For many viewers, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a fun way to see some giant balloons, and to watch performances from currently-running or upcoming broadway shows. And this year's parade was no exception.
But one musical performance caught some parade viewers off guard, and they had lots to say about it on Twitter.
When SpongeBob SquarePants had its turn in the spotlight, performing the song "Bikini Bottom Day," viewers were met with a very human-like SpongeBob and an enthusiastic cast singing and dancing their hearts out.
But for many, they just thought the whole thing was strange:
And they didn't like the fact that the popular cartoon was now a broadway musical:
But plenty of others were completely enthralled by the performance:
And they had some things they needed to say to the haters:
One user even showed the breakdown of who wrote the musical numbers for the show, and it's a pretty impressive list of A-list musical artists:
With songs by the Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Steven Tyler, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, and more, you know at least the music is going to be both eclectic and entertaining.
And there's a reason that the characters aren't walking around in oversized sponge or starfish costumes. They wanted potential audience members to know that the new musical isn't just some arena-style or theme park show for kids.
In an interview with the New York Times, Nickelodeon president Cyma Zarghami said she was skeptical that a musical adaptation would be just that. " I was worried that somebody would take SpongeBob and put a square character on the stage and it would look like a skip and a wave show for little kids," she said. "So I gave the assignment: ‘If you can find somebody who can translate it in the most clever way possible, so that people are in awe of it, in the way they were originally in awe of ‘The Lion King,’ then I’m all in."
So they found an unconventional director in Tina Landau, and she proposed something "rather subversive, really psychedelic and whimsical and very much full of anarchic energy," and something that "explodes off the stage."
And if the opening number performed during the parade is any indication of what to expect, then audiences will either love it or hate it. Assuming that their opinions are already formed, that is.
Previews started Nov. 6, and the show officially opens Dec. 4.
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H/T: Twitter, Comicbook.com, New York Times
