The Cast Interview Of The 2023 All School Musical: The Spongebob Musical

Haoua Saley

Well folks, that time of year is finally over. This year our students and staff put on The Spongebob Musical in the Maryland Theater. Six nights of clarinets, escape pods, and Bikini Bottom Bashes have now come to an end. This year at The Phantom we decided to commemorate our musical this year with an interview with all of our lead characters, Spongebob, Sandy, and Patrick. This musical was a little different because the leads were a part of a split cast, Aqua and Coral. Fortunately, I was able to have the leads from both Aqua, Hayden Souders, Luke Malott, and Alannah Urcia-Mulheisen, and Coral, Nathan Lushbaugh, Will Turney, and Krisalyn Nance, join me for an interview about the musical. Without further ado I give you the lead cast interview of the 2023 all school musical: the spongebob musical!

Saley: Okay, let's start! Okay, I am going to ask these questions in batches so I’ll ask “The Patricks”, “The Sandy’s”, and “The Spongebobs" all the same questions but you can answer in pairs. These questions are going to start from the beginning [of the musical] to the end. So Patrick’s, what was your audition process like, if you were specifically auditioning for the role of Patrick?

Malott: So because we were auditioning for Patrick we had to sing some of the songs that Patrick was in. So, Patrick is in I Guess I Miss You and Super Sea Star Savior so we had to do most [of the] vocally challenging parts for that. Which means that we really had to kind of impress the judges because if we didn't, then, like, we weren't going to get the role. But, that was mainly for callbacks but like for the audition in general we sang sixteen bars and then we, I think we did a monologue? I think we did a monologue. Yeah, we did a monologue.

Turney: So, so for the first interview-- I mean for the first auditions, sorry, we had to prepare a monologue and sixteen bars of a song of our choice. And if we did well on that then we got a callback for a certain character so um there were four call backs for Patrick. And the callback went, we had two different songs and had to do some lines from the show um-

Malott: Yeah, we had to do them with the Spongebob to make sure they had good chemistry.

Turney: So um-- one of the lines we had to do was a monologue just for Patrick then the second one was a duet with Spongebob. So there were three Spongebob's and four Patrick’s, so it would be like me and Nathan went up and we did our monologue and then we switched the Spongebob’s and vice versa. And yeah,it was a really chill audition process. It was really fun to see how it was with all the Spongebob’s and Patrick’s.

Saley: Alright! Sandy’s, what was your audition process like, if you were specifically auditioning for the role of Sandy?

Urcia-Mulheisen: SO funny enough I was actually sick for mine. I had the flu, and then even during callbacks I was still really sick. So basically for us, I had the flu, so basically for us we had what, ten people, they were called for callbacks like-- ten people that were called for callbacks, and then they did just one round of us just singing Chopped and then they took off I think seven [people] because there were only three of us.

Nance: Yeah, they let go of a lot of people. It was like me, you, Maggie-.

Urcia-Mulheisen: Madrin. It was us three and then we just did the same things the Patricks did, we just did stuff with um-- the Spongebob chemistry reads and um-- that was it!

Nance: I didn't audition for the role of Sandy originally, I wanted to do ensemble, I mean ‘cause I really like the dance. But I feel like, me personally, I just went in there and getting the callback was kind of shocking ‘cause like I didn't audition for it. But um-- yeah!

Urcia-Mulheisen: Yeah, same thing I was Pearl.

Nance: Yeah, but um-- but the, we had to learn like this big entire like, monologue that she says in the middle of No Control.

Urcia-Mulheisen: I love that monologue!

Nance: And that was the first time that I was like “Okay, I can do this!”

Saley: Alright! Spongebob’s, what was your audition process like?

Souders: It was so much fun! Um-- our first thing was we had to, for the first audition process it was just singing a song and then doing a cold read of the character you wanted to select, so I did Spongebob. And then, so, I got a callback for that and then for Spongebob’s audition we had to sing Simple Sponge the, the middle part all the way to the end and then we had to do one monologue by ourselves and then do two partner reads with Sandy and Patrick. And then, they decided that from there and then, and it was fun!

Lushbaugh: Hi! My counterpart kind of, basically explained a lot of the process but personally for me it was really anxiety inducing because at first I could not sing the top note in Simple Sponge so yeah, there was a lot of growth process but eventually I got it.

Saley: Alright! So I am going to keep doing these questions in that order.

Urcia-Mulheisen: Sounds good!

Saley: So Patrick’s! What was your reaction when you found out that you got the role?

Malott: Well I remember I was going home that day and like it was really weird [unintelligible] but then basically I went home that day and I found out the cast list and then Will texted me and was like “Luke, Luke, Luke, Congrats!” and then he said “It’s us!” and I was like “What do you mean it's us?”. And then I checked the cast list. And then I was just blown away ‘cause like I didn't think that I matched well with any of the Spongebob’s [unintelligible].

Turney: So when I first found out I was in my car and I was checking the cast list. Um-- so I was reading the cast list and at first I thought they had made a mistake ‘cause there were two people for one role and I was like “what’s going on?” Um-- then I realized it was two separate casts and I immediately saw it was Luke and I. So I texted Luke immediately and I was like “Luke! Luke! It was us! It was us!” And I was just super happy to work with Luke because we are really good friends and honestly, I wasn't too shocked. I was very appreciative of the role because some of the people auditioning for Patrick said “It’s probably going to be you, you have a really good chance. We heard your acting, it was great.” and I was like” Awe, thank you so much!”So I was really happy when I found out because I love Patrick.

Saley: Alright, Sandy’s?

Nance: Well when I first found out I was on the phone with all my friends and they found out before me so they kinda ruined the surprise. I had to put my phone on Do Not Disturb because everyone was texting me [unintelligible] open the phone and it would be like “You! You! You!” and I was like “I what?” and they would be like “You got Sandy” and then it [the cast list] loaded and I was kind of like “Why are you guys lying to me?” But then after I texted Alannah and I was like “I’m really happy to share this experience with you.”

Urcia-Mulheisen: I actually had my phone on Do Not Disturb too. The same thing that happened, happened to me. Luke is actually the one who told me. He called me in my car and told me. Um-- I was actually, right then, after I went to the gym and I just kinda worked it all out. I was really happy!

Saley: Alright, Spongebob’s?

Lushbaugh:My reaction to getting the role was really similar to Kris’ . I was also on the phone call when we found out, because we are besties! And, we are best friends and from there on I knew there was going to be some drama with the double casting but I was going to make the best of it, ya know? ‘Cause I was excited to have a counterpart.

Sounder: Um-- I don't remember what I was doing. I think I was on the phone with two of my other friends who wanted a different role [than what they got]. So, whenever we opened up the cast I saw that I got Spongebob but I saw my friend didn't get what they wanted. So I was very excited for myself but then yet it was upsetting to see them have a role they didn't want to get. That's just how theater works, like [sometimes] you get the role that you don’t want, and that's okay! But, I was very excited to do it! And, after that I think I just turned off my phone and slept.

Saley: Some of you have already talked about being in a double cast, you can talk about this as a complete [group] ‘cause you were all in a double cast. What was it like adjusting to a double cast? WHat were some of the positives and the negatives?

Turney: Will Turney here! So at first I was a bit confused on how that would work ‘cause I wasn’t too sure how the whole process would go down. But, honestly it was kind of refreshing to have someone else have the same role as you because you could see what their ideas were and play off that, and vice versa. Um-- so there were some upsides to it, I don't like there were any downsides to it, other than less shows for people. But, it's really good we all got a chance to show what we can do! ‘Cause it's the same exact character but it’s a different acting and a different story for everybody and I think that’s very cool.

Luke: I remember when I first saw the cast list and I was like “Oh my God! I love him so much!” ‘Cause he is like one of my best friends. So Addam’s [The Addams Family] freshman year [2019-2022] was double casted and that kind of created animosity.(Unfortunately, Barbara Ingram School For The Arts was unable to perform the Addams Family due to Covid-19 lockdowns.) I knew this year that I was going to be with one of my best friends on this show. And I was really happy, I got to work with people that I genuinely appreciate and I think are talented so I was really happy when I found this out.

Nance: I mean they said it all!

Saley: Alright last question, how have your lives adjusted after the musical?

Nance: Not very well!

Lushbaugh: I’ve gotten a lot more free time since the musical ended, and it's very awesome because now I have more friends that I worked with, and made a relationship with!

Souders: This experience has been so much fun! And now I have free time but now it is going to be taken up with summer and doing college stuff and now focusing on what I want to do in the future. That’s what you have to focus on, the future instead of the past. So let’s move on!

Nance: Well me, after the musical I've had a lot more free time to do my homework, but we just went to New York, so technically I don't have free time. I am studying for my AP Government test at the moment so it gives me more time to work on my studying.

Saley: Alright! Those were all of my questions. I appreciate you all for coming out and talking to me. Your performances were amazing and you are all so great!