Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Ethan Slater

Ethan Slater has made a career out of imaginative storytelling. The actor-writer earned a Tony nomination for his eponymous role in 2017’s wondrously imaginative, playful SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical. Now, Ethan is celebrating the release of Edge of the World, a new concept album that he co-wrote. It follows the journey of Ben, a young boy who uses his imagination to make sense of the world after he moves to Alaska.

Pop Culturalist spoke with Ethan about his new project, the future of Broadway, and why you should never take a dad joke at face value.

PC: What inspired Edge of the World?
Ethan: I was thinking about the things that excite me as a writer, and one of the biggest things is imagination. I was a kid who had a really active imagination […] and so I wanted to write about a kid growing up in isolation and using his imagination to cope with his loneliness. I had this feeling that by taking the kid out of society, I had this opportunity to explore imagination without the impact that it has on other people, just the impact that it has on yourself and the way that you grow up. Obviously, I thought it would be really fun to write songs that were up-tempo songs, upbeat songs and tell a story from that point of view, but I was also really interested in exploring that loneliness. One of the big things is the mining [of] my personal experience for writing. When I was 7 years old, my mom died, and so that’s been a really big, formative thing in my life. She had left this huge imprint on me, even though I had so few memories. And that’s what happens to this character, Ben. He grows up not knowing his mom, being raised by a single dad, and yet the impact she has on his life and his life trajectory is immeasurable. So those are the two inspirational elements that came together.

I was working on it a little bit, and had been molding this idea with my new friend at the time Nick Blaemire. We were doing development of [the SpongeBob musical] and I shared with him some of the stuff. I’m a big fan of his writing — I had actually seen his show Glory Days when it did its out-of-town tryout in Washington, DC, where we both grew up, just some years apart. I showed him the material, and he was like, “I really connect with what you’ve got here, and I think that I could help you craft it into the story you’re hoping to tell.” So that’s when we started working on it together, and a beautiful collaboration was born.

PC: It sounds like you started working on this before the COVID-19 pandemic, but your themes of grief, isolation, and loneliness feel all the more relevant now. How did the last year shape the story that you ultimately told?
Ethan: Initially Nick and I were working on it, and then the pandemic hit, and I was like, this feels really relevant all of a sudden. And we both sort of agreed that it felt a little too relevant all of a sudden — it felt like too much. And then some time went by and we were talking about this idea of making a concept album. Partially that came up because, as we were working on the script, we did this exercise of cutting all of the book [and wondering,] “What happens if it’s just song to song?” We felt like it opened [the story] up in a huge way. We were like, “Wow, this is the essential story.” In doing so, we were also becoming more aware that it had resonance with the moment that we’re in; but it wasn’t written about the moment that we’re in. So we felt like it was something that we were connecting to on a different level than we had before, and we really felt like people who listen to it will connect on the level that we felt before and now as well.

One of the big things is that Henry — the father character, played by Norbert Leo Butz, who is amazing — is a geologist, and he’s always been aware that we’re destroying the earth. Unfortunately, that is a piece that is forever going to feel more relevant and scary. I mean, one of the things that’s really wild about this past year, in addition to the pandemic and the isolation and loneliness, there’s been this on and off of drilling in ANWR, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A federal judge just yesterday blocked the drilling in the north Arctic; but during the Trump administration, they approved all [drilling] after Obama had approved some and blocked some other stuff. So it’s been this hot seat of back and forth, and we’re finding all of these overlapping resonances.

PC: I think that’s what’s so great about making art: it makes these conversations more universal. It’s not just happening in the political realm or in the scientific community; your story brings it into every household and between every set of ears when someone is listening to the album. So that speaks to the power of art. 
Ethan: I love that. That’s the beauty of art, and that’s definitely what we were going for. We’re telling a bunch of stories, but we’re not trying to tackle them all head-on; we’re trying to tackle them through the humanity of it. With a concept album, you’re giving the listener license to project themselves into the story that they’re listening to, which Nick and I love. We think it’s a beautiful element of it: the art is yours, once it’s out there.

PC: Were there any stories from your childhood that sort of shaped the themes that you wanted to tell in this project?
Ethan: I haven’t really explicitly thought about it. But, things that we reference a lot when we’re talking about visualizing the script is Harold and the Purple Crayon. In the script, we have a lot of visuals — it’s going to be a very visual show. A big portion of our references come from music that meant a lot to us as kids. I was really, really influenced by Paul Simon because of my dad; he loved Paul Simon. He played [Simon’s] records all the time. I grew up listening to Graceland and it just seeped into my bones. So for me, that’s like a childhood reference. For Nick and I, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who’s Tommy are these seminal pieces of theater and music that, again, are not kid shows. The world isn’t inherently a kid’s show either, but these tentpoles of childhood storytelling for us are absolutely crucial. And so the thing that all of those have in common is that they’re really great storytellers that we were able to project our imaginations onto. And I never saw Tommy on stage until I was in college. I haven’t seen Jesus Christ Superstar on stage, except for the live version and the movie. But they lived so fully.

This one story that has been very influential for me that I haven’t talked about a lot, [is that] my dad used to drive us to national parks. We were driving through Utah, and there were these big columns of rocks. We were listening to Paul Simon, and the song [lyrics were], “Who do, who do you think you’re fooling?” So we’re listening to this song, and my dad points to the rocks, and he’s like, “Do you know what those are called?” I’m like, “No!” He’s like, “They’re called hoodoos, like the song: ‘who do, who do you think you’re fooling?’” And so for my entire childhood I thought that song was about these beautiful rocks in Utah that I had driven by with my sisters and my dad. It wasn’t until much later that the truth of that spilled out: it was just a dad joke that I had taken at face value.

PC: How has your experience as an actor shaped your writing?
Ethan: I think one really informs the other in huge ways. Nick and I talked about this a lot because we’re both actor-writers, but I think there’s this difficulty with the multi-hyphenated thing. When you’re younger, you’re told, “Do everything! Do everything and see what you’re good at!” And then you’re told, “OK, what were you good at? Just do that.” I think there’s value in working really hard at one thing and getting good at that. “Jack of All Trades is a Master of None, but then it’s still better than a Master of One,” or something. And I think that what’s been really helpful for me is seeing the acting and writing, not as two separate things, but as two sides of storytelling. So there are times when you come in as an actor, and your job is a little more like a consultant, you come in and to tell the story you have to throw aside your ego and listen to everyone around you. And as a writer, you have to do the same thing. You have to come into a room with the actors and the director and throw [your ego] away and let them take over. So by approaching it from both sides, it makes it a little bit easier to take that step where you get rid of your ego and you collaborate. And I think that’s been the most valuable thing for me is coming at a story from either side, and knowing what the other side might need in that moment. It’s a learning process, I’m still learning tons and tons, but I know more today than I did yesterday.

PC: How do you see Edge of the World developing in the future?
Ethan: The concept album of Edge of the World is something that we’re really proud of in its own right; it is the show. But it’s a stage show, and in addition to having this concept album, we want to put it on stage and we want people to see it realized in that way. There’s more to the story once you put it on stage. So I think the visual journey is something we’re really excited about. That’s sort of how we want it to develop in the future: bring this story to stage with the visuals that we know it has in it. This [concept album] is a version [of the story], and we really hope that people listen to it and are excited to see more.

PC: How did your experience with SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical shape how you approach this story, since it centers on a child’s imagination?
Ethan: I think it did in a lot of ways. First of all, working on SpongeBob changed the way that I approach everything because I started working on it when I was 19, and it was seven years of development — from starting development until closing on Broadway. So it was like my full education, which is awesome. We approached it from this perspective, which came from [director] Tina [Landau], that this isn’t a show that is talking down to kids. This is a show that is funny; it’s funny, it’s visually stimulating, it’s physical humor. Kids like it because it taps into this optimism and heart; and adults like it because it taps into things they remember from their childhood. But it’s not a show that is solely designed for kids. It was meant to make us laugh while we were making it; and I think Edge of the World is the story of a kid and his father, but it’s not a kid’s show. It’s not a show that’s going to go to children’s theaters. The kids in our lives who’ve been listening to this music love it, and that’s awesome.

PC: Speaking of SpongeBob, it’s unique that a production that you were a part of is one that has been captured on film and that anyone can access whenever they want. How has the digital streaming of the production changed your relationship with the material?
Ethan: I think filming it initially was a really exciting endeavor for a lot of reasons because it was a rare opportunity to get to capture the show that you did on stage, which is an ephemeral thing. You have to capture it in a way that is still imbued with its essence of the thing that made it good. I was really proud of the process of filming it. It’s super weird to watch yourself play SpongeBob, but it’s really cool to see the show overall. I feel like it’s a bunch of different things that I feel. One is just really grateful that it exists in a way that I can share with loved ones in the future and that people can experience; the accessibility element is awesome. I think that accessibility to theater is so important and with Broadway shut down for the past year and a half, it’s become really clear that making theater more accessible just makes it better. Broadway ticket prices are incredibly expensive; people can’t necessarily afford to fly to New York City, and then stay in a hotel and go out to dinner. So the ability to have something that is much more accessible, both geographically and financially, is really awesome and I hope is a sign of the direction that theater is going. Our producers on Edge of the World, Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane, also run Broadway HD, which is this incredible streaming service for pro-shot Broadway and off-Broadway musicals and plays. I think their ethos around accessibility has been something that we really appreciate for Edge of the World, which is that making theater more accessible doesn’t reduce the audience. Somebody watching a streamed version of it is still going to want to see it when it tours to their city. They’ll still go out and see it when they’re in New York. It actually expands the audience. Hopefully that, in conjunction with reduced ticket prices, can push theater into the future. But their vision of the album being supplemental, and the pro-shot film versions being supplemental, and that growing the audience can be a good thing, is awesome. I’m really grateful to have teamed up with them.

PC: What else do you hope will change for the better as Broadway reopens? What do you expect to happen?
Ethan: I think that there are a lot of people working on initiatives to make Broadway more inclusive, both on stage, backstage, and in the audience; to make it a safe space to tell the stories of everyone, and to let stories be told and heard, to be representative of our communities and the world. I think massive change needs to happen to make sure that Broadway is a more inclusive space in terms of the diversity of people and the diversity of stories that are given the opportunities. I’m trying to stay as active as possible and listening to people who are doing a lot of this work and trying to amplify and support it. These are things that I’m hearing a lot of companies of shows that are going back talk about, and implement changes, and that’s really great. It’s hard to imagine not reverting back to the status quo as we go back. It seems like the easiest thing to do, and it already is visibly happening. It’s easier for me to say it in some ways, but I’m optimistic that we will come back to a better Broadway and a better theater community than we left it, as opposed to just getting back on stage. Getting back on stage doesn’t feel worth it if it’s not better. The Broadway Advocacy Coalition is doing a lot of really incredible work.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Guilty pleasure TV Show
Ethan: The Circle. At the beginning of the pandemic, we just watched the season that was out, and it was so weirdly mirroring.

Guilty pleasure Movie
Ethan: It’s only guilty because I’ve seen it a million times, but it’s a phenomenal movie: A League of Their Own. I’m not ashamed.

Favorite book
Ethan: Fates and Furies. It’s a weird choice, but I’m going with it.

Favorite play or musical
Ethan: Jesus Christ Superstar, all day, every day.

Band or artist fans would be surprised to find on your playlist
Ethan: I’m not sure how unexpected this is, but the Lone Bellow is on every algorithm that Spotify gives me.

Stage show that changed your life
Ethan: The Producers

Dream role
Ethan: Juda

Hidden Talent
Ethan: I feel like I had to put literally all of my talents out there for SpongeBob. I’m not sure that there’s one that’s more hidden than that. I was a high school wrestler, so I took that very seriously. I follow it embarrassingly closely.

Make sure to follow Ethan Slater on Twitter and Instagram!
For more information on Edge of the World, click here.

Photo Credit: Heather Wines/CBS

Hero Image Credit: Curtis Holbrook