
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  It also has to speak to the fact that these are real actors on stage.
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  And so you will still get that SpongeBob magic.
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  And you might just be really surprised at how far we have asked our actors to go.
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  to get that essence onto stage.
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  I was going to ask you, how do you help the actors kind of transform these animated creatures on stage while still kind of feeling human, because there's still that human
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  aspect to them?
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  Yeah, so it's about identifying in the piece what are the moments that speak directly to SpongeBob the property and what people's expectations of those characters are.
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  There are a lot of SpongeBob stands out there that are going to want to hear accurate voices and correct physical portrayals.
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  But at the same time, once we establish that, our job as a theater troupe is to speak to something that is more human and more real.
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  And so once we've established that, the actors have a little bit of permission, and I have permission as the director, to take it into a different direction as a theater piece.
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  has to be a lot of fun, both for the director and as the actor.
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  oh So Eric, when you're looking at the show, where do you begin technically to bring to life a show that is underwater?
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  That's, you again, you're kind of toeing this line, but like, how do you build the set and the lighting and the set design for all of this, for the Bikini Bottom and for the
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  SpongeBob musical?
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  That's a really great question.
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  And you're bringing up the point that I have a full design team that helps me realize this vision.
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  And those people are integral to making this awesome.
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  ah So when you have a costume designer who is so imaginative and you have a lighting designer who's thinking about the quality of light underwater, and you have a sound
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  designer who's thinking about the soundscape and bringing this entire world to life, those people.
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  really are an asset to world building.
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  But the fact that this is underwater has given us a creative assignment that is really difficult but also fun.
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  And I want to add to that that one of the things that I tasked my designers with was to recycle or upcycle as much material as possible in the making of this production.
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  And we have attached to our production a goal of helping out the environment.
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  because this is about underwater sea life and we know that our oceans are at risk.
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  So our company has partnered with the Broadway Green Alliance to say something about the environment while we are spending time in this underwater world.
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  That is incredible.
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  What a uh great thing to do.
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  And what a great message to kind of spread with the show.
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  Yeah, I love to attach some type of cause to what I do.
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  And listen, theater people are activists.
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  We care about the world, we care about people around us.
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  And if I can take something that feels cartoonish and turn it into something meaningful for both the actor and for the community seeing the production, then that's what we're
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  gonna do.
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  So Brian, with this role, you said it's very physical, it's very demanding.
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  So what do feel like this role has taught you as a performer?
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  Or how have you feel like you've grown as a performer from this role?
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  Yeah, I think the biggest thing I've learned how to do is pace myself in a role.
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  I think that's the biggest thing that Eric keeps repeating to me, pace yourself, don't, you know, blow your voice out in the first week of rehearsals.
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  ah Cause I love to dive in, like as soon as we start rehearsals, I love to dive into trying to do everything I can.
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  And so with this role, it was really hard to try not to do everything all at once and incorporate every physical and every vocal aspect into it.
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  So it's kind of been.
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  Learning how to building block up the character instead of just everything all at once.
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  imagine because there's so many pieces to this.
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  Not only do you have the voice and you have the acting, like there's so much like every song has such an identity in this show and every you know it's a very eclectic sound.
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  um What do you feel like how do you feel like the SpongeBob musical kind of creates that cohesive sound for the show Brian?
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  that's a hard question.
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  ah I think...
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  It's, there's such, everybody brings their own voice to the table.
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  And that's kind of what I like about it.
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  Everybody has their own personality within their roles.
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  And so it's, we are playing these characters, but really we're playing ourselves playing these characters.
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  And I think that's what's so cool about the musical.
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  Absolutely.
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  Do you have a favorite song to perform in the show?
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  Yeah, I like, and it's a really hard one to perform, but I really think it's cool.
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  It's the reprise of Simple Sponge at the end.
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  We're still having trouble getting it together, because the time signature is pretty difficult, but it's a really fun song to perform, and I'm really excited to show people.
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  How for you, Eric, is the different musical styles, how do they come together to have a cohesive sound in the SpongeBob musical?
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  Yeah, that's a really good question.
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  I want to first let our listeners know that this is a score that is composed by a bunch of different pop rock artists.
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  So we have everyone from David Bowie and Aerosmith to Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Panic at the Disco, Cyndi Lauper.
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  There are all these different contributors, but because they all kind of live in the world of pop rock, the sound is actually surprisingly cohesive just as a score.
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  And then
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  So we have all those disparate parts, we have all of these disparate characters, but I think in the formation of the musical itself, they kind of dealt with making it be
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  cohesive already.
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  The work has been done for us.
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  We are now the interpreters of the piece.
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  And my job as the director is to kind of zoom out and make sure that everyone is living in the same world.
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  And so far, so good.
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  It is so, it's so interesting because every song does have, like they really did good job of finding like, like Sandy song feels like Sandy song, you know what mean?
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  And like SpongeBob's song feels like everybody has such a unique sound.
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  So it really is kind of a cool approach how they did come together with so many different writers and artists to make that.
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  Yeah, and I would also add that because it's a cartoon, or because it's based on a cartoon, you have permission to go in a lot of different directions.
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  You have to pay attention to how an audience is receiving the piece and help them take those big turns.
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  But the show does that, and if we do it artfully, the audience will go along.
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  And again, it must be so much fun to have that wiggle room to kind of play in the sandbox, where you don't have to be tied down.
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  Yeah, the material's still there, but you can kind of weave your way through that.
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  It's not like a Shakespeare play where it has to be kind of done as a Shakespeare play.
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  Absolutely, and since you brought up the sandbox, one of my favorite things as a theater professor, or even just as an actor, is that idea of play, permission to play around.
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  And the set that has been created for us is a giant playground, and wait until you see these pieces come together and how the actors will be playing on them.
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  That's, Brian, your face lit up with that.
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  This sounds like this must be really cool for you.
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  it's awesome.
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  I am so excited.
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  We haven't started working with the set yet.
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  I'm so excited to get in there and just start climbing over it and running around on it.
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  It's probably one of the coolest sets that I've gotten to work with.
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  It's truly one of those things where it's so immersive in a way, you know what I mean?
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  Getting to step into that.
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  I think that it's both immersive for audiences and it's obviously for you.
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  Yeah, it's gonna be really fun.
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  I don't wanna give too much away.
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  I don't wanna spoil it too much, but there's a lot of climbing.
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  Possibly.
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  So then Brian, what themes from the show really resonate the most with you?
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  I think a big one is community coming together to stop an unstoppable force.
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  um Another one is friendship and what guides a friendship, what divides a friendship.
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  And I think the last one that I've really been working with is self-worth.
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  Because SpongeBob faces a lot of adversity in...
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  himself and and he he faces a lot of times where he is doubting himself and he doesn't know if he can do what he's trying to do but he's able to overcome it because his friends
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  are are there for him
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  Absolutely.
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  Community is important, friends are important, and we can really do anything that we set our mind to.
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  Those are some great themes.
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  Eric, how about for you.
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  Yeah, two things that I want to highlight are the fact that this is a live theater piece means that as human beings we get to gather together and experience what it feels like to
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  have a communal experience.
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  And we know that that happens less and less.
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  And so the live aspect of just sitting next to someone and experiencing human emotion is really important to me.
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  And then the part about uh just having fun.
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  letting an audience let loose, have a laugh, interact with the show and have a good time is really important.
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  I think it's really, really important.
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  Absolutely.
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  Community and just coming together and having a joyful moment is the best thing we could do right now in strange times.
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  Yeah, the other thing is you use the word immersive and I use the phrase 3D.
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  You will find a lot of moments in this show in which the actors are surrounding you.
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  They're coming out into the aisles where it truly does feel like things, sounds, set pieces are happening in your environment.
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  So this is not a sit back and relax kind of show.
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  This is a sit forward and participate and we're really proud of that.
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  That's so cool.
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  So like, again, when you're kind of talking about family friendly and all ages, like this isn't just, know, lot of having done a lot of theater as a critic and stuff, you're
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  sitting there and you're watching a lot of it and it's very passive, but this sounds like it's not, I don't want to say that it's like an active, but like you're welcome in to be
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  part of the fun.
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  Yeah, I've seen enough shows here at the theater that are polite and that are reverent and I've seen a handful of shows where the audience feels compelled to speak out or laugh out
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  loud or to participate and I really want families and kids to have a magical experience.
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  I would love it if kids were shouting, if kids were laughing out loud.
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  I would love it if an adult is surprised by having an emotional reaction to the material.
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  I think all of that is possible.
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  Absolutely.
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  Well, thank you too so much for being here.
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  It's been such a pleasure talking with you and we are so excited for this show to arrive.
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  Thank you so much.
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  Come see us on March 27th through April 4th at the Hillberry Gateway.
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  Absolutely.
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  So get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.