Junior musical theatre major Carrigan Young has always had a connection to the character Sandy Cheeks from “SpongeBob SquarePants.” During her audition for JMU’s newest production, “The SpongeBob Musical,” which premieres in the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday to March 2, she had her heart set on landing the role.

When she went home to Waco, Texas, for Thanksgiving break, Young opened her phone to an email saying she got the part. Knowing the task ahead of her, she immediately began memorizing her lines, excited to work on the character.

“All I’m having to do is go to rehearsal and learn the things at rehearsal and apply those,” Young said. “I’m not having to come home worrying about learning my lines or learning my music.”

For Young’s previous shows, only her parents made the trip from Waco, but this year, the whole family is coming to town. She has three brothers, her grandparents, a sister in-law and her niece all visiting for the first time, and she said she’s counting down the days until they visit.

“The SpongeBob Musical” opened in 2017 on Broadway in New York City and features written compositions from artists such as David Bowie and Cyndi Lauper. Senior and theatre major Matthew McPherson proposed the idea to the mainstage season committee of the Forbes Center in the fall.

JMU is doing a large commercialized musical to help students learn how to perform in one, junior musical theatre major Aaliyah Ellison said.

“Part of going to school for musical theater is to learn how to be in big shows, and so I think a really big factor of why we’re getting ‘SpongeBob’ is so that we as performers can learn how to be in this type of musical,” Ellison said.

The 34-person cast is the largest senior stage manager Abby Kelley has ever worked with, and it’s been “wild navigating,” she said.

Kelley completes a multitude of tasks during rehearsals, serving as the “eyes and the ears” for each department, she said. It’s her job to communicate what’s happening in the show from one department to another.

“She’s keeping the ship afloat, no pun intended,” Young said. “She’s the one that sends out our daily calls, so we know what we’re doing every day at rehearsal; she’s the one keeping track of where people are on stage, what props they need.”

The musical is the fifth project Kelley has collaborated on with director and assistant professor of musical theater Kate Lumpkin. “We are in contact all day, every day,” Kelley said.

From actors’ positions to line delivery and timing, Lumpkin knows exactly what she wants to see on the stage, Kelley said.

“Kate is an incredible director,” Young said. “She brings such an energy and fire to the rehearsal room that is just so easy to pick up on.”

Scene shop members have been building the set since before winter break. While the set shop is busy, Young works in the lighting shop and said she hasn’t felt too rushed doing her part. Cast members have also been checking off costume fittings demanded by the costume department.

“Our directors and stage managers are so well organized that there’s really not been a stressful moment in the process, even with our short timeline to get everything put up,” Young said.

The cast rehearses four hours every weeknight and on Sundays. The final Sunday rehearsal will be a 10-hour day with a two-hour break for food.

Despite the demanding rehearsal process, cast members such as Young have kept high spirits throughout. A positive environment is created backstage by the cast members, Young said, as everyone is excited to be there and eager to work.

The week before rehearsals began, cast members spent eight hours a day working on singing and getting to know one another better in what they called “boot camp,” said Elliot Davis, a junior musical theatre major. He said he had fun getting to know everyone, as the cast hangs out plenty outside rehearsals.

Davis said he knew he would’ve loved to play SpongeBob entering the audition process but kept an open mind.

“The audition, it was actually probably one where I was the least, like, not least worried but just not super stressed about because the outcome was going to be whatever it was,” Davis said. “When I got the role … I misread it at first — I thought I’d just got in. I didn’t realize that I got, like, SpongeBob.”

Between double majoring in musical theatre and computer science, along with being a musical director for the a cappella group The Madison Project, Davis is used to having a full plate. Despite feeling “all over the place sometimes,” he said, taking on a lead role has not prevented Davis from completing his duties as a student. 

“So far, it’s been pretty manageable, which has been super shocking to me,” Davis said.

He said ensuring he properly uses his voice has been his biggest challenge as an actor. It’s important for him to be conscious of how loud he’s talking when it comes to the character, he said.

Cast members such as Davis have had their talents pushed to the limit throughout the rehearsal process, as he said he’s not much of a dancer. “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant and choreographer Beau Harmon led the show’s dance numbers during the first week of the semester. 

“I think people are being challenged in a really good way,” Young said. “Everyones really growing as performers, which is awesome.”

Auditions were not smooth sailing for every cast member. Ellison said they “stressed me out like no other.” The room felt less scary, she said, after her teachers and directors made it seem warm and supportive.

Ellison’s role of Pearl is considered a “princess track,” meaning she is not on stage often, but she has a big impact when she is.

Her role includes a song titled “Daddy Knows Best,” which is a duet with Mr. Krabs, and she said it’s the hardest song she’s had to sing on stage. 

“Rather than using your head voice of your register, I have to bring the vocal technique that I use singing lower notes, but up at the top of my register,” she said. 

Cast members above exhibited plenty of creative freedom, as they don’t simply want to make a “carbon copy” of the Broadway production, Ellison said. 

Davis said the process has been a “whirlwind,” saying he’s still trying to come to terms with the fact he’s SpongeBob. It has yet to make sense to him, he said, and probably will not until after the show. He said he’s done his best to pay respect to a yellow sponge.

“This show is something that JMU has never done, and I don’t think we’ll be doing again for a while,” Davis said. “It’s just something special, something that can resonate with everybody — adult or kid.”