First Listen to Cast Album for SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS Musical!

Are you ready kids? NPR has shared a first listen to the highly anticipated SpongeBob SquarePants cast album! The musical arrives on Broadway November 6th, with an official opening on Monday, December 4th. The score features original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants and T.I., and a song by David Bowie and by Tom Kenny and Andy Paley. Additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton. Additional music by Tom Kitt.

Click here to get a first listen to the album, dropping September 22 from Masterworks Broadway.

This week, full casting was announced for the Broadway production, playing at the The Palace Theatre. Ethan Slater as SpongeBob SquarePants, Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles, Lilli Cooper as Sandy Cheeks and Danny Skinner as Patrick Star. Joining the company are Brian Ray Norris as Eugene Krabs and Wesley Taylor as Sheldon Plankton. The ensemble will include Gaelen Gilliland, Juliane Godfrey, Kyle Matthew Hamilton, Curtis Holbrook, Stephanie Hsu, Jesse JP Johnson, L'ogan J'ones, Jai'len Josey, Kelvin Moon Loh, Lauralyn Mcclelland, Vasthy Mompoint, Oneika Phillips, Jon Rua, JC Schuster, Abby C. Smith, Robert Taylor Jr., Allan Washington, Brynn Williams, Matt Wood.

Acclaimed Steppenwolf director Tina Landau and the groundbreaking designers behind Fun Home, Hedwig, and Spring Awakening have brilliantly reimagined Bikini Bottom for the Broadway stage, bringing the spirit of SpongeBob to life with humanity, heart, and pure theatricality. With an original score from some of the biggest names in pop and rock, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS explodes with energy.

Stakes are higher than ever before as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage. Get ready to dive to all-new depths of theatrical innovation at SpongeBob SquarePants, where the power of optimism really can save the world!

SpongeBob SquarePants is a musical production with a book by Kyle Jarrow, music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt, choreography by Christopher Gattelli, and conceived and directed by Tina Landau,

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

Image: Courtesy of the artist