Upfront News and Views: Nickelodeon's Broadway Bash

Venue amp160Palace Theater on the corner of Seventh Ave and W 47th St the home of SpongeBob SquarePants The Broadway Musical amp160This lively liveaction rendition of Nick39s longestrunning animated series opened to rave reviews last fall amp160The local buzz suggests SpongeBob will be an oddson contender for several Tony Awards this June nominations will be announced in May amp160Attendees walked into a colorful undersea wonderland once they got past the quotBikini Bottomquot merchandise displays in the lobby serenaded by a band playing Hawaiianstyle music to the right of the stageamp160 A big screen behind the stage featured small waves of water and the occasional fish moving from one side to the other amp160Grade 45 JacksPresentation amp160Three messages were emphasized from start to finish mostly through Nickelodeon Group President Cyma Zarghamiamp160 The network will serve up more programming serve that programming up through a variety of platforms including smart TVs and TVconnected devices and enter some new promotional venues over the next 12 months amp160quotWe39re out to follow our audience to anywhere they want to go amp8230 on any platformquot Zarghamiamp160declaredamp160 At every opportunity video clips were deployed to elaborate on a new undertakingamp160 There was never a dull momentamp160 Grade 5 JacksNews amp160More than 800 episodes of new and renewed series will be produced and offered during the 201819 season That39s a 20 percent increase from the current season amp160The breakdown more than 300 episodes for the Nick Jr preschool lineup 300plus liveaction episodes and 200plus toon segments amp160New liveaction series include Knight Squad heroesintraining comedy and Keep It Spotlessamp160 a game show executive produced by WWE superstar John Cena pictured at top amp160Leading the animated newcomers Los Casagrandes a spinoff of The Loud House featuring a Latino family and buddy comedy Pony buddy as in girl and talking animal amp160In one Nick Jr announcement that elicited audience cheers alltime fave Blue39s Clues will make a 20episode comeback with new host and adventures amp160Production starts this summeramp160 Separately Viacom39s digital studios unit will start making Nickspecific shortform series starting with 10 episodes of Nick Cannoncreated Musical Dares amp160Grade 45 JacksHostamp160 Zarghami zipped through her parade of announcements and talking points with ease leaving no doubt she was having a good time on stage Wellsupported by Viacom Digital Studios President Kelly Day and Consumer Products overseer Pam Kaufman amp160Grade 4 JacksStar Timeamp160 For starters a pair of sensational numbers from SpongeBob SquarePants amp160quotBikini Bottom Dayquot the show39s opening tune featuring Etlan Slater as SpongeBob doing toon voice Tom Kenny proud led things off while quotSuper Star Sea Saviorquot another firstact highlight wrapped up the proceedings amp160For this performance gospel superstar Yolanda Adams who cowrote quotSuper Starquot joined the cast and let her voice ripamp160 Point of disclosure I have loved Adams ever since she performed for a Women in Cable breakfast at the Western Show wayyyyy back when amp160She makes any stage rise to another level amp160The big surprise came midway when a Lip Sync Battle Shorties winner pumped up MC Hammer39s quotCan39t Touch Thisquot with kids both on stage and in the aisles working Hammer time to the maxamp160 And for a running gag John Cena parodied his expanded association with Nick to the point of begging Kaufman to be the new host of Blue39s Clues amp160Give Cena credit for preparation walking out with the classic blue notepadamp160 Grade 5 Jacks amp160If I could give the musical performances 10 Jacks I would do soCuisineamp160amp160Served up at the afterparty taking place inside Edison Ballroom a block away amp160Best delectable crabavocado sushi rolls Caesar salad served on a lettuce leaf and meatfish and avocado buns amp160Worst delectableamp160 teenyweeny dessert bits on designated tables amp160Did they have to be so small amp160I did like the chocolate peanut butter cups with a pair of peanuts on top amp160Grade 35 Jacks not included in the overall Jacks scoreData Insightamp160 People of color will become the majority population in the United States by 2043 amp160The current population total includes more than 50 million childrenamp160 Grade 3 JacksInnovative Opportunityamp160 Participation in the growing esports movement through investment and sponsorship of Super League Gaming a venture holding competitions around the country amp160Teams of kids participate as amateur video game playersamp160and work through games with a high level of educational material amp160Super League Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ann Hand noted Nick39s involvement during Activate an esports forum for advertising at Sony PlayStation Theater a few blocks away from the Palace Theater Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade amp16045 Jacks amp160Great inventive mix of presentation and performance elements from beginning to end amp160Many in the audience rewarded what they saw with a rare standing ovation amp160This quotBikini Bottom Dayquot rocked amp8230 and we39re just off the starting block of this seasonNext upamp160 OvationClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Upfront News and Views: Nickelodeon's Broadway Bash

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Upfront News and Views: Nickelodeon's Broadway Bash

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Simon Applebaum

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