Popular Nickleodeon animated television star SpongeBob SquarePants takes centre stage in a production that’s being described as ‘an all-singing, all-dancing, deep-sea pearl of a show’. 

Heading out on its UK premiere tour, The SpongeBob Musical will swim into Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 11 - Saturday 15 April.

Featuring ‘irresistible characters, magical choreography and dazzling costumes’ - not to mention ‘wave after wave of original songs by the world’s most iconic rock and pop artists’ - the show made a splash when it played Broadway back in 2017, picking up an impressive 12 Tony Award nominations in the process. 

If you’ve not caught the TV series, SpongeBob is a yellow sea sponge who lives with a host of other quirky characters in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom. The show has proved enormously popular since debuting in 1999 and was last year renewed for a 14th season. Former Pop Idol contestant Gareth Gates and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Divina De Campo take top billing. 

The SpongeBob Musical shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 11 - Saturday 15 April, tickets are on sale now at birminghamhippodrome.com.

Following its huge success in the US, The SpongeBob Musical arrives in the Midlands this month, with Divina De Campo and Gareth Gates in starring roles. What’s On recently caught up with RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Divina to find out about the challenges of playing the world’s nastiest piece of plankton...  

Drag queen and actor Divina De Campo is heading underwater this month to play the baddie Plankton in the touring production of The SpongeBob Musical.

Premiered in Chicago in 2016 and now on its first UK tour, the family show features songs from a range of artists, including Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie and Brian Eno, The Flaming Lips and Panic! At The Disco. 

The show was a smash-hit in the US, gaining 12 Tony Award nominations. Based on children’s television series SpongeBob SquarePants, it sees the characters’ home of Bikini Bottom at risk from a volcano. And while SpongeBob aims to save the day, his evil nemesis, Plankton, has other plans.

Starring alongside Gareth Gates (who plays Squidward) and Lewis Cornay (SpongeBob), Divina is looking forward to taking on the part of the nastiest piece of plankton around.

“I’ve played the baddie in a few different shows before, and you’re allowed to be all the things that you’re not usually allowed to be. It gives you much more licence to be mean and horrible and spiteful. But Plankton is actually quite a complicated character. He’s a piece of plankton, so actually very, very small. People ignore him because he’s so small, and I think the only way he can get people to take him seriously is through these evil machinations. So he’s a bit more complicated than just evil.

“I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth properly into who Plankton is, and pulling out the nuances within the character. It’s easy to go ‘Right, I’m evil, this is how an evil person would deliver a line and on we go,’ but what I find really interesting is the digging into the character. It’s always there in the script - why is this character the way they are? Then it’s about helping to lift and shape those nuances so that the audience can understand - you can shine a light on how people became who they are by the way that you deliver stuff.”

After a series of television appearances and live shows, Divina came to the fore as one of 10 competitors in RuPaul’s Drag Race UK four years ago. Coming ‘first runner-up’ has paved the way for a career on stage: The popular drag queen has also played reporter Miss Sunshine in the UK tour of Chicago.

“I don’t think that I would have been in SpongeBob or Chicago without Drag Race. I was doing plenty of little bits and pieces of piecemeal TV before Drag Race, but what Drag Race has allowed me to do is go through the doors that were shut. I didn’t go to the well-known arts schools and don’t have a vocational qualification, and without doing extra vocational training, I don’t think those companies would even have let me into the room to be seen.” 

Although gaining celebrity status has opened several doors, Divina points out that it takes more than being a ‘name’ to secure a role.

“People in our industry complain about ‘celebrity’, but the industry has always worked in that way. There’s always been celebrities in shows, but with musical theatre you can’t just put a celebrity into a show. If they can’t do the job, then there’s no point, because the show suffers. You still have to have people who are talented and capable; it’s just that they’ve also played the game. 

“I knew what I wanted; I wanted to be doing more theatre and musicals, and this has given me the vehicle to do that. I’m very grateful.”

Divina believes Drag Race has also helped spark a new appreciation of the art of drag performance.

“There was a moment in the ’90s, in that Britpop laddish era, where people kind of fell out of love with drag. It was seen as something a bit rubbish or a bit naff, when before it had always been a staple of Saturday-night telly and the theatre industry, - the variety sector particularly. But Drag Race has reminded audiences that people who do drag generally have a lot of skill. Their entire job is to entertain, to help you have a good time, and I think reminding people of that has been really good.”

Performing as a drag queen can often be a solo enterprise. For Divina, being part of a company bringing a musical to venues across the UK is a different type of experience.

“What I really enjoy about this kind of show is being part of the team, being part of the ensemble, and everyone has their part to play. In some ways it takes a bit of pressure off you because it’s not just you delivering the full two hours of entertainment. 

“SpongeBob was a big thing in our house. I’m one of seven, and we would all watch SpongeBob. With the stage show, I’m looking forward to the magic of it, those moments when things happen which can’t happen in the ordinary world because it’s theatre, and people are really transported to somewhere else. I’m not a particularly mean or nasty person, but I’m really excited to have the licence to take on that mean and nasty character. One of the things I love about acting in general is that you’re able to take on those different characters and bring them before audiences.

“And I’m really excited to be part of a show which is so full of hope, joy and fun - a tonic for the times we’re living in.”

The SpongeBob Musical runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 11 to Saturday 15 April, with tickets on sale at birminghamhippodrome.com.