[2] It is based on the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants and made its world premiere in June 2016 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago.

[5] The musical follows SpongeBob SquarePants’ attempts to avert a volcanic eruption that could potentially wipe out all life in Bikini Bottom.

[9] On December 7, 2019, Nickelodeon aired The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!, a television special of the show featuring members from the original Broadway cast.

[13] On January 16, 2014, The Flaming Lips' lead singer Wayne Coyne mentioned through Twitter that he was writing lyrics for a developing SpongeBob Squarepants musical.

[3] Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune stated that Nickelodeon was concerned about "an incomplete SpongeBob costume [making] it into a photograph, spoiling a planned big reveal.

Patchy objects but gets kicked out as he claims he is a victim of pirate discrimination and sings a protest chant, "Yo ho, we won't go".

A news report reveals that the tremor was caused by the nearby Mount Humongous, a volcano that will soon erupt, throwing the town into a panic ("No Control").

The townspeople, unknowingly, support this idea and decide to hold a last-minute music concert to raise enough money to build the pod.

They found wisdom in Patrick's thoughts at the town meeting and decide to make him their new leader ("Super Sea Star Savior").

Bikini Bottom has fallen into anarchy and chaos: the mayor has employed a dictatorship over the people and an angry mob has started to hunt down Sandy, thinking her science is the cause for the volcano's impending eruption.

Pearl suggests Mr. Krabs hand over his money to build the escape pod, but even he cannot meet the price and the town citizens panic and fight one another.

Everyone then decides that they should celebrate by having a new concert led by Pearl and Squidward, much to his delight, as Sandy is now welcomed back by the citizens of Bikini Bottom.

The show's Tony-nominated orchestrations by Tom Kitt utilized an orchestra of 18 for the Broadway production, including Mike Dobson who served as the live Foley artist and played the percussion book.

[24] The cast recording was released in its physical form in stores as well as on streaming sites on September 22, 2017, two months prior to the show's Broadway premiere.

[33] A German-language tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland started on October 1, 2022, in Berlin, hence becoming the first official public display of the show outside of North America.

[34] On October 24, 2022, it was announced that the musical would premiere in the UK with a tour starting at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton on April 5, 2023, and would include five weeks at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

[35] The tour visited Birmingham, Bradford, Oxford, Dublin, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Blackpool, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Norwich, Leicester, Aberdeen and Plymouth, and concluded on September 9, 2023, at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.

[42] On August 12, 2024, a behind-the-scenes look into the recording session of the Hebrew version of the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song for the end of the musical, was shared online.

[43][44] On August 14, 2024, A clip featuring the Hebrew version of Chop To The Top was shared on Facebook by Amit Yagur Grossman, the actress playing Sandy Cheeks.

The production utilized a large, flower-shaped LED screen in the middle of the stage showing custom-rendered visuals, without using any of SpongeBob's art assets, to support the story rather digitally than physically.

The role of Perch Perkins was replaced with pre-recorded clips of the real-life Israeli TV news anchor, Danny Kushmaro of Hevrat HaHadashot, while the song "No Control" was led by an ensemble actor.

"[61] Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune praised the cast (particularly Ethan Slater, Danny Skinner, Lilli Cooper, and Gavin Lee) and the production values.

He wrote positively of the show's songs, writing that the musical's "biggest gamble—a score made up of singles by different songwriters and unified by orchestrator Tom Kitt—works quite beautifully."

Nonetheless, he warned "the transition to Broadway now needs to involve a dialing back of excess and more attention to truth—Bikini Bottom truth, sure, but metaphoric human veracity.

"[4] Similarly, Steve Oxman in Variety praised the entertainment, invention and "terrifically talented cast" but argued for a "slight shift in world view" to truly engage the broadest audience.

[62] In the Chicago Sun-Times' review, Hedy Weiss expressed praise for the set design's creativity and the coherency, but felt that it was almost too extravagant, writing that the "predictable" musical "exhausts itself long before it's over.

"[56] Kendall Ashley of Nerdist described the set as "pretty darn impressive" and called the decision not to use extensive makeup on the actors "interesting.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times, called it a "ginormous giggle of a show", and particularly praised Slater's performance as the titular character.

[65] Marilyn Stasio of Variety stated the show provided a good amount of "giddy, goofy fun" for all audiences.

[67] Alexis Soloski of The Guardian agreed, calling the main plot "bottom-feeder low" and subplots "roundly ignorable", resulting in a show that "is as perfunctorily entertaining as it is insistently forgettable.