Students took to the stage on Oct. 5 and 6 to perform, “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” based on a beloved Greek mythology-inspired novel, that drew hundreds of people to hear musical numbers fill Sebring Lewis Hall.
To produce a musical production requires a lot of commitment from students, director Jen Shook explained in an email. “Some students have produced low-tech versions of musicals as MAPs [Mentor Advanced Projects], but many afterward said although fun, they found it overwhelming and didn’t recommend.”
The department wanted to give the students an opportunity to learn the music and text without having to worry about aspects of musical production such as staging, memorization and technical lighting.
Shook wrote, “Considering all that, producing a semi-staged reading of a musical felt like a good compromise.”
The Lightning Thief musical follows Percy Jackson, played by Redd Cortes ‘27, who always finds trouble — even when he’s not looking for it. After being expelled from school for the sixth time, Percy discovers that he is a half-blood, the son of Poseidon. He goes on a quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt with his satyr friend Grover, played by Jadyn Al-Fatah ’27, and fellow demigod Annabeth, played by Libby Albright ‘27. Along the way, he faces opponents such as Hades, god of the underworld, played by Gabriel Martinez `28, Ares, god of war, played by Eva Rousseau `27 and Medusa, played by Shook. Through his journey, Percy learns that “normal” is a myth and discovers the importance of finding his place in the world.
“The nerds. This is the show for them,” said Olivia Brown ‘28, who played Sally Jackson, Percy’s mom. Cortes said, “I think anyone who grew up reading Percy Jackson or folks who are just fans of Greek mythology overall.”
Everyone in the cast gave a lively performance — the music exuded the magic of the original books. The first song,“The Day I Got Expelled,” included the opening lines of the book, a playful easter egg for those familiar with the book.
Another standout song was “Strong,” sung by Brown, where Sally tells Percy that his differences make him stronger. Percy struggles with feeling “weird” due to his ADHD and Dyslexia, which made the song particularly resonant for Cortes, who shares Percy’s ADHD diagnosis.
“I grew up with Percy, and one defining character trait is the fact that he has ADHD and dyslexia and has struggled in the school system,” Cortes said. “As someone who did not manage to get diagnosed with ADHD until senior year of high school, that really resonated for me when I was younger, the idea of this fantastical world where it makes sense.”
Though the cast carried music stands during the stage reading, it didn’t detract from the reading. Instead, they integrated the stands into their performances.
“You’re bringing the music stand with the script back and forth wherever you go. So it’s like, hard to make it feel real. You have to do a lot of the work from your acting and your singing.” said Zach Rusli `28, who played Chiron and Kronos.
The musical touched on dark topics such as death, staged violence, absent parents and war, while also exploring loyalty, friendship and family.
“I’d say it’s a pretty light hearted show generally — the lines are mostly fun.There’s some intense moments that we would hope the audience would feel something intense, like sadness but I think generally the show is more funny.” Rousseau said.
