Bikini Bottom is washing up on Broadway.
Nickelodeon’s top-rated ’toon “SpongeBob SquarePants” is heading for The Great White Way — in a musical adaptation that’s scheduled to arrive on Broadway in the 2016-17 season.
It will be called “The SpongeBob Musical” and will follow SpongeBob SquarePants — “who lives in a pineapple under the sea” — and his pals Patrick, Squidward, Sandy Cheeks and Mr. Krabs as the residents of Bikini Bottom embark on a new journey.
David Bowie, John Legend, Lady Antebellum and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith are among those will pen original songs for the show.
“The SpongeBob Musical” will premiere in Chicago’s Oriental Theatre on June 7, 2016 for a limited run through July 3 before eventually heading for Broadway.
Tony winner Tom Kitt (“Next to Normal”) will be the musical supervisor, with Kyle Jarrow (“Whisper House”) writing the book.
The project is the brainchild of Tina Landau (“Superior Donuts”), who will also direct. The actors will not use prosthetics or costumes while portraying the characters, she says.
“SpongeBob” has proven to be quite the lucrative property, spawning a cottage industry of merchandise and two big-screen movies, “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” (2004) and “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” which premiered last February.