UMD Theatre Brings Sustainability to SpongeBob
The UMD Theatre department put on SpongeBob the Musical in Marshall Performing Arts Center. Photo by Valencia Ruprecht
SpongeBob is a TV show character we are all probably very familiar with. A yellow sponge who goes on adventures with his best friends, Patrick Star, who is a pink sea star, and a squirrel named Sandy. The theater department performed SpongeBob the Musical this spring.
“Well, the process was kind of like all of our other theater productions, but there was one aspect that was really unique for SpongeBob in that we had a student sustainability coordinator who was with us the whole time,” says head costume designer, Caitlin Quinn.
Vivi Tabor, the student sustainability coordinator, was an integral part of ensuring that the musical was as eco-friendly as it could be. This meant she was in charge of keeping the set and costumes for the show in good standing with the environment.
Quinn goes on to say that during the interview process for design students, one of the students crocheted an outfit using only plastic bags. This became part of the costumes for the Electric Skate, the band in the musical.
Being that the whole show takes place in the ocean, it was very important for the producers to be mindful of the environmental impacts associated with producing a show. Things such as old sets and old costumes were recycled and made new. If a costume needed something more, the designers would virtually thrift-shop on places like Poshmark or ThreadUp.
“It was less about recyclable materials and more about just being more mindful of where I was sourcing the costumes. I feel for myself, as I've probably gotten too dependent on how easy Amazon is, because we need so many weird things for costume design,” Quinn said.
One way the crew was able to keep the environment in mind was by keeping a list of where all materials were both sourced and where they were going.
When asked, “Do you guys see yourselves also staying on that sustainability track for future shows, or is this kind of like a one-time thing?”
Quinn replied, “No, I think it's definitely something that we as a department are trying to be more mindful of.”
The costume designer went on to say, “So it's less about like, the easiest, quickest, fastest, like Amazon route, and more about being like, okay, maybe I can plan earlier so I have more, so I can factor in, like, shipping times and buy from a secondhand source instead.”
Before the show started, there was an area for kids to make pirate hats and do other underwater-themed crafts, which seemed to entertain the kids!
Right before the show started, there was a pirate, Patchy the Pirate, who was the head of the SpongeBob fan club. The pirate was asking the audience if they had seen SpongeBob. Then, two actors who were dressed up as security guards spooked and chased down the pirate. After the intermission, the pirate had escaped the clutches of the security guards to keep asking the audience questions about SpongeBob.
Throughout the show, Patrick Star, played by Tate Nowacki, sounded incredibly similar to how Patrick Star sounds in the show. They both had the same enthusiasm and tone of voice when going on adventures with SpongeBob.