The Lightning Thief – The Percy Jackson Musical

The Lightning Thief is a comparatively recent musical with this version opening on 4th April 2017 and until today I had not seen the film, read the book on which the show is based, or seen any professional or community theatre production.  For those of you in a similar position,  in a nutshell,  Wikipedia summarises the show in one sentence “A 12-year-old boy discovers that he is a demigod and goes on a quest to find Zeus's missing lightning bolt to prevent a war between the Greek gods”  However this summary very much undersells the experience I had at the Duchess Theatre with the EMUS team.

From the very start of the show, I was very impressed by the sheer energy that was erupting from the stage supported by the pumping backing tracks and high-quality staging and visual / physical effects.  Clearly the work that Chris Renshaw, Hayden Fletcher and George Parkinson and the EMUS Backstage Mates had put in during the rehearsal, tech and dress stages, had paid off as it was clear that the cast and audience alike were having a great time throughout the performance thanks to acting, vocal work and slick transitions between the various scenes that drove the narrative forward.

All 24 of the “Half-Blood Camp Mates” delivered great performances.  Elis Moore provided the central drive as Percy the troubled yet brave titular lead.  Elis’s energy and portrayal of Percy’s uncertainty when required, brought out the dyslexia and ADHD Percy suffers from without over-acting or overstatement.  Izzy Cole’s portrayal of Annabeth in no way played “second fiddle” to anyone with an excellent vocal and acting performance that brought out the driven, wise, and brave elements of Annabeth’s character as she led the quest to save the world. 

Lowri Moore brought the fun to her depiction of Grover the young satyr tasked with looking out for Percy.  Lowri providing both light and shade to her character together with a great vocal performance throughout.  Lauren Hazledine was on great form in the dual role of Mr Brunner / Chiron the centaur in charge of activities at Camp Half-Blood introduced as a middle-aged human in a wheelchair and Percy’s favourite teacher. Grace Simms certainly brought out the strength and compassion of Sally – Percy’s mother, with a very sympathetic performance that developed throughout the production.

Every Hero’s journey needs a strong antagonist and Jack Tuxford provided the perfect foil to Percy as Luke, the son of Hermes. and camp sword-fighting trainer.  Jack managed to bring out the reasons for Luke’s hatred rather than becoming a pantomime-villain which made his performance all the stronger.  Toby Wykes provided one of the comedy highlights of the production as Mr Dionysus God of wine, Eleanor Cooper was also on great form in her dual “evil” roles of Ares the god of war and Kronos.  Jessie Gatehouse had fun on the dark-side as Aunt Em/Medusa a monster initially disguised as a friendly woman who then transforms into Medusa who turned anyone who looks her in the eye into stone.  Yasmin Aldous revelled in her role as Clarice, the daughter of Ares, as she bullied and tried to humiliate Percy throughout the performance.  Again, a well-judged characterisation that didn’t fall into caricature at any point.

The strength of this production lay in the many performances of the Ensemble cast so congratulations go to Gabriella Tilly, Eloise Chamberlain, Oliver Nolan, Clarissa Armitage, Jessie Jerram, Noah Hickling, Livvi Hickling, Harry O’Boyle, Theodore Goodwin, Myla Statham-Browne, Rose Staniford, Blake Hagan, Martha Smart and Eva Woodcock for their contributions to the overall success of the production.  Their collective strength in acting, vocal contribution to the overall sound and delivery of the well-judged choreography significantly added to the quality of the production and the puppetry of the Minotaur was next level!

Another great success for the directing talents of Chris and many congratulations to all in the production team and Backstage friends.  The small cast and full cast numbers rocked the theatre all night thanks to the work done by George ably supported by the tight choreography designed by Hayden.  Costumes were on point for Camp Half-Blood and the lighting, sound scene changes and puppetry all added to overall spectacle.  Thanks for inviting me along to another EMUS success and here’s to next year and Guys and Dolls

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