Looking back, auditions happened in late November, and the cast of SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical has been hard at work. With 39 people auditioning, Directors Amy Kazin and alum Matt Mitchell had some tough decisions ahead of them. After lots of collaborative thinking, they cast senior Michelle Esparza as the one and only SpongeBob SquarePants. This role forced Esparza to have long nights studying what must have felt like a million lines, songs, and multitudes of choreography. The cast would typically have rehearsals every Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Some of these rehearsals would be as long as 7 hours as opening night got closer and closer. Maddie Schaffrath as Plankton described these long rehearsals as “tiring but worth it.” Despite these long days, the cast never felt feelings of resentment or regret as the bond that they all created with each other will last a lifetime. The pressure was constantly on as this was a ginormous production as the original Nickelodeon show is held near and dear to plenty of people’s hearts. All of this practice was worth it as when the lights were drawn and the curtains opened, everybody left each performance with a broken leg.