Welcome to Bikini Bottom! Gavin Lee, Nick Blaemire & More Join Cast of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL in Chicago

The SpongeBob Musical has announced additional casting for the Chicago engagement. Joining the cast are Gavin Lee as Squidward, Nick Blaemire as Plankton, Danny Skinner as Patrick, and additional ensemble members will include Juliane Godfrey, Jesse JP Johnson, Lauralyn McClelland and Allan K. Washington.

They join the previously announced Ethan Slater as SpongeBob Squarepants, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks, Gaelen Gilliland, Curtis Holbrook, Stephanie Hsu, L'ogan J'ones, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Mark Ledbetter, Kelvin Moon Loh, Vasthy Mompoint, JC Schuster, Abby C. Smith, Jason Michael Snow.

Additional casting will be announced shortly.

The SpongeBob Musical will begin performances on Tuesday, June 7th at Broadway in Chicago's Oriental Theatre (24 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL). This is a limited engagement through Sunday, July 3, 2016.

The SpongeBob Musical is co-conceived and directed by Tina Landau with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, book by Kyle Jarrow, music supervision by Tom Kitt.

The SpongeBob Musical will be a one-of-a-kind musical event with original songs by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of AEROSMITH, Jonathan Coulton, Dirty Projectors, The Flaming Lips, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants and T.I., and a song by David Bowie with additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton.

The design team includes scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Kevin Adams, projection design by Peter Nigrini, sound design by Walter Trarbach and casting by Telsey + Company/Patrick Goodwin, CSA.

The SpongeBob Musical will be produced by Nickelodeon with Sony Music Masterworks and The Araca Group.

Since premiering on Nickelodeon in July 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has emerged as a pop culture phenomenon. The series has been the most-watched animated program with kids for more than 13 consecutive years, and over the past several years, it has averaged more than 1 million total viewers every quarter across all Nickelodeon networks. As the most widely distributed property in Viacom history, SpongeBob is seen in over 185 countries and translated in more than 50 languages. The Paramount Pictures feature film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water premiered Feb. 6, 2015, landing at #1 opening weekend and going on to be a major hit globally. The character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and sometimes nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurably optimist and earnest sea sponge, and his undersea friends.

For more information on The SpongeBob Musical, visit TheSpongeBobMusical.com