Published in 2005, The Lightning Thief was the first book in a series called Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan. A massive bestseller, the novel became an unloved 2010 film. In 2017, a musicalized version of this tale had a successful off-Broadway run. Now halfway through a six month North American tour, the show briefly stopped in New York City at the Beacon Theatre. When I finally read the book, I wondered how this bold and kooky adventure could effectively be staged.
The genesis of this story occurred when the author began making up stories for his son who had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. In second grade he was studying Greek mythology. Dad’s bedtime stories focused on that genre, eventually becoming this fictional tale of a young man who is a “good kid who’s had a bad run.”
Like his son, Percy Jackson has great difficulty reading. That’s because he is a half blood. His mother is mortal and his father is a god. But which one? Apparently his mind comprehends Greek which is why the English alphabet gets him all confused. Failing out of yet another school, his mom and best friend Grover take him to a camp for the summer. After encountering and defeating a minotaur on this journey, he arrives at Camp Half-Blood, exactly the place for his type.
Percy is sent on a quest to restore peace between the gods. A lightning bolt is involved, hence the title. In this production, clever special effects are creatively (and economically) executed through the use of puppetry, lighting and choreographed sword fighting. Some of the memorable battle scenes from the book are naturally toned down (or only hinted at such as those monstrous red eyes in the dog carrier). The imaginative peak of this staging is the scenes which involve excessive water flows.
The book for this show was written by Joe Tracz who is currently represented on Broadway with the internet-driven sensation Be More Chill. He did an admirable job of reducing or eliminating scenes which were either impossible to stage or might bog down this energetic romp. Rob Rokicki’s music and lyrics were solid pop constructions aimed at the target audience.
For at least the first half of Act I, the sound design (Ryan Rumery) negatively impacted the show. The band’s volume aggressively overplayed the vocals and words were very difficult to hear. This may be a road tour problem where shows are presented in many different sized houses. The noticeable problem did eventually settle down.
A strong cast did a fine job in bringing this rollicking mythological adventure to life. The book’s narrative tone has a nice snarky thread which has been carefully maintained. Chris McCarrell (Les Misérables) is a fine Percy Jackson. He is both a sardonic nerd and gullibly innocent young man who easily fills the wide-eyed hero role. As both best friend and Mr. D, Jorrel Javier excelled in presenting two wildly different personas. Everyone had strong singing voices and fully developed characterizations. The performers moved swiftly through this rocket paced story which has been nicely directed by Stephen Brackett.
The book and this musical are squarely aimed at the young (and young at heart). Overall, this production is a high quality yet moderately budgeted theatrical pleasure filled with inventive details. Little touches such as the squirrel scene were pricelessly endearing. The kids seated around me seemed delighted. In multiple roles, deep voiced chameleon Ryan Knowles was highly entertaining when performing Patrick McCollum’s choreography as Chiron or channeling Hollywood Squares‘ Paul Lynde for big laughs.
The Lightning Thief is a carefully orchestrated combination of scrappy and professional. That tone feels faithful to Mr. Riordan’s story. Some of the plot points whiz by without really enough explanation (notably the bus scene which opens Act II). The book’s fans know how to fill in the details. This show is a fine introduction to live theater for an age group that wants a little more edge than that offered by the Disney shows.
In an ideal world, perhaps children who suffer from dyslexia and other forms of learning hindrances (and their parents) will be inspired by what one man invented for his son. Remaining tour dates and cities can be found in the following link: