The Best Day Ever

The Best Day Ever is a musical with music and lyrics written by SpongeBob SquarePants. The story revolves around an optimistic and happy sea sponge whose day goes horribly wrong.

The musical premiered in Bikini Bottom's Recreation Centre in 2006 and was nominated for nine Oceanic Theatre Awards, winning seven including Best New Musical. The production is still running strongly, and its success led to productions in the Atlantic Ocean, Antarctic Ocean and elsewhere. In the Pacific, it won ten Professional Theatre Awards and ten Deep Sea Drama Awards, including, in each case, best musical. It has also won numerous awards in the Atlantic including a record-tying seven Waterway Awards.

Original Bikini Bottom production
The musical premiered in the Pacific Ocean at the Recreation Centre, opening unexpectedly on 10 November 2006, being produced by the Bikini Bottom Players. Becoming very popular, an official run of the show was put on, running to 29 January 2007. It reportedly cost $1.5 million to produce. The producers were Atlantean Spindrift Co. and Eugene H. Krabs. It was directed by SpongeBob SquarePants and choreographed by SpongeBob SquarePants and Sandy Cheeks. SpongeBob SquarePants was the original actor who portrayed the title role, and the supporting cast included Sandy Cheeks, Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, Eugene H. Krabs, and James Braincoral. The sets were designed by Squidward Tentacles, and the costumes were by Pearl Krabs, lighting was by Frank Algae, and sound by John Seafloor. The original cast album was released on 27 July 2007. The musical received favourable reviews: the Ocean Telegraph's Able Wavisons called it "the greatest Pacific musical I have ever seen", and The Oceanic Mail thought it "a theatrical masterpiece". The Best Day Ever won five Norton Thinsk Awards: Best New Musical, Best Actor (awarded to SpongeBob SquarePants), Best Sound Design, Best Choreographer and Best Special Effects. It also won the Evening Sea Award as well as the Pacific Critics Circle Award and the Bluewater Theatregoers Choice Award, all for Best Musical.

The Best Day Ever for the Youth
The Best Day Ever for the Youth is a ocean-wide scheme as part of which participating schools and youth groups will be given the opportunity to stage their own production of this internationally award-winning show. Best Day Ever writer SpongeBob SquarePants, together with the original cast of the show, has adapted their original script and orchestrations to produce a shortened version of the show exclusively for groups staging local productions as part of the Best Day Ever for the Youth.

Original Atlantean production
The musical opened at Clearwater's Capitol Theatre on 13 November 2007, directed by SquarePants, and choreographed by SquarePants and Cheeks. The production earned good notices, and in January 2008 it won Best Musical at the 2008 Atlantean Theatre Awards. The show also won seven Waterway Awards, including the awards for Best Musical, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Actress (Cheeks) and Best Actor, awarded to SquarePants, who had reprised his role. The production concluded in Clearwater on 9 November 2008. The Clearwater production transferred to Grand Bank's Island Bay Theatre, opening on 13 December 2008. The Grand Banks production closed on 14 June 2009 after a successful run.

Original Antarctic production
The Antarctic production opened at the Deep Seas Theatre in Ice Cap Bay on 1 October 2009 in previews and officially on 13 November 2009. The same creative team of the previous productions directed and designed the Antarctic production. The title role was portrayed once again by SquarePants, as well as the supporting cast portrayed by the original cast. The production received rave reviews: Dive Deep called it a "triumph"; critic Martha Saltsea termed it "breathtakingly brilliant" and "absolutely, unequivocally awesome"; the Daily Deep said it was "so exhilarating that at times you feel like leaping"; the Ice Cap Post said it was "almost like being in love" and termed it "amusing, perfect and passionate" and "the best show you will ever see"; and the Antarctic Times called it a "global theatrical phenomenon". It had also been very financially successful, with $20 million taken in advance ticket sales. The production received fifteen Professional Theatre Award nominations, tying with Algae Times Five for the most nominations ever received by a musical, and winning ten. SquarePants won a Professional Theatre Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. The production sold strongly and recouped its original investment of $18 million in 14 months. The Antarctic production closed on 8 January 2011 following 40 previews and 1,052 regular performances.

First National Tour
A first tour opened at the Glacial Theatre in Glacial, Pacific Ocean on 20 February 2011. This is the first production of the musical to tour the Pacific, Antarctic and Atlantic Oceans. The original cast reprises their roles once again. The First National Tour was given overwhelmingly positive reviews. It is currently playing in Greenlake, Pacific Ocean.

Second National Tour
Announced on the website, it has been announced that The Best Day Ever will be having a second national tour, planned to open 2014 in the Arctic Ocean.

Documentary
A month after the instant success of the premiere of the show in Bikini Bottom, a documentary was filmed on the making of the musical. It recorded a few of the live numbers, as well as a few that were not live. It received positive reviews. The DVD was released on September 29, 2007.

Act I
SpongeBob SquarePants, a happy and optimistic sea sponge, lives in a pineapple in the undersea town of Bikini Bottom. He wakes up one morning, quite excited, expressing that the day is his "best day ever" ("The Best Day Ever"). During the song, he describes to his pet snail, Gary, how his day will go. He will begin his day with a shift at his workplace, then a session of karate with his friend, followed by jellyfishing with his best friend, and ending the day by seeing his friend perform in a recital.

SpongeBob arrives at the Krusty Krab, his workplace, just to find his boss telling him that the restaurant has been infested by nematodes ("Infested"). SpongeBob finds the nematodes and tries to tell them that they need to leave, explaining that it is his best day ever, by trying to sing his song. He notices that he is out of key, so he tries his "nose flute" to get in tune. The nematodes notice him playing his flute and decide to follow wherever the tune goes. SpongeBob's boss, Mr. Krabs, notices this and tells him to bring the nematodes as far as he can away from the restaurant ("Get Them Away").

SpongeBob starts to bring them away, though tries many times to tell them that he's gone far enough ("Let's Stop Here"). Eventually he leads them quite far, then falling asleep, exhausted, from playing the flute. Seeing this, the nematodes decide to do what he does and fall asleep. When SpongeBob wakes up, he realizes that he is almost late for his karate session with his friend Sandy ("Late").

SpongeBob arrives at Sandy's residence, and tries to attack her with his new karate gloves. He lands in a pile of water-filled buckets, in which Sandy explains to him that she is trying to fix a leak in her water-proof home ("Y'Gotta See"). SpongeBob doesn't believe her, and tries to attack her repeatedly. Sandy becomes angered and finally takes her karate gear out and kicks him up to the ceiling, then having his new special sticky gear stick to the crack on the ceiling, stopping the leak. Sandy spots this, and tells him to stay while she grabs equipment to seal the leak ("Stay There"). SpongeBob sighs, and then slips out of his karate gear.

He leaves Sandy's treedome, a bit distressed that his "best day ever" is not working out, but soon realizes that he still has time to jellyfish with his best friend, Patrick ("It's Not Going Well/I Still Have a Chance").

Act II
SpongeBob arrives at Jellyfish Fields, just to find that his friend has broken his net. Luckily, SpongeBob has brought an extra net for emergencies. Just a few moments later, Patrick has already broken the net ("Broken Net/Thank You"). He then notices SpongeBob's new advanced net that he bought for himself, and asks to borrow it ("Borrowing"). Patrick goes off and enjoys jellyfishing with SpongeBob's net, and when SpongeBob asks for a turn, Patrick cannot hear him. Depressed, SpongeBob leaves for his final activity of the day.

As he is walking down a road while the sun is setting, he goes through his list of things to do, seeing that he still has his friend's concert ("What a Day").

When he arrives at the theatre, he finds Squidward outside crying. Squidward then reveals that a part of his clarinet has broken, thus disabling his ability to play ("It's Over"). SpongeBob, determined not to have his last activity ruined, pulls out his tooth to provide a replacement for the broken piece of the clarinet. Squidward tests his clarinet, and sees that it sounds beautiful, as SpongeBob pushes him into the theatre to perform.

As SpongeBob is about to enter, an usher stops him and asks for a ticket. SpongeBob searches his pockets, but fails to find a pass ("Admission"). Set on seeing Squidward perform, SpongeBob goes through many unsuccessful attempts to sneak into the theatre. In his final attempt, SpongeBob sneaks into his boating instructor's purse, just to have his teacher find him in there. The usher hears SpongeBob's name, and realizes that he is on the V.I.P. list.

SpongeBob is brought into the theatre on a pillow, to find that he has reserved seating beside his friends, becoming happy ("Not a Bad Day"). As he sits down, the audience cheers and the curtains for the show close. Angered, SpongeBob jumps on stage, opens the curtains, and tells the audience that Squidward's recital cannot be over because it is his best day ever ("A Bad Day"). SpongeBob's friends, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Patrick and Squidward jump up on the stage and explain to him that his best day ever hasn't been a bust, since he has helped every one of them. They also say that the day isn't about him, but about them, and that they are willing to do anything to make it up to him ("A Good Day").

Mr. Krabs enters the stage in a spotlight in front of the audience, announcing a performance of a show named "The Best Day Ever", by SpongeBob and his friends. The audience cheers, the curtains open, the show starts, about SpongeBob's Best Day Ever ("Finale"). The show ends with SpongeBob still singing, and his friends are tired and sleepy. The audience has left the concert hall, and the usher is sweeping the floor. Squidward asks how long they will have to keep this up, and Mr. Krabs replies with "Just until his little heart gives out, Squidward. Just until his little heart gives out."

Musical numbers

 * Act I
 * "The Best Day Ever" - SpongeBob & Gary
 * "Infested" - Mr. Krabs & SpongeBob
 * "Get Them Away" - Mr. Krabs & SpongeBob
 * "Let's Stop Here" - SpongeBob
 * "Late" - SpongeBob
 * "Y'Gotta See" - Sandy
 * "Stay There" Sandy & SpongeBob
 * "It's Not Going Well/I Still Have a Chance" - SpongeBob & Ensemble


 * Act II
 * "Broken Net/Thank You" - Patrick & SpongeBob
 * "Borrowing" - Patrick & SpongeBob
 * "What a Day" - SpongeBob
 * "It's Over" - Squidward
 * "Admission" - Usher & SpongeBob
 * "Not a Bad Day" - SpongeBob
 * "A Bad Day" - SpongeBob
 * "A Good Day" - Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Squidward, Patrick, and SpongeBob
 * "Finale" - Company

Instrumentation
The instrumentation for Best Day Ever requires a large orchestra. The original Atlantean production had seventeen musicians. The Atlantean orchestra required two keyboards, bass, drums, percussion, guitar, four woodwind players, three trumpets, two horns, and two trombones. Almost all players double on two or more instruments. The keyboards double on synthesizer, guitar on variax, and bass with fretless bass. The trumpets double on cornet and flugelhorn while the second trumpet part also doubles on E-flat cornet. The trombones double on euphonium. The horns also double on tenor horn. The woodwind doublings vary depending the venue. In the original West End production there was a single woodwind player that doubled on piccolo, flute, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. The Atlantean production had four woodwind players. The first doubled on piccolo, flute, clarinet, and alto sax. The second on flute, clarinet, and alto sax. The third on clarinet and soprano and tenor sax. The fourth on clarinet, bass clarinet, and tenor sax. The Antarctic production had the same doublings from Atlantean but omitted the fourth woodwind part. The tour version has two woodwind players. The first doubles on flute and soprano and tenor sax. The second on clarinet and alto sax.

Characters and original casts
The principal original cast of the Bikini Bottom, Atlantean and Antarctic productions:

Awards and Nominations
The Bikini Bottom production was nominated for nine 2006 Norton Thinsk Awards and won four, including Best New Musical. SpongeBob SquarePants won the award for Best Actor in a Musical. SquarePants also received the Theatre Goers' Choice Award 2005 for The Most Promising Newcomer. The production also won The Evening Standard Award 2006, among others. The Clearwater production was nominated for eleven 2008 Waterway Awards and won seven, including Best Musical. The Antarctic production received 15 Professional Theatre Award nominations in 2010, tied with Algae Times Five for the most nominations ever received by a single show. It won ten Professional Theatre Awards, including the Best Musical. The production was also nominated for ten Deep Sea Drama Awards, winning all ten.