Eventually the network gave the go-ahead and the musical had its debut at Chicago’s Oriental Theater in June 2016. Stephanie Lee, the president of Group Sales Box Office, described ticket sales as strong. “What’s really interesting is that we’re booking elementary through universities — and that’s not typical of a Broadway musical,” she said. She seemed a bit embarrassed as he described his SpongeBob fandom, including a “Spongesquad” text message group he has with friends. “He sends me memes of SpongeBob weekly and I hate it,” Ms. Culkin, also 25, added with a sheepish laugh.

Source: New York Times November 22, 2017 16:18 UTC