“The SpongeBob Musical” takes the stage at the New Castle Playhouse July 12, 13, 14, 18, 19,...
Trevor Kinnear is more than just a simple sponge. While the 20-year-old New Castle resident does play the title character in the New Castle Playhouse’s production of “The SpongeBob Musical,” Kinnear is not just an actor. He’s also a fashion designer, an aspiring tailor and a college student who’s studied everything from pre-law to robotics engineering.
But starting Thursday, and for the next two weeks, the focus is on being SpongeBob SquarePants, saving his fictional hometown of Bikini Bottom from Mount Humongous, a nearby volcano set to erupt within 48 hours. A rising junior at Mercyhurst College in Erie where he studies fashion merchandising, Kinnear transferred to the school from another Erie institution, Gannon University, where he had been a robotics engineering major. “It’s not as different as it seems,” Kinnear said of the switch.
“There’s something creative to engineering. There’s an art to it, in a weird way. But I realized that what I really wanted to do was work in the clothing industry, which is something I’m passionate about.
” To that end, Kinnear has spent the last two summers as a brand ambassador for Ralph Lauren and is an apprentice at Primo Tailoring in Erie. He also designs “upscale denim fashions.” Some of Kinnear’s creations, including beaded jellyfish patches, will be for sale at the Playhouse gift shop during “SpongeBob�.
