The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

By starrymag | December 18, 2018

By: Ashlee Dell

 

 

This past week we caught up with the cast of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical as they prepare for a national tour that kicks off in January 2019. The musical began Off-Broadway as a sold-out short run by Theaterworks USA that later turned into a new version with an entirely new score and extended script. The acclaimed musical debuted at the Lucille Lortel Theater in 2017 where it was nominated for thee Drama Desk awards, including Best Musical. The production was well-received by critics and fans of the original book series by Rick Riordan. With the success of the sold-out 2017 production, a National Tour is coming soon with many of the original Off-Broadway cast reprising their roles.

 

The premise of the musical is directly from the book series, which has been very well-received by book fans as it keeps the original work in act. The Lightning Thief musical tells the story of Percy Jackson, the son of the Poseidon, who discovers that he is the son of the Greek god with newly-found powers that he cannot yet control. Percy goes on a quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt to prevent a massive war between all of the Greek gods. The musical features action throughout and a powerful score.

 

Reprising their roles in the National Tour are Chris McCarrell for the lead role of Percy Jackson, Kristen Stokes as Annabeth Chase, James Hayden Rodriguez as the role of Luke and Sarah Beth Pfeiffer as the role of Clarice. The rest of the cast includes Jorrel Javier as Grover and Mr. D., Ryan Knowles as Chiron and others and Jaclynn Steele as Sally and others. Additionally, Rob Rokicki wrote the music and lyrics, Patrick McCollum serves as the choreographer and the musical is directed by Stephen Brackett.

 

The touring cast previewed three songs from the upcoming tour – “Another Terrible Day,” “My Grand Plan,” and the powerful closing number “Bring on The Monsters.” Following the National Tour Rehearsal, several cast members spoke to us about their experiences on the production so far, and what fans of the book series can expect!

 

With 100 million copies of the original book series by Rick Riordan, the production had a lot to prove to fans of the book, especially after a film of the same name was produced and not received well by fans. However, if you’re a fan of the book series, you would likely love The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical because it does the original work justice. As the cast and creative team said when they spoke with us, it even got the approval of Rick Riordan.

 

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is produced by TheaterWorksUSA, Martian Entertainment, Greg Schaffert, Lang Entertainment Group, Lisa Chanel, Jennifer Doyle and Roy Lennox, Glass Half Full Productions, Hummel/Greene, Mary Maggio, Tim Schwider and Van Dean/Meredith Lucio in partnership with The Road Company.

The full tour dates for The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, launching in 2019 are:

 

Fayetteville, AR(Jan 4-5 – preview performances)

Chicago, IL (Jan 8-13)

Charlotte, NC (Jan 15-20)

Philadelphia, PA (Jan 22-27)

Findlay, OH (Jan 29)

Worcester, MA (Jan 31-Feb 3)

Bethlehem, PA (Feb 13)

Washington, DC (Feb 15-17)

Schenectady, NY(Feb 22-23)

Detroit, MI (February 26-March 9)

Toronto, ON (March 19-24)

New York, NY (March 27-31)

Durham, NC (April 9-10)

Sacramento, CA (April 18-21)

Seattle, WA (April 23-28)

Eugene, OR (April 30)

Reno, NV (May 3-5)

Portland, OR (May 7-8)

San Jose, CA (May 10-12)

San Antonio, TX (May 15)

Dallas, TX(May 21-26)

Cheyenne, WY (May 28-29)

Tulsa, OK (May 31-June 1)

Wilmington, NC (June 4-5)

Atlanta, GA (June 7-9)

Ft. Lauderdale, FL (June 25-June 30)

Tampa, FL (July 9-14)