What Connects David Bowie, T.I. and Aerosmith? SpongeBob SquarePants, Coming Soon to Broadway
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The highly anticipated SpongeBob SquarePants musical (opening Dec. 4) boasts a score written by pop and rock stars from David Bowie to T.I. Musical supervisor Tom Kitt, who worked with the artists, explains how their tunes came together.
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T.I.
Scheming character Plankton needed an energetic song “that felt like he was on top of his game,” says Kitt. “The world of hip-hop and T.I. felt perfect.”
DAVID BOWIE
“A huge SpongeBob fan” who appeared in one episode, Bowie allowed Nickelodeon to use his song “No Control” in the show.
LADY ANTEBELLUM
The trio’s “Chop to the Top” (a “Rocky moment” for SpongeBob) has a “warm, country-pop feel — a groove you want to sit in.”
STEVEN TYLER & JOE PERRY
Tyler sang the demo for “Bikini Bottom Boogie,” a bluesy rocker Kitt calls “Aerosmith, right in front of you.”
THE FLAMING LIPS
Wayne Coyne and Co. turned in a four-minute-plus “gorgeous melodic experimental” demo for the act-one finale.
CYNDI LAUPER
The Kinky Boots Tony winner delivered “an earworm, but with that dramatic quality” for a rallying moment.
This article originally appeared in the Sep. 2 issue of Billboard.
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