If nautical nonsense be something you wish—
Then hop on the deck and flop like a fish!!
Or… maybe less fish-flopping and more… box-office buying? Yep. That’s the ticket. You can fish-flop to the Silhouette Stages Box Office (online!) and get your tickets to their upcoming production of SpongeBob: The Musical. Touching, hilarious, and full of heart— this zany, cartoon-come-stage-musical is splashing into Columbia and we’ve got the scoop from SpongeBob and Patrick Star! That is to say Matt Wetzel and Geraden Ward, playing the iconic characters, for this show!
Thank you both for sitting with me to talk about this super-fun musical! So you’re Matt Wetzel and you’re Geraden Ward and you’re playing SpongeBob, Matt and you’re playing Patrick, Geraden, did I get that right?
Matt Wetzel: Yes.
Geraden Ward: Uh-huh.
And Matt, this is your 470th show with Silhouette?
Matt: Yes, I think it’s something like that? It’s 478th… and two-thirds. Yes!
Ooh boy. And Geraden, this your— second? Third?
Geraden: Second.
Fantastic. So one seasoned Silhouette veteran and one… Silhouette novice working their way up. This is great! So how did you two end up here? Not physically here in this room with me or on this planet in general, but “here” with SpongeBob. How did you two decide that this was the show for you to come out and throw in for?
Matt: I know I remember auditioning for Sondheim on Sondheim and Robin (Co-Director Robin Bloom), who was also in that show and who I really got close with, I remember her talking at the auditions about— not even this production but just how much she really likes SpongeBob and if got the chance to direct it she would absolutely love to. And lo and behold, Silhouette Stages got the rights, the board gave them the go-ahead, and poof here it is. So just seeing how passionate and excited she was about the chance to do it back then got me excited. Plus, after just doing something really serious like Sondheim On Sondheim… and while the music in SpongeBob is really tough too, but getting to do something really off-the-wall goofy and fun— I haven’t had the chance to do that in a while. It was The Last Five Years just before Sondheim on Sondheim and I really like getting to play the goofy stuff.
Like I’m so glad I’ve had the opportunity to do a bunch of serious stuff in the past several years but I really love getting to clown around. So when I saw that I just knew— “I gotta go give this a try.”
Well I am so glad you did! You are an excellent goofy guy. So Geraden, how did you come to this project?
Gerarden: Well I was in The Wedding Singer here at Silhouette, which Debbie (Co-Director Debbie Mobley) was in and I was in the ensemble. But Wedding Singer was another show where the cast had a really good rapport backstage. And Debbie had talked to me about SpongeBob, she was really interested in it and said that she would just love for me to come out and audition. So I put it on the back burner. But I came back around to it and when I decided I’d go out for it, honestly, at first it was just semi-committal. But with every step— and this stands true to this day— with every step I’ve taken closer and closer to this show, I care about it more and more and more. As someone who brands themselves as aloof and apathetic, I find myself experiencing that “my Grinch-heart grew three sizes” from being a part of this experience.
I’m also finding a home inside of Patrick and I’m really finding a home in this cast. I will absolutely say yes to working with these wonderful, local people because I’m really just trying to get my name out there and be seen more.
Geraden, people know who you are. Your name is out there.
Matt: Absolutely; they are so perfect in this role.
Geraden: Well I hope this is the nail in the coffin of being recognized as a local actor who can be cast in shows! I mean I’ve been method-acting being a brainless dork for years, so…
Matt: I think that’s just life…in the world that we live in? That’s life.
How and where are we drawing our inspiration for SpongeBob and Patrick?
Matt: That’s a great question. Obviously, I’m a great fan of the cartoon. I love animation. It’s interesting how SpongeBob has almost become the same degree of iconic as something like Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny. It is that level of specific, special kind of cartoon, and more specifically the first three seasons right up to the movie. Past that, things start getting weird. You can really tell that the creators of this musical care about the original SpongeBob. I would say a lot of it comes from the cartoon. What I think is really special about this show is that they kind of incentivize you to make the character more representational of SpongeBob rather than trying to be SpongeBob.
One of my favorite things that people ask me all the time is, “…so they put you in a big, yellow, rubber square?” And I say no and I show them the costume design and they immediately say “Yes ! That’s SpongeBob.” And they get it. It gives you the idea that it’s SpongeBob without having to be a big square foam block. So the cartoon is definitely a big inspiration for me but the fact that the show is written in such a way that you kind of get to feel out your own version of it is really nice.
What about you, Geraden? Where is Patrick coming from for you?
Geraden: Kind of to echo what Matt said, as one of many, many people who grew up with the show, Patrick was the character that I was obsessed with as a kid and still am to this day. Because SpongeBob and its characters are so ubiquitous in pop culture, I have always just felt a closeness to it. But I’m not only pulling from my childhood memories of who Patrick was. I’m taking something that is important to me, and I’ve actually been working with Robin on this a little bit, but I remember Patrick— as funny and a little dumb— but I remember him as the heart of the show in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to the warmth and the understanding of the show. I think a lot of that has fallen away in some of the more recent episodes and even potentially when playing him. I think it’s easy to make the jokes about him being stupid. And I want to bring those moments of humor and of him being dumb but I want them to be perceived as “He’s so dumb but he’s so heartwarming.” Not he’s dumb and annoying. I want him to be dumb and loveable.
Matt: I just watched the episode of the cartoon today where SpongeBob pulls The Golden Spatula of Neptune out of the grease pan and he has to engage in a contest against Neptune to prove that he’s a good fry cook. And Patrick is being a dumb-dumb the whole time, but he is so there for SpongeBob. He just believes in him 100%, even after SpongeBob gets fried for like the bajillionth time by Neptune. Patrick is still like “SpongeBob is gonna kick your butt!” And I just love that. I love how there he is for SpongeBob.
Geraden: I think a great line in the show that is indicative of the way that we’re playing our characters, and I don’t know if you’d agree with this, Matt, but it’s the line where you yell about using the word ‘metaphorically’. Patrick is confused about a literal sentence and SpongeBob says, “No, I mean are you metaphorically with me.” And Patrick’s response is, “I don’t know what metaphorical means but yes, I am with you.” We’re definitely bringing a lot of humanness to this.
Matt: I’m actually sorry that you don’t get to meet Summer (Summer Moore) she plays Sandy Cheeks. Obviously a lot of the characters are important, but it’s sort of this triangle of SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy that become this triangle of happening. And gosh Summer is wonderful, she brings her own very cool, interesting interpretation of Sandy to the show.
That’s super great to hear! I cannot wait to see all of Bikini Bottom. Now I know you said that the music is challenging with this show, what are some of the other challenges that you two are facing when it comes to taking on these iconic characters that people are definitely going to have preconceived notions of coming into the experience?
Geraden: First and foremost, the thing you notice when you get into the rehearsal room is the music. The music hits you like a train. Every song that has ensemble into it breaks into eight parts and when you’re dealing with 30 people it’s a circus trying to get the music down.
That sounds crazy!
Matt: If you could see the score… it’s ba-zonkers.
Geraden: There is a whole ensemble number that opens up Act II and it is just so good! You have all the principals sitting on the sidelines just looking at them and asking, “When did you guys learn this 18-part song? It’s amazing!” So other than the music, I would say one of my biggest hurdles was kind of like what we were just talking about. It’s approaching a character that everybody knows and loves and finding the middle-ground between “I want to do this my way in a way that feels true to self and true to what I want to portray” while still being recognizable as that character that everybody knows and loves. I don’t want to just be some pink idiot. I want to be the pink idiot that everybody knows and loves.
Matt: I agree completely. Music is probably the hardest part of this. But you know, any big show like this where there’s a lot of spectacle, dancing is also a big factor. There’s not like a million dance numbers in this show but that’s tough too! And I think at the community theatre level that’s always one of the hardest aspects of a show.
Who is your Choreographer for this show?
Matt: Tori… why can’t I remember anybody’s last name? Tori…
Geraden: Well, her last name in my phone is Tori SpongeBOOB.
Matt: Yep. That sounds accurate. Everyone is this show’s last name is SpongeBOOB.
Geraden: Found it— Tori Farnsworth. She’s WONDERFUL!!!
Matt: Yes. Tori is wonderful and she’s put in a lot of hard work. She’s made dance numbers that I think are both really fun and are going to be impressive to look at while also being digestible for a 25-person cast performing on a stage that is not limitless in its spacing. We’re really grateful to have Tori but the dancing is still a challenge. And then like what Geraden was saying, with the characters, it is a real balancing act between doing justice to a character that is very iconic while making sure you give it your own spin. And again, to the credit of the book (libretto— Kyle Jarrow), I think it is written really well in that aspect that it gives these characters iconic lines, like when Patrick asks “Is mayonnaise an instrument?” It gives you bits.
Geraden: Yeah a lot of Patrick’s iconic lines are in this show.
Matt: But it also gives you a lot of new stuff and it gives you space to make these characters your own. I think stuff like the costumes and the set, that all comes together to make the show and you know it’s Bikini Bottom, but it’s Silhouette Stages’ Bikini Bottom.
Is there a moment in this show that you just adore, love, and enjoy above all others?
Matt: There’s so many. I really love getting to do “B.F.F.” I think that’s a really fun song, that’s one of my favorites.
I’m actually sad that the ‘FUN’ song from the cartoon isn’t a part of it. You know, where Plankton screams ‘U is for uranium— BOMBS.’
Matt: Haha! I actually feel like “B.F.F.” is the answer to that song. Going along the lines of trying to emulate the show without just beat for beat just copying things over from the cartoon, I think “B.F.F.” kind of represents “The FUN Song” and I also think our other duet that Patrick and I sing, “I Miss You” represents this other song from the show. Now in the show it’s a Mr. Krabs & SpongeBob song and it’s something like “a patty is a patty” but it’s very similar. And just to mention one more of my absolute favorite bits in the show, I love the opening to Act II. It is a moment that is just me and Gary (Forrest Roca) and the person playing Gary, Forest…last name SpongeBOOB like everyone else…and they are wonderful! And it’s a gorgeous puppet— Jess (Jessie Krupkin), again, last name SpongeBOOB, has made this amazing, gorgeous puppet and you’re going to love it! Anyway— that moment— it’s just this sweet, lovely little scene between SpongeBob and Gary and it’s very funny but its also so very heartfelt and it epitomizes what I love about the show because it’s a comedy but it also has a lot of heart to it.
Geraden: I think while Matt was telling us all of that I was able to narrow it down to two of my favorite moments, and one of them is a tiny bit self-aggrandizing but the other one is a shout-out! It is a hard tie between my number, “Super Sea Star Savior” and Squidward’s number, “I’m not a Loser.”
Who is your Squidward?
Matt & Geraden: {in shouting unison} SETH FALLON!!!
Oh my!
Geraden: If that doesn’t tell you every single thing you need to know…
Matt: I adored Seth in Wedding Singer and I love him in this.
Geraden: Seth and I have only been friends for a short while, but getting to be in this together has been such a treat.
Matt: And PERFECT Squidward.
Geraden: Oh my God yes. Seth and I realized the other day that he actually has Squidward’ voice pattern, like his cadence, naturally and that I have Patrick’s voice pattern naturally, but we’re both just higher. Like higher octaves. If you just pitched our voices down, we’d be Squidward and Patrick.
Matt: You both do spot-on impressions of the characters. Not even impressions, representations.
I am so looking forward to that. And I’m definitely looking forward to hearing the SpongeBob voice!
Matt: I’m trying not to do a straight-up Tom Kenny SpongeBob sound. But I am doing enough to I don’t know…
You’re trying to do enough so that people see it’s Matt Wetzel with hints of full-SpongeBob.
Matt: Yes, exactly.
If you could both be in this musical but you weren’t SpongeBob and Patrick and you could be anyone— who would you be?
Geraden: Oh I want to be Pearl! I can’t sing like that but I would want to be Pearl! And our Pearl— the voice on that girl! WOO!
Matt: Leah… you guessed it… SpongeBOOB. We’re all just one big SpongeBOOB family.
Geraden: Leah Freeman.
Matt: She’s phenomenal. The other day when she was doing her number with Mr. Krabs (Robert Howard) the “Daddy Knows Best” number, the whole cast was just like “Good God! Where did that amazing voice come from?” And she’s a young kid too!
Geraden: She’s also one of the only people that when in rehearsal, when dry-running that song with Robert, the song ends and then the entire cast claps for like 30 seconds its amazing. She’s amazing.
Matt: And Robert is just hysterical. He’s a great Mr. Krabs.
This is awesome. Matt, who did you say you would want to be if you weren’t SpongeBob?
Matt: I don’t think I could ever actually do this, I’d have to be magically granted incredible dancing capabilities but playing Squidward would be a whole heck of a lot of fun. You know we’ve actually talked a lot about Squidward’s part in this show. It’s almost surprising that Squidward is in the musical as little as he is, because when most people think of SpongeBob, they think of the trio: SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward. But in the musical, Squidward gets what we call “the princess track.” He gets funny little bits throughout, doesn’t do too-too much, but then gets the 11-o’clock number. I would argue it’s the best number in the show.
What is your favorite musical number? Is it different from your favorite moment in the show? Is it one that you’re even singing in or a part of?
Matt: I really love getting to do “I Miss You.”
Geraden: I think “I Miss You” is my favorite song.
Matt: It is a really pretty number. So many of the songs in the show are ridiculous or comedic and over-the-top, and that one is just really sweet.
Geraden: In a show that doesn’t have a romance plot? It is the love song. And it’s really nice to sing it.
Matt: Yes. It’s Patrick and SpongeBob, they’ve been separated, and they’re thinking about each other and how much they mean to each other.
Geraden: It’s a really, really pretty song.
Matt: God it’s gorgeous. It’s just so lovely.
You two make me so happy. Now why do you want people to come out and see SpongeBob?
Matt: For this cast. These folks have worked so hard and they’re so good. I think it would be a crime for them not to get the recognition for all the work that they’ve put into this. It’s going to be a fun, light-hearted, great romp. It’s going to be a fun, fun, show but the cast is the real reason you’ve got to see this thing. I mean they just— they’re up for anything. They do it all.
Geraden: Yeah, it’s just such a great group of people, cast and crew, and everyone is just working together on this cohesive level and it’s great. We’re all bonding— like, as we’re doing this— we’ve hit moments of technical theatre where it’s “oh, we can’t do that” but this ensemble is so great— we run into an issue where we need stairs and somebody is like, “okay. Me I’ll be stairs. I’ll make it with my body!” And you don’t always get that with every show.
Matt: Not to call out any one particular ensemble member because the whole ensemble is just so wonderful, but we can’t help but rave about Sam Sheldon— Sam Sheldon is just a treat every step of the way. This is a great example, in rehearsal the team said, “we need a squirrel on a stick” and Sam was like “GIVE IT TO ME!”
Geraden: Yeah, she was laying down, looking at her phone, and she rose up from the dead like “Squirrel on a stick!”
Matt: I know we used Sam as an example because she came to mind with that squirrel right away but that’s the case with everybody in this show. And getting back to the technical components, I’m impressed with Robin and Debbie (Co-Directors Robin Bloom and Debbie Mobley) and their ability to just adapt to stuff. We do have these stairs that are a big part of the set, but they realized that these might not be functional at all times because they take up a lot of space. But these two just dive right now— they’re ready to rework some stuff and they just make it work. I think they’re both really lovely. I think they really complement each other really well. Debbie’s got a lot of good experience with theatre and we’re now at the point of rehearsals where Debbie’s strengths really shine because she’s really good at seeing the big picture. And Robin’s really good at the little stuff.
Geraden: The detail that Robin sees is ridiculous in the best way possible.
Matt: And her eye for comedy is really good. She’s really good at pointing out a moment. She’s really good at point out a line and saying “make sure you hit this line like this because it makes for this really good moment of comedy and we want to make sure that shines.” They’ve both just been so so great.
Geraden: We’ve got great directors and such a great cast. I’d say if nothing else, the cast is worth seeing— these are people that need to be on their radar. And another thing that I’ve been pitching in regard to the show is that this musical is a show for the adults that used to watch SpongeBob. I think the cast and crew really understood the assignment. If you have a love for SpongeBob, if it was a part of your past, coming and seeing this show will give you a really fun, nostalgic little trip.
Matt: I think you’re exactly right. And to add onto that but maybe in the opposite direction, I think it’s a good show for young kids who might not know SpongeBob.
Geraden: It’s still super family friendly.
Matt: Absolutely. That’s what’s so great about it. I think you’re right that it really, really is for adults who love SpongeBob, but you can bring everyone. I’m so excited where my whole family is coming and they’re bringing all their little kids and I think they’re going to have a ball. A lot of times you worry about a show where you bring a six-, seven-, or eight-year-old, and you don’t know if they’re going to be able to sit through it. But SpongeBob is going to have them engaged the whole time.
That must be so great, you’re going to be Uncle SpongeBob for your family!
Matt: Actually, here in the production I’m SpongeMom Dadpants. They wanted somebody here in the cast— and this is something I really love about Silhouette Stages, they really take the people in their shows and take their feelings into consideration about stuff— but since they had a lot of new people in this show, which is another really great reason why I think Silhouette is doing so well, but with all these new people, and a lot younger people too, they wanted to have someone in the cast that people could go to. What’s really great is I see people in the cast talking to each other about anything and everything. But they wanted to make sure that the cast felt comfortable talking about whatever it is, if they had an issue, if they had a question but didn’t want to bring it up necessarily with the Director— they wanted to have someone that the cast could come to— and that’s me, SpongeMom Dadpants!
I just love that you’ve become the “old person” that people go to for advice, for questions, for problem-solving!
Matt: I think Jon Sheldon and Don Lampasone… sorry, Jon and Don SpongeBOOB, are the only people who are older than me in this show. I’m 35 and I’m one of the oldest here!
You two are selling this show! Is there anything else you two would like to say about the cast, the crew, the creatives, the show, anything?
Matt: There’s a million things to say! Really mostly just how— and I’m not even surprised because I’ve worked with Silhouette for a really long time and I’ve known them to cast good people and put on good shows— but I am really blown away by how much fun this has been. And how easy it has been to get along with everyone. I mean it when I say that I can go and chat with every single person. I’ve had little fun conversations with everyone. This has been one of the funnest productions I’ve ever been a part of. I’m really proud of Silhouette and I’m really proud of this cast.
Geraden: I’d say the same. I’d say my biggest shoutout is not only to the cast for all their hard work and their ridiculous talent but also to the cohesion of the entire group. I love that everybody can just hang out with everybody else. There’s not a single person I don’t like. And Debbie gets a special shout out for letting me do Sexy Patrick.
Matt: Oh that’s right!
Geraden: She will always get a gold star in my book, for letting me put on fishnets in any production I’m in.
Matt: So that’s the real reason to come see the show… to see Sexy Patrick.
You heard it here first, folks. Sexy Patrick. Now, the closer question— you have to sum up your experience with SpongeBob: The Musical here at Silhouette Stages in just one word, which word do you use?
Geraden: There’s one word that keeps coming to mind but I’m trying to make sense of it. Does that ever happen to you? Like the word is there but I want to know why that word is the word that’s floating to mind. You know what? Whatever. This is the word— absorbent.
Matt: Absorbent! Yes! I like it.
Geraden: I’m legally not allowed to explain.
Matt: So stealing from both the cartoon and from the musical— Fun. This show is fun. The essence of this show for me— Fun. It’s been fun to do, it’s going to be fun to watch, and it’s just— the experience that people come away with is “that was fun. I had fun here.” So— FUN.
SpongeBob: The Musical plays October 6th 2023 through October 22nd 2023 Silhouette Stages at Slayton House Theatre in the Village of Wilde Lake Columbia— 10400 Cross Fox Lane in Columbia, MD. For tickets please call the box office at (410) 216-4499 or purchase them in advance online.
