THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL Announces 2020-2021 National Tour
Following the conclusion of its strictly limited 16-week holiday engagement on Broadway, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical will return to the road for a national touring production in the 2020-2021 season.
The Lightning Thief opened at the Longacre Theatre (220 W. 48th Street) on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, following a successful 32-city North American First National Tour earlier this year. The production will play its final Broadway performance as scheduled on Sunday, January 5, 2020.
"Since TheaterWorksUSA first began developing The Lightning Thief in 2013, this inventive musical has entertained countless audiences of all ages on and off Broadway and across the country, and we are so pleased that Percy Jackson's theatrical journey continues onward," said Victoria Lang, Founder & Co-President of Content for Broadway & Beyond Theatricals, which is providing booking services for the upcoming tour.
As a son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson has newly discovered powers he can't control, monsters on his trail, and is on a quest to find Zeus' lightning bolt to prevent a war between the Greek gods. Based on the bestselling novel by Rick Riordan and featuring a thrilling original rock score, with an onstage company of seven playing more than 47 characters, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is an action-packed theatrical adventure about accepting that normal is a myth and embracing the superpowers inside all of us.
The show's original Broadway features Chris McCarrell (Les Miserables) as Percy Jackson, with Izzy Figueroa, Jorrel Javier, Ryan Knowles, Sam Leicht, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, James Hayden Rodriguez, Jalynn Steele, T. Shyvonne Stewart, and Kristin Stokes.
The Lightning Thief has a book by Joe Tracz (Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Be More Chill), music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki (Broadway debut), and is directed by Stephen Brackett (A Strange Loop, Fall Springs, Be More Chill), with choreography by Patrick McCollum (The Band's Visit), with set design by Lee Savage (Satchmo at the Waldorf), costume design by Sydney Maresca (Hand to God), lighting design by David Lander (Torch Song), sound design by Ryan Rumery (Be More Chill, Fool for Love), puppet design by AchesonWalsh (On the Town), fight direction by Rod Kinter (Red Roses, Green Gold), hair, wigs, and makeup design by Dave Bova (Bandstand), orchestrations by Wiley Deweese (First Daughter Suite, Preludes) and Rob Rokicki, and music direction by Wiley Deweese. The production is being presented by special arrangement with Rick Riordan and the Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency.
The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, was published in 2005 to the delight of Rick's two young sons who first heard the adventures of Percy Jackson in the form of bedtime stories. This novel for young readers was an overnight success, inspiring not only four more Percy Jackson books, but a second and third series of five books each, which have sold more than 175 million copies worldwide in 42 languages to date. The Lightning Thief recently surpassed its 520th week - the equivalent of ten years - on the New York Times Bestseller list.
The original TheaterWorksUSA musical production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical debuted in spring 2017 at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City with a sold-out, six-week run which was nominated for three Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical. The Original Cast Recording, available from Broadway Records [and available on Spotify], was released in June 2017 and soon hit #1 on iTunes' soundtrack chart; the album's Deluxe Edition, as well as a Karaoke Album, is also now available. A subsequent North American First National Tour launched in Chicago in January 2019 and concluded successfully in July at Boston's Huntington Theatre Company.
