The SpongeBob Musical Youth Edition

On yet another blisteringly hot summer’s evening, I am sure that everyone, including the cast, were relieved to be cooled by the air-conditioned Carnegie, it really is a great venue. It was a pleasure to see the thriving youth section of Thetford Players in action, I had seen many of this talented group in panto earlier this year and was delighted to read that an adult musical will return to the Thetford Players calendar in 2026.

Set (Nat Holding) and costumes (Carol Smith) were all made in house, and excellent, as we were transported into the under-sea state of Bikini Bottom, where SpongeBob lives in a pineapple. The stage was decoratively set with nautical items, plus a large hand-built volcano, where the clever use of lighting was used as it erupted. Adding in some cartoon projections similar to those in the cartoon TV series which first emerged on our TV screens in 1999, the stage was very colourful and was set for a very entertaining and fun filled evening.

Opening the show as SpongeBob, Summer-Brooke Harvey swapped her recent baddy role in the panto to the hero of the show, showing her versatility as an actress and singer with an energetic, ever smiling and very confident performance. As well as choreographing the show, Charley-Louise Holt took on the role of the somewhat slow on the uptake pink starfish Patrick, who thought he had few admirers until cheered on by the Sardine Devotees (Rosie Holding, Jamie-Leigh Higgs and Enara-Jae Margrie).

I really enjoyed the performances of Tobias Nicholas as the Mayor of Bikini Bottom, and Colin O’ Donnell, as TV announcer Perch Perkins, both brought charisma to their roles, and I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of these two in future productions.

The last time I saw George Cooke, he had me laughing so much I had tears running down my face as the dame in the panto, this time he was the money-oriented owner of the Krusty Krab restaurant, Mr Krabs. George has great comic timing, and this shone through once again.

Another curious character is that of explorer Sandy Cheeks, a Squirrel that somehow lives at the bottom of the ocean, which was well performed by Elena Young. Finally, Squidward, with four legs, was excellently portrayed by Reece Fuller, dead pan, shy, and often dismissed, but really coming into his own at his retort to the Electric Skates band (Sophie Lankshear, Amelia Evans and Aiybriah Margrie), by delivering the song “I’m Not a loser”.

It was great to meet up with Director Charlie Wilson at the end, my congratulations to Charlie and all involved for another very enjoyable evening’s entertainment by Thetford Players.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.