Who lives in a theatre on Clarence Street?
Spongebob drops anchor at Clarence Street Theatre
Co-directors Tayla Marie Cassells (left) and Jonty Climo (kneeling right) and stand with the cast of Deller Productions’ The SpongeBob Musical during final rehearsals at Clarence Street Theatre. Photo: Cheryl Voss
The unmistakable bright yellow aesthetic of Bikini Bottom is taking over Hamilton this week as an ambitious team of local creatives prepare to make a splash with The SpongeBob Musical.
Opening this Friday, September 25, and running until October 10, Deller Productions’ high-energy production is the first project selected for Clarence Street Theatre’s new ‘Level Up!’ initiative.
‘Level up!’ was created to give young local artists the funding, stage space, and technical gear they need to turn home-grown shows into big, Broadway-style productions.
Co-director Tayla Marie Cassells is making her directorial debut with the production.
Cassells says the journey started in November last year when producer Jonty Climo contacted her. She’d originally pitched a smaller, youth version of the show, but Climo invited her to co-direct the full-scale Broadway adaptation instead.
“I got a call that was a lot bigger than what I could have ever anticipated,” Cassells said.
At the centre of that energy is actor Ethan Dillon-Mayne, playing the role of Spongebob.
The production represents a homecoming for Dillon-Mayne, who graduated from Wintec in 2023 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts followed by touring with professional productions of Madagascar Junior and Shrek the Musical
Dillon-Mayne said, “This is actually what I’d count as my first proper lead role – like leading man.”
“I’ve been performing since I was a little kid. My mum would catch me practicing lines in the mirror,” he said, “It’s definitely the thing that’s in my heart.”
Playing an iconic, high-energy character like SpongeBob SquarePants requires intense physical stamina across a two-hour runtime. To survive the heat of the stage lights and non-stop choreography, Dillon-Mayne says his strategy relies on heavy hydration and keeping fit.
“As SpongeBob, you kind of have to be on it all the time, 100 percent, no matter the emotion,” he says. “These shows make you sweat, man. They take a lot out of you. I have a designated water bottle spot inside the stage that I’m going to keep stocked.”
Bringing a cartoon to life means the world around the actors must look just as vibrant. That responsibility falls heavily on props manager Emah Lane, who alongside her big team who have spent months completing a huge list of jobs.
“It’s a really props-heavy show,” Lane says. “My spreadsheet has almost 90 lines. Sometimes it’s 50 of these, or 16 of these, or 24 of these. It’s been a really big team effort.”
Among the mountain of items, Lane’s standout creation is a custom-made Krabby Patty cart.
“Both the hardest and the coolest prop that I have personally built has been the Krabby Patty cart,” she explains. “The cart is underwater themed, it kind of looks like coral, and the Krabby Patties have to be removable… I tried my best to make the Krabby Patties look exactly as they did in the cartoons.”
Lane estimates that the collective effort poured into the production by the cast, crew, and design teams easily numbers in the thousands of hours across building sets, plotting lights, and rehearsing.
With final touch-ups on props complete and the technical cues locked in, Dillon-Mayne says he is ready to echo his character’s iconic catchphrase as the curtains rise this week:
“I think it might have to be that: ‘I’m ready! I’m ready! I’m ready!'”
The SpongeBob Musical runs at Clarence Street Theatre from September 25 to October 10. Tickets can be purchased online via the official Ticketek New Zealand booking page.
Cheryl Voss is a student at the Waikato Institute of Technology. She is studying towards the New Zealand Diploma in Journalism.
Props manager Emah Lane with her hand-crafted “Apocalypse Special” Krabby Patty cart. Photo / Cheryl Voss
