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Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Broadway's The SpongeBob Musical: Live On Stage! will be filmed in front of a live theater audience and aired on Nickelodeon in December, the network announced on Thursday. The musical, based on Nickelodeon's long-running animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, follows the yellow sponge as his home of Bikini Bottom faces total annihilation. When all hope is lost, an unexpected hero rises up to the challenge.
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Ethan Slater (SpongeBob), Gavin Lee (Squidward), Danny Skinner (Patrick), Brian Ray Norris (Mr. Krabs), Wesley Taylor (Plankton) and Christina Sajous (Sandy) are set to star.
The SpongeBob Musical, currently on tour across North America, earned 12 Tony Award nominations and won Best Scenic Design of a Musical.
Tina Landau conceived and directed the musical production for the stage with the book by Kyle Jarrow, orchestrations, arrangements and music supervision by Tom Kitt, choreography by Christopher Gattelli, television production by Austin Shaw and television direction by Glenn Weiss.
The television special will include original songs by John Legend, Yolanda Adams, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Steve Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At The Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants and T.I., Domani Harris and Darwin Quinn along with a song by David Bowie and by Tom Kenny and Andy Paley.
"What better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants than to bring this wildly imaginative Broadway musical to Nickelodeon for a wider audience," executive vive president of Nickelodeon live action, unscripted and live events Rob Bagshaw said in a statement.
"We could not be more excited that fans and families of all ages will now have the opportunity to experience live actors portraying these beloved characters in a whole new way with The SpongeBob Musical: Live On Stage!," he continued.
