52 | DECEMBER 19 • 2019
T
wo swimmers
have dived into
the imaginary
world of SpongeBob. Tina
Landau, once a competi-
tive swimmer,
is director of
The SpongeBob
Musical touring
Dec. 24-29 at the
Fox Theatre in
Detroit. Tristan
McIntyre, buoyed by a
recent deep-sea adventure
with buddies, portrays the
villain in the musical.
The two, who also attend-
ed Beverly Hills High School
in California but years apart,
are helping turn stages into
fluid fantasylands energized
by music. Composers are a
stream of Grammy Award-
winners that include Steven
Tyler and Joe Perry of
Aerosmith, Lady Antebellum
and John Legend.
“I like the energy, joy and
message this show contains,”
says Landau, who earned her
theater degree at Yale. “It’
s
about community, taking
care of others and accepting
each other. It’
s also about our
need to look at each moment
as precious and each day as the
best day ever.”
The musical builds on the
popular animated cartoon
series, SpongeBob SquarePants,
launched in 1999, that follows
the adventures of SpongeBob,
an optimistic sea sponge, and
his undersea friends.
“We did not want to rep-
licate or imitate what works
best as animation,” Landau
explains. “We wanted to see if
actors, through their essence
and abilities, could bring these
characters to life in human
form, allowing audiences to
believe they’
re the characters
while creating an experience
that feels very live.”
The stage plot advances
with SpongeBob and his
Bikini Bottom townspeople
discovering a nearby volcano,
which is going to erupt the
next day unless SpongeBob
can figure out what to do.
“It’
s about a community fac-
ing the prospect of the end of
the world and how each reacts
and what the community goes
through in response to that,”
says Landau, whose work on
the Broadway production of
SpongeBob brought her a 2018
Tony Award nomination for
Best Direction of a Musical.
Landau, 57, has received
12 Tony nominations. She
has worked on more than
20 productions at Chicago’
s
Steppenwolf Theatre Company,
where the direction of the
Diary of Anne Frank had a
great impact because of her
Jewish background.
“I went to Amsterdam and
visited the house,” recalls
Landau, who divides her
time between homes in New
York and Connecticut. “I also
took the opportunity to travel
through Europe and saw the
sites of some of the concentra-
tion camps. It changed my
life.”
A life-changing experience
for McIntyre, related to his
maternal Jewish heritage,
was travel offered by Taglit
Birthright Israel.
“My Birthright experience
expanded my interest in trav-
el,” says McIntyre, who will
move from California to New
York after the SpongeBob
assignment.
McIntyre, 21, graduat-
ed from the University of
Southern California School
of Dramatic Arts this past
spring. One week later, he
was hired for the tour.
“I play the guy who
wants to eliminate Bikini
Bottom and create his own
town,” McIntyre says. “I
sing ‘
When the Going Gets
Tough’
to get everyone to
go along with a scheme.”
McIntyre used to watch
SpongeBob on TV as a
child. Now, he tries to watch
an episode a night to rein-
force the nature of the char-
acter he is portraying.
“When I was 5, I watched
some kids in a talent show
and told my parents that’
s
what I wanted to do,” recalls
McIntyre, whose first job was
in a television commercial.
His introduction to singing
and dancing came through
an after-school program
called Taste of Broadway, and
through regular attendance at
an arts camp, where he is now
a director.
“I like that through
SpongeBob we create a show
about coming together and
supporting each other,”
McIntyre says. “Our message is
to scatter and spread joy.”
Tina Landau
Arts&Life
theater
The SpongeBob
Musical
Bringing the animated series alive
challenges actors and the director.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sheldon Plankton (Tristan McIntyre) and Karen (Caitlin Ort) in action
details
The SpongeBob Musical runs Dec. 24-29 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.
Tickets start at $35. (313) 471-3200. foxtheatredetroit.org.
313 PRESENTS/NICKELODEON