The Lightning Thief - National Tour

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 1/7/19 at 7:20pm

What's happening with this show? The Lightning Thief is playing in Chicago this week at the Oriental. The tour schedule is fascinating: with one night stands in a few markets. I am going in blind for the Tuesday, January 8 performance.

[Oncersm]

Posted: 1/7/19 at 10:39pm

My friend saw the show when it was still on Off Broadway and she said she loved it. Im really excited about the tour since I never got to see the show. I bought tickets for March when it comes to NYC and I cant wait!

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 1/8/19 at 8:05pm

Merch report:
30 tour t shirt

35 ladies tee

40 Cerberus long sleeve tee
15 water bottle
25 a tiny, furry squirrel plush
10 three button set
20 key chain
20 DOA hat
20 light up pen 
10 magnet
15 socks

55 vinyl LP
25 CD
65 zippered hoodie
30 vocal selections book

Very crowded lobby! Lots of families. House doors opened at 7:10.
 

Updated On: 1/9/19 at 08:05 PM

[MusicalFan1030]

Posted: 1/9/19 at 8:55am

BalconyClub said: "Merch report:
30 tour t shirt

35 ladies tee

40 Cerberus long sleeve tee
15 water bottle
25 a tiny, furry squirrel plush
10 three button set
20 key chain
20 DOAhat
20 light up pen
10 magnet
15 socks

55 vinyl LP
25 CD
65 zippered hoodie
30 vocal selectionsbook

Very crowded lobby! Lots of families.House doors opened at 7:10.

Act 1: 7:33 to 8:28."

How was the show? 

[HeatherAV]

Posted: 1/9/19 at 12:47pm

I'm seeing it this Friday - going in blind, although I'm taking two teenage boys who LOVE the Percy Jackson books so they are familiar with the plot.  I'll report back on Saturday. 

I did see Chris McCarrell perform the opening song on a local Chicago tv show (also available online https://wgntv.com/2019/01/07/midday-fix-live-performance-from-the-lightning-thief-the-percy-jackson-musical/) and he was fantastic.  I'm looking forward to it!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/9/19 at 12:59pm

I love the music, just curious of the production value of the piece. 

[Browneyes142]

Posted: 1/9/19 at 1:21pm

Following so I'll get the notification with any reviews. It's coming to Charlotte this month.

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 1/9/19 at 2:20pm

MusicalFan1030 said: "How was the show?"

A strong first night for this national tour.  I like the book, performances, and ability to hear the lyrics over the 4 piece on stage band.  

A few songs seem to end abruptly.  

The set is a hybrid of Xanadu and Rent. Not much to look at, but the storytelling sparks my imagination. I like the bus scene at the top of Act 2.  

Great characters. Bass-voiced actor is a hoot. DOA lead singer nails her notes. Tie-died shirt actor is great. Regrets, the Playbill is not nearby.

Feels like a very good off Broadway show.

 

 

 

[HeatherAV]

Posted: 1/12/19 at 11:00am

I saw this show last night in Chicago with two teenage boys and my our response was overwhelmingly positive. I went in totally blind but my boys are very familiar with the Percy Jackson series as well as the movie and they loved this interpretation. I thought it was great as a standalone show without any background.  The songs are catchy, although nothing revolutionary or groundbreaking. But I woke up this morning humming some of the lyrics which to me is always the sign of a good show.

The staging is very minimalistic but not simplistic. They do a lot of really creative and innovative things with very few props and set pieces. That said, I never felt like I was watching a high school version of the show - it definitely felt like a Broadway production. I don't want to spoil anything here, but the depiction of a farm tractor and a motorcycle are particularly noteworthy and we loved it.. The staging is very similar to Rent, with open scaffolding, spray painted backdrops, and a very small but visible band.

In my opinion, the show could definitely benefit from one additional male Ensemble member and one additional female Ensemble member. A few cast members perform numerous rules - literally too many for me to count - and by the second act I got a little weary of seeing the same faces coming out in different costumes. It was literally the case that an actor would walk off the stage and 30 seconds later appear from a nearby entry point in a totally different costume. That was distracting to me although my kids didn't seem to mind or maybe they didn't notice.

All that said, the performances were all fantastic. The actor playing Percy (Chris McCarrell) has a fantastic voice and stage presence, as do the other six characters. Jalynn Steele, In particular, has a beautiful voice which is particularly showcased when she is playing Percy's mom. After seeing the show last night, my sons woke up this morning talking about looking forward to seeing it again. It's only in Chicago through Sunday so I quickly purchased three more tickets for tonight's performance. If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what it is. If you're considering seeing this show, do it. You won't be disappointed. (One final point, some action does occur in the wings of the stage (particularly stage left), so I would recommend against buying any obstructed-view seats.)

[SacPsych]

Posted: 4/21/19 at 8:26pm

I caught the matinee of this yesterday without any expectations.  I rarely go into a show knowing nothing about it.  The audience had lots of kids and teenagers, which is always nice to see.  There's clearly a dedicated fanbase for this show, much like Be More Chill.  Lines that I could only assume were references from the book were met with applause and cheers, and Chris McCarrell got a BIG response on his first entrance.

As for the show itself... well, it wasn't boring.  The story was easy enough to follow and the songs were passably decent.  I've never read any of the series, but just based on the feel of the plotline I'm guessing this followed the first book pretty closely complete with a sequel-hook at the end.  Off the top of my head I can't think of another musical that does that.

Has anyone else seen this recently?  The production has an endearingly amateurish look to it (and something was off with the mixing because a lot of the lyrics were obscured by the band), but all of the actors were great and totally committed to their performances.

[CatastrophicDay]

Posted: 4/21/19 at 8:53pm

I caught this while it was in NYC and adored it.

I went in on a whim, I was a fan of the book series when I was young. If I'm honest, when I was waiting to head into the theater and saw the sheer hordes of children, as a single 27 year old, I wondered if I had made a grievous error.

I didn't - I was so overjoyed to be in that theater throughout the whole show. Granted, I was a sympathetic audience, but I was charmed by the score and the actors, and being in such an enthusiastic audience (appropriately too - loud entrance applause and at the end of songs, and dutiful attention the rest of the time) was a treat. 

I agree with an earlier poster that it's an effectively amateurish set and production. The puppet for the Minotaur reminded me of a roid-ed out Trekkie. 

Also, the actors all played so many roles, and I was sitting up in the balcony of the Beacon, that I was genuinely shocked at how few of them there were at the curtain call.