This is the third musical production I have directed at Churubusco (Snoopy!, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: Broadway Version, and now The SpongeBob Musical). I tried to direct She Loves Me in 2020, but you know how that year went. Maybe I'll try that one again someday. When I was a student here, I participated in four different musicals. I played in the orchestra pit during The Wizard of Oz and Anything Goes, and I was onstage for The Will Rogers Follies and Legs Diamond. So I've been involved in CHS Theatre for a little while. And I have loved it. I still do.
When I directed Snoopy!, I was such a stressed-out wreck the week before the show that I chipped a tooth from grinding my teeth in my sleep. I had never directed a musical before and it was scary. I wnated to do right by the amazing cast and the program itself. Then Cinderella came along and the week before the show, I thought to myself, "You absolute, dummy. Why would you choose a musical so much bigger thatn the one you just did?!? Give yourself a break!" Everything about Cinderella was bigger than Snoopy!. There were more roles, more songs, more props, more effects, more everything. Which I knew, but I didn't truly appreciate just how much bigger it was.
Fast forward to this year with The SpongeBob Musical, where I maybe-not-so-ironically find myself in the exact same predicament as last year. SpongeBob is bigger than Cinderella in about every imaginable way. There are, again, more roles, more songs, more effects, more props, more set pieces, more everything. I knew this. But once again, I truly didn't appreciate just how much more more really was.
There have been moments of extreme frustration. There have been moments of hopelessness. There have been moments of exhaustion. But there have also been moments of extreme joy. There have been moments of unbridled enthusiasm. There have been moments that are incredibly energizing.
All the latter moments were provided by the time spent with the remarkable young people on the Harold Norman Stage tonight; the people that I have had the absolute privilege of working with over the past few months. I hope you are not as nearsighted as I was, and you are able to truly appreciate how much these people have put into this show.
They are the reason that I continue to choose the moments of frustration, hopelessness, and exhaustion. Becuase time and time again, they allow me to witness the transformative power of music, of storytelling, or working together, and of supporting each other.
I love each of them dearly for that gift.
Nathanael Thomas
