The Lightning Thief Bway Transfer?

[mell32]

Posted: 8/11/19 at 11:47pm

Heard the rumor that The Lightning Thief is transferring to the Longacre Theatre next month. No official announcement yet, but we're probably going to get one on August 18th (this is Percy Jackson's birthday, and if the rumors are true-- TLT is transferring next month so they really have to hurry up with the promos).

From someone who is a personal fan of the show, has seen it twice, (Toronto and St Paul), and has been a fan of the books for YEARS, I don't know how well it'd do on Broadway-level stage without some major upheaval-- bigger cast, streamlined book, better direction, etc. Could see it become a sort of Be More Chill again -- successful with a dedicated fanbase but not groundbreaking or good enough to stay on Broadway for long. Thoughts??

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 12:08am

There are 2 or 3 threads already discussing this. Look at the Next at the Longacre! thread...about 8 or so posts down.

[DoTheDood]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 12:11am

I have no opinion on Lightning Thief as a piece, but I hate the way it is being brought. For one, they are trying to open a show in the fall (seemingly Sept or Oct), the consistent worst time for Broadway. The only advantage is how few shows there are right now, but I can't see it thriving if it opens this soon. Next, no official announcement until the show is about the load into the theater. They have a good size fandom, but that is not being used as they give fans no time to hype the show up for people who are unfamiliar with it. Then, it apparently didn't do well off-Broadway nor on tour (if I'm not mistaken), so I really have no idea how more seats will lead to more people. I get it has the advantage of being a well known book series, I think it will get a lot of people interested, but then why did the off-Broadway or tour not do well? Even if it did well on tour and off-Broadway, as can be seen with BMC, that might not be enough for a Broadway run. I wish this show the best, but I see a lot of this as shooting itself in the foot before it even has an official announcement. 

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 12:55am

it hasnt even been announced yet and I already can't wait for it to close. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 1:22am

Teenagers are more into Broadway, but you can't put a TYA show in a Broadway house and expect it to do well

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 11:17am

Here is the announcement http://www.playbill.com/article/the-lightning-thief-the-percy-jackson-musical-is-heading-to-broadway

Very ambitious to announce this late in the game http://www.playbill.com/article/the-lightning-thief-the-percy-jackson-musical-is-heading-to-broadway

[ren598]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 11:29am

I guess they needed a show to fill the void left by Be More Chill.  Maybe now George Salazar will be available for the Broadway transfer. My guess is everyone from the Tour (which is also most of the original cast) will return for this.  And since they've been touring for much of the year, it should be a seamless transfer.  

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 8/12/19 at 11:48am

I agree with OP here both about loving the show and with concerns about it working on Broadway but honestly I'd tell people to check it out before dismissing it as just another teenage musical. While it's about teenagers it definitely has a wider appeal much like the book series. I haven't looked at their tour numbers but they generally got pretty positive reviews across the board for all their tour stops which they can definitely use to their advantage.

I do think the fall opening could hurt it come awards season but the limited run is smart (and hopefully it'll be able to extend) so we'll have to see