EPHRAIM —The Lightning Thief, a musical with music by Rob Rokicki and a book by Joe Tracz, is based on the popular novel of the same name about Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan. The story, coming to life on the Snow College Stage this weekend and next, follows Percy, played by Ethan Smith as he discovers that he is a demigod and the son of Poseidon. Although this show has been produced a few times locally, I have not been able to catch it until now, so I was happy to make my way down to Snow College again to see what they do with this story. Originally starting off Broadway in 2014, and playing a limited Broadway run in 2019. The negative reviews from the Broadway run are significant, however the young fan base is very positive. As a fan of the book and the current Disney+ series, I am quite curious about my own experience with this show.
Directed by Charley Roetting and Jess Wallace and sporting an ambitiously large cast, this production was quite different than I expected in very delicious ways. The cast is full of very angsty young college students who fill the stage with great energy and fantastic choreography by McKenzie Levie. In his director note, Roetting mentions the size of the cast and his choice to make a somewhat fitting Greek chorus, but what I saw was a wonderful educational opportunity to have many people participate in a musical effort. It also made for a full and robust choral sound with music production credited to Nate Brown and assistant music director credited to Bryce Esplin. The way the vocals stood out and blended together made the group numbers shine. There was a moment in the very beginning when the ensemble came out of the pit that was terribly exciting and visually epic.
Speaking of visuals, the puppetry use in this production, with designs by Jess Wallace, was perhaps one of the most intricate things I have seen on a college level. In a discussion with the directors, several of the students were involved in the construction of the puppets, welding and building and co-designing. This is one of the best things about college level theatrical pursuits, seeing the learning take shape on stage. While I spent the past weekend watching what multi-million dollars can bring to spectacle, taking a two hour drive to rural Utah I was lucky to see what talent and drive can do with minimal budget and pure energy. The three main leads, Smith as Percy, Jackson Brown as Grover, and Malorie Grace as Annabeth had beautiful chemistry. I really could believe they were on a quest together and moving toward a team goal. The song “Killer Quest” was perhaps the best one to show this partnership well, and the way that the whole ensemble works together. Parker Smith as Luke added that mystery and tough guy level that is also needed in a story like this. Being a college level theatrical program, I expect high levels of singing and acting skills, and they did not disappoint.
One of the reasons I believe The Lightning Thief was not popular when it played on Broadway was it was not the right audience. Theatre critics on Broadway are of a certain demographic, and it is not the demographic that is reading the Percy Jackson series. For my plus one, I brought my 8th grader, and her main criticisms of the production were how the story differed from the book or the series. The drive home consisted of how often different mediums have to change things and how that is expected and that is ok. However, we both agreed it was fun, fast-paced (in and out in two hours including intermission), full of good music that was not dull, and had a great storyline that connected with teens. It did not make it on Broadway because tickets are too expensive and the demographic that sees and critiques Broadway shows seems to have forgotten what it was like to feel like our parents have forgotten us and are not there for us. I have said before that one of the most important things we can do as critics is to match audiences to the shows they would enjoy. I am so glad The Lightning Thief is finding its home in the high school, college, and community scene. Not only was it as fun and inventive as several of the shows I saw this weekend in New York, but at $12 dollars a ticket, it was far more accessible for people to have a theatre experience than the elite experience that Broadway has become.
