{"id":30764,"date":"2019-01-22T11:27:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T16:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=30764"},"modified":"2019-01-22T11:27:16","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T16:27:16","slug":"on-stage-percy-jackson-comes-to-philly-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=30764","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Percy Jackson comes to Philly stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span>Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical<\/p><\/div>\n

Fans of Percy Jackson are elated with the new show that is coming to Philadelphia this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPercy Jackson & the Olympians,\u201d often shortened to \u201cPercy Jackson,\u201d is a pentalogy of fantasy adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles. Five supplementary books, along with three graphic novels, have also been released. More than 45 million copies of the books have been sold in more than 35 countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

From January 22-27, the Merriam Theater (250 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 215-893-1999, www.kimmelcenter.org<\/a>) is presenting \u201cThe Lightning Thief \u2013 The Percy Jackson Musical\u201d as part of the Kimmel Center\u2019s Broadway Philadelphia series.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical\u201d is a 2017 musical with music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki, and a playbook by Joe Tracz. Based on the 2005 fantasy-adventure novel of the same name, the musical follows Percy Jackson, a teenager who discovers that he is the son of gods and suddenly has powers he can\u2019t control. The teen goes on an epic quest to find Zeus’ missing lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris McCarrell (Percy) and Kristin Stokes (Annabeth) reprise their roles from the Off-Broadway run, under the direction of Stephen Brackett (\u201cBe More Chill<\/a>\u201d) with orchestrations by Rokicki and Wiley Deweese and choreography by Patrick McCollum (\u201cThe Band\u2019s Visit\u201d). Rounding out the cast are Izzy Figueroa, Jorrel Javier, Ryan Knowles, Sam Leicht, Sarah Beth Pfeiffer, James Hayden Rodriguez, Jalynn Steele, and T. Shyvonne Stewart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been involved with the show since the star,\u201d said Stokes, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Charleotte, North carolina. \u201cI was with it through the workshops, a school tour, Off-Broadway and workshops to bring it to the two-hour version.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was very lucky to be part of the original workshop five years ago \u2013 figuring out how do we create all this stuff. That was back at the end of 2013.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After it was introduced in New York City by Theatreworks USA in 2014 as a one-hour musical and went into a national tour, it was announced in January 2017 that a new version would be produced, with a new score and an updated, expanded script. The musical would have a limited run, with performances beginning on March 23, an opening set for April 4 and a last performance on May 6 on the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The show announced its national tour, set to debut in Chicago in 2019, on April 17, 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTheatreworks USA\u2019s original intention was for a one-hour touring show to take to different schools and also present in New York City as free summer theater for kids,\u201d said Stokes. \u201cA few months later, Theatreworks USA did a mini-tour. It already had a series of one-hour shows based on children\u2019s novels. \u2018Percy Jackson\u2019 was such a hit that Theatreworks USA decided to take it out as a full-length musical.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar with the \u201cPercy,\u201d the story centers on Percy who discovers that he is demi-god. His mother conceived him with Poseidon. Percy, who suffers from dyslexia and ADHD, is sent to a summer camp for similar \u201chalf-bloods.\u201d There, he meets the feisty Annabeth (daughter of Athena), Grover (a happy-go-lucky satyr) and Dionysus (the god of wine). The plot involves Percy and his new friends\u2019 efforts to prevent a war among the Greek gods and find Zeus\u2019 missing lightning bolt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPercy never takes it too seriously,\u201d said Stokes. \u201cHe fights monsters \u2013 but he also has ADHD. That sparks the imagination of the cast and the audience. It sets the scene. It says to the audience \u2013 we\u2019re going to take you on a wild ride. The story at its heart is about a boy wanting to get back to his mother.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Theater fans who are not familiar with Percy Jackson still will be able to enjoy a fun, lively production.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhether they know the Percy books or not, most people are familiar with Greek myths,\u201d said Stokes, a graduate of Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. \u201cI wasn\u2019t familiar with Percy Jackson before I auditioned for it. I wasn\u2019t sure what I was getting in for. Now, I\u2019ve read the entire first five books. They are young adult novels about growing up and dealing with angst. This show is based on the first book.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFriends of the cast have come to see the show. Their response has been that they were surprised and really enjoyed it,\u201d said Stokes, a native of Fremont, California. \u201cIn this show, there is something for everyone. Besides, who can\u2019t relate back to their adolescence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cThe Lightning Thief \u2013 The Percy Jackson Musical\u201d \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/vkYxgC_aaJ0<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at the Merriam Theater is running now through January 27. Ticket prices range from $29-$99.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff,\u00a0Entertainment Editor, The Times Fans of Percy Jackson are elated with the new show that is coming to Philadelphia this week. \u201cPercy Jackson & the Olympians,\u201d often shortened to \u201cPercy Jackson,\u201d is a pentalogy of fantasy adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the Camp Half-Blood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7529],"tags":[6518,10914,10915],"class_list":["post-30764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-percy-jackson","tag-the-lightning-thief"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30765,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30764\/revisions\/30765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}