The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical — Show of the Week #85

Show of the week is a weekly(ish) segment where I babble about musical theatre.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
Music & Lyrics by Rob Rokicki
Book by Joe Tracz

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If you're reading THIS comment below with your prediction – is Percy Jackson broadway bound? - that's how I'll know you read this far. 😉 Thanks for watching!

Oh, and would you click that like button? Love you forever.

[michaelas]

Well the book opens with the line "look I didn't want to be a half-blood" so the prologue song makes sense, it's supposed to be the first couple paragraphs of the book where Percy is addressing the audience and warning them away

[charlottedorey]

I'm pretty sure that the opening (the Day I got Expelled) is an homage to the opening of the lightning thief book, where Percy basically addresses the reader and says basically the same thing that the song does

[patricelinman]

"Look I didn't want to be a half-blood" is the very first line of the book and the composer said that he thought it was very important that Percy's first line is the first line of the book. In case you didn't know, the movie was absolute garbage and disastrously inaccurate to the book. "The Day I got Expelled" is an almost perfect summary of the first chapter of the book. The book is in first person point of view so it switches between what Percy is thinking and what is actually happening so the song really works to match that tone of the book. The whole musical captures the tone of the book perfectly. The book series is very beloved and had a large fanbase (called half-bloods or demigods btw)so the creators of the musical really wanted to please the fans as they knew the fans would be hyper-critical of the show especially after they were so disappointed by the movie. Also it's important to note that in the book the characters are 12. While for obvious reasons they couldn't get actual kid actors the producers, as well as the cast, worked on making the characters all seem young with out actually having to say the age. This is why the lyrics aren't super complex, so any one of any age could sing them.

Tl;dr: A lot of little things in the show pay homage to the original book and the fans of that book so people who never read the book might miss it or not understand it as well. I think this musical was more for fans of the book series but I'm glad someone who didn't read the books still enjoyed the show :)

[ponderingpebbles]

Shh we don't take about the movies even the author has branded them as trash.

[emilykoonce]

while your criticism is totally legit, it can also help to realize that a lot of the things you noted (especially the half blood song) are actually important aspects of the book being transferred over! in my opinion, the show perfectly captures the tone of the book (angsty pop-rock musical). anyways, thanks for covering this show! it's a whole lot of fun

[anniedaisydot]

That's how it starts out in the books (which are way better than the movies) he starts out with I never wanted to be a half blood and it's sort of like a Hamilton thing where they tell you how it ends and then they take you on the journey of how they got to the end. But in musical form people have to be very clear with "OK now we are starting in the past and we'll work out way back from there".

[hopingforsunshine]

The "i didn't want to be a half-blood" is a framing device borrowed from the book, which is set up as percy telling a story about him finding out he's a half-blood and inviting you to see how it is affecting his life. i also (perhaps because I knew this from the book) realized this about the show. the percy singing the "i didn't want to be a half-blood" aside-y bits isn't the same percy who is singing the parts about how he got expelled. i think it's kind of implied at the end of the song when he singing "stick around and maybe you'll learn from me, " meaning "here's my story, i (future narrator percy) is leaving now)

[nataliecornish]

I think the reason the lightning thief works well as this kind of musical is that it didn't start in a corporate way, it was originally a fan production and I don't know how much it changed in between but the roots of it are sincere to the original.

[bonesisthebest]

Thanks for doing this!! I was one of the people who suggested this!! It's interesting to see a review of it from someone who hasn't read the book. For example, you were talking about the "look I didn't want to be a half-blood" section. As a book fan I loved that because the very first line of the book is "Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood" and then he goes on explaining how it's scary and dangerous and if you think you are one then to stop reading. And then he gets into the story about how he got expelled and such.

[bramblechaser]

If I'm not mistaken, the guy who adapted the Lightning Thief book to its musical form is the same guy who adapted Be More Chill from its book. The music writers are different obviously but I find it pretty neat that the writer is the same. Be More Chill is probably my favorite musical and it was fun to see the way one of my childhood books (Percy Jackson) come to life with the help of the same man.

[brainrotbanana]

My favorite thing about this musical is that it accurately tells the story, and while it takes some things away, it makes sense and makes the story better. That is completely different the movie, which is why I think all the PJO-verse fans are so attracted to the musical. It is so much a part of the readers that to see the content treated with the respect it deserves is the best thing e v e r.

[HylianKilljoy]

Saw the show earlier this year and loved it! It didn't take itself too seriously and had fun (like the first few books did) while also staying true to the book. It takes pride in its low-budget, small cast and is overall a lot of fun!

[clairejoliegoodman]

I saw this show before it was expanded, and, as both a lifetime musical theater fan and demigod. I loved it! My aunt is great friends with the writer, so maybe I'm biased, but thank you so much for covering such an obscure and fantastic musical!

[ashleyf]

I've been a Percy Jackson fan for 7 years, and this show makes me really, really happy.

[imsophiguess]

in the words of Martha Dunstock, I'M SO HAPPY (that you talked abt this musical!)

[jaceyb]

Very insightful! One comment I would like to make is the talk about how Percy says he doesn’t want to be a halfblood before he even realizes he is one, and the reason for that is Rob Rokicki who wrote the songs said it was very important for them to have the first words out of his mouth the same that are in the book, which is “I didn’t want to be a halfblood.” Very creative and detailed on the creative team’s part!

[Neverlnd]

Thank you so much! I didn't know there was a Percy Jackson musical (how did I miss that?). My daughter just finished all the books and is having a Percy Jackson birthday party next week. I'm going to start the party by telling her about this and making the kids listen to the music!

[iliherr]

I was lucky enough to get rush tickets to this back in April, and it was for sure better than expected. Chris McCarrell is pretty much Percy personified - i remember not caring much for his performance in Les Miz last year, but this role fit him like a glove.
That being said, i honestly cannot see this moving to Broadway. The productions has a very storefront theatre feel to it. The fact that the show was put on in a smaller scale theatre and had to find inventive ways of portraying monsters and mythical beings/powers was part of it's charm. Transferring that to a main stem theatre might prove difficult - would they feel the need to make all those effects bigger to play to bigger theatres?
My hope is that the rights to this become available so that more storefront theatre companies can put this on and brig the show to more people.
Thanks for listening to our suggestions for this one!

[Addaleew]

I would REALLY love a video where he reviews all of starkid's musicals

[eliasapollo]

So I just listened to the musical and HOLY SHIT IT'S NOT BAD. IT'S ACTUALLY GOOD. SWEET MOTHER OF GOD. IT'S STAYS ALMOST 100% TRUE TO THE BOOK. ARGHHH THIS IS FUCKING HEAVEN
-I'm fine I swear-