‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: (left to right) Kristin Stokes, Chris McCarrell & Jorrel Javier. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL
Adapted from the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Book by Joe Tracz
Music & lyrics by Rob Rokichi
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Choreography by Patrick McCollum
Through January 5, 2020
Longacre Theatre
220 West 48th Street
(212-239-6200), www.lightningthiefmusical.com

By David NouNou

Knowing that this show is aimed at younger/teenage boys or Generation Z, all day long I have been channeling my inner 13-year-old self to be able to fairly assess The Lightning Thief. Within five minutes of the show, that poor boy withered away and the monstrous adult in me emerged full-blown. As in the earlier debacle by director Stephen Brackett, Be More Chill, which also had adults playing young teenagers, the ability to suspend disbelief vanished into thin air.

Not only the boy in me had problems comprehending the ancient Greek Gods and myths; the adult in me was confounded by all the machinations on earth, Mt. Olympus, and Hades, all taking place from Long Island, New York, random names in New Jersey, to somewhere in Los Angeles and places in between.

Percy Jackson (Chris McCarrell), your typical misunderstood “teenager,” gets expelled from school for killing a “gorgon” or something while on a school outing. His mother (Jalynn Steele) sends him to Camp Half Blood in Long Island accompanied by his best friend Grover (Jorrel Javier). Camp Half Blood is the place where misplaced children go to find their prospective Greek God parents. Annabeth (Kristin Stokes) befriends him there. She shows him powers to enable him to go down to the underworld where they both get to find their “God” parents. This is part one of the convoluted plot.

Part two gives us the trip to Hadestown—oh, sorry, that is another musical playing across the street at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Well, they are in Hades, fight all sorts of monsters, among them Medusa and other foes. In the end, Percy or Percius finds out that his father is Poseidon and must return the lightning bolt found in his nap sack; he then must decide whether he wants to live at Camp Half Blood and go on more quests or go into the real world and fight for meaningful things. At this point I was yearning to be at the Lyric Theatre revisiting the far superior Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, both Parts 1 and 2 being less convoluted.

Harry Potter has the proverbial cast of thousands, while The Lightning Thief has a scant lackluster cast of seven portraying a cast of thousands, except for Percy; the remaining six players portray multiple roles, which further adds to the mayhem.

Young people may have enjoyed the books of the adventures of Percy Jackson, but as a musical with a banal one-note pop-rock score that doesn’t help the convoluted book, it is a dud, and the amateurish direction by Stephen Brackett is shameful.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is yet another example of how many empty theatres there were this fall/winter season that needed to be filled with whatever came their way.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 22, 2019
Reviewed at October 21, 2019 press performance.

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: Chris McCarrell. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: Chris McCarrell. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: (left to right) Chris McCarrell & James Hayden Rodriguez (bottom); Sarah Beth Pfeifer &  Jorrel Javier (top). Photo: Jeremy Daniel #

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: Chris McCarrell & Jalynn Steele. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: (left to right) Jorrel Javier, Chris McCarrell (top), Kristin Stoke & James Hayden Rodriguez. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: Chris McCarrell. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF-THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL’: The company. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

The post ‘The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical’ appeared first on StageZine.