SpongeBob SquarePants Dives into the Broadway Theater

Steve Adubato goes one-on-one with Ethan Slater, star of the new hit, “SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical,” to talk about his career in Broadway and how he got to where he is today.

2/7/18 #2110

Excerpt:

"Give me adventure, I'm a contender and more! 'Cause you're not a simple sponge! I will show I'm not just the sponge next door! No you're not a simple sponge! I'm gonna find a better way, a way to save the life I love! I am not... ...a simple sponge! ...a simple sponge! That guy is good! That is Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, playing at the Palace Theatre, 47th and Broadway, and you are SpongeBob? Yes I am! [laughter] Yeah. This is your Broadway debut! I know! How exciting? It's a dream come true. It's sort of the dream I never knew I had. To play SpongeBob on Broadway. [laughter] But it's been everything you could imagine, and way more. By the way, as we do this program around the holidays, 2017, it has just opened? Yeah. Describe it. Totally surreal. We opened on Monday night, it was really electric. You know I think... This is Wednesday by the way. Oh, oh yeah. It's only a couple days, but go ahead. No, I'm just saying, it's only been a couple days. Go ahead. It's only been a couple days. Yeah. I had yesterday to process. But, you know, it was this... it was this unbelievable experience. I sort of naively didn't think opening night was gonna feel that different from the month of previews that we had leading up to it, because every audience was so, you know, joyful and electric, and it's been incredible to perform it every night. And so I thought this is gonna be another great audience, and it's gonna be a lot of friends and family, but it's gonna feel like another show. And it did. But it also felt really monumental. This is something that I've, you know, wanted to do forever. Good for you. And I got to do it with some of my best friends. And that was awesome. You know, it's so interesting. Nickelodeon? Yeah. The original, right? Cable? You were not around for that? Right? Well I was a little kid when SpongeBob started. But you were allowed to watch it? [laughter] I... well, we didn't actually have cable growing up, so I watched a lot of PBS. Where again? In D.C. In D.C.? Okay. I grew up in Washington, D.C. Alright. Um... You were watching PBS? I stepped on that line. Yeah. Yeah, I was. I was watching a lot of PBS. WETA? Right? Yeah. Yeah, I... see! Yeah. Wow. We know these things. That was awesome. But go ahead. Yeah! [laughter] Yeah well... yeah well, it's required to know every station around the country. I guess that makes sense. But go ahead. [laughter] But go ahead. So... but when..."