On February 6th and 7th, Cypress Theatre presented its second show of the year with the musical version of the novel The Lightning Thief. The musical follows a young teenager who discovers that he’s the son of Poseidon. Throughout his journey, he embarks upon quests to find friendships in the most unexpected places.
The show follows a young boy named Percy Jackson (played by Finn Cooper and Maggie Fraser) who has a history of getting into trouble, regardless of his trying to avoid it. After getting expelled from another school, Percy’s mom (played by Josephine Beltran and Hannah Arnce) reveals the truth about his father being a god. Percy eventually ends up at Camp Half-Blood where he meets other demigods–one of whom being Annabeth, daughter of Athena (played by Patricia Krausse and Megan Hu), and Satyr–his best friend, Grover (played by Addison Archer). The three go on a journey together to get Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt to prevent a war among the gods. Their quest follows encounters with other gods whose aim is to find the lightning bolt and use it for their own good.
Rick Riordan’s novel has had several different adaptations ranging from movies to shows, and now musicals. Alongside the different versions, stand the different interpretations of each character. Fraser who played Percy during the closing night says, “I’ve known that [book] Percy for so long. So it came more naturally to me.” With so many different versions, it can be difficult to pinpoint not only what kind of person you want your character to be, but the emotion you want the audience to feel. Cooper, who played Percy Jackson on the first show says, “Percy, compared to the others, is not experienced at all in any of the camp stuff, and what better way to portray that than being a loser? But of course, Percy is the hero, so I tried to make him a ‘heroic’ wimp if anything.”
Every performance isn’t always easy to master without practice, especially when time is limited. Tech rehearsals leading up to the show lasted from 3:30 PM to as late as 7 PM. Rehearsals consisted of working with others in groups so that everyone would be prepared for their parts. Theatre teacher Ms. Stewart says, “It was really ambitious to put on the musical in a short amount of time. So, we divided people up into different groups, so everyone was on stage dancing and singing…we just sort of rotate and learn as fast as we can.”
Apart from the acting, the production was also a main factor in the show. Background props were a major part of the production to enhance the show for the audience. Artistic director, Freddie Ho says, “We really wanted that goofy feeling…I really wanted to keep the super bright colors we had, the contrast with the orange shirts and the blue background and all of that.”
The Lightning Thief not only gave the audience another laugh but reminded them to value the people they have. Cypress Theatre continues to spread its creativity to the audience as the year progresses.
