‘The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical’ is an electrifying Off-Broadway show
Kristin Stokes as Annabeth, Chris McCarrell as Percy and George Salazar as Grover in the Off-Broadway production "The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical." Credit: Jeremy Daniels
We had the opportunity to go see “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Manhattan on a recent Saturday.
It was interesting to see a well-known book (by Rick Riordan) turned into a musical. The effects in the Off-Broadway musical made you feel like you were a part of the storyline. Everyone thought Percy (played by Chris McCarrell) was a bad kid. Later, he discovered that he was a half-blood and the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.
Percy is sent on a quest to find Zeus’ stolen master lightning bolt with his friends Annabeth (Kristin Stokes) and Grover (George Salazar). One sad part was when Grover told the story of Talia and how she died and her father, Zeus, turned her into a tree in order to protect Camp Half-Blood from monsters. Our favorite part of the show was when Percy went to the oracle and it told him the future because the set designs and lighting for this part of the play made this scene incredible to watch. The lighting captured the intensity of the moment while foreshadowing Percy’s future struggles to save what’s most important to him.
The actors did an awesome job portraying their roles, and the singing was great. Our favorite actor and character is Percy’s mom, Sally Jackson (played by Carrie Compere), because she showed what it means to be a mother. She sacrificed her own happiness to protect Percy. She stood out among the rest because she had an outstanding voice and stage presence.
The music was also outstanding, and the songs were very catchy. One thing we found cool was that the music was by a live band instead of being a recorded soundtrack. Our favorite song from the show is “Bring on the Monsters,” because many of the characters sang the song together. When this song played, you could hear and see the characters’ strength and perseverance. We found ourselves singing along from our seats.
We thought they did a very good job of interpreting the original story. Overall, we thought it was a very good show and we recommend you see it.
For more information: lightningthiefmusical.com
