Casting has just been announced for the UK tour of The Spongebob Musical, based on the animated series. Featuring SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Eugene and Gary the Snail, the musical has original tunes by Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Sara Bareilles, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Plain White T's and more. It is written by Kyle Jarrow and conceived by Tina Landau, and there are additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton and additional music by Tom Kitt.
The tour will open at Southampton on 5 April 2023 and appearing in the he 14-strong company will be Gareth Gates (he/him) as Squidward (not currently set to appear in Bradford, Manchester, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Aberdeen, London and Plymouth). Divina de Campo (she/her) as Sheldon J Plankton, Lewis Cornay (he/him) as SpongeBob, Irfan Damani (he/him) as Patrick, Chrissie Bhima (she/her) as Sandy, Richard J Hunt (he/him) as Mr Krabs, Sarah Freer (she/her) as Pearl, Eloise Davies (she/her) as Mrs Puff, Hannah Lowther (she/her) as Karen and Rebecca Lisewski (she/her) as Mayor.
They are joined by Sam Beveridge (he/him), Jeremiah Olaleye (he/him), Eleanor Turiansky (she/her), Rhys Batten (he/him) and Reece Kerridge (he/him).
The tour will be directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson (she/her), with choreographer Fabian Aloise (he/him), designer Steve Howell (he/him), musical supervisor Mark Crossland (he/him), musical director Marcus Carter-Adams (he/him), costume designer Sarah Mercade (she/her), lighting and video designer Ben Bull (he/him), sound designer Ben Harrison (he/him), costume and wig supervisor Megan Rarity (she/her), associate choreographer Paris Green (she/her) and casting director Harry Blumenau casting (he/him).
Gareth Gates (Squidward) shot to fame in 2002, coming runner up in the UK’s first Pop Idol. He went on to sell over 5-million records worldwide including five UK number-one singles. His theatre credits include playing Marius in the both the West End and 25th Anniversary Tour of Les Misérables, Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the West End and on tour, Warner in the UK tour of Legally Blonde and Willard in the UK tour of Footloose.
Divina De Campo (Sheldon J. Plankton) is a seasoned British drag queen and singer who was recently crowned runner up on the first Series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Known for her high soprano and four -octave range, Divina has been featured on ITV’s The Voice and the BBC’s All Together Now. Her critically acclaimed theatre credits include Mary Sunshine in Chicago and most recently her award nominated performance as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Lewis Cornay (SpongeBob) was most recently seen as Amos in Whistle Down The Wind at The Watermill. His West End credits include The Book of Mormon, The King and I, The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. As a writer, Lewis had his debut play Daddy Issues premiere at the Seven Dials Playhouse last year.
