Joe Tracz News

Happy belated birthday, Percy Jackson! Following the beloved fantasy hero's August 18th birth date, TheaterWorksUSA and Martian Entertainment are pleased to announce the ten actors who will bring The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical to Broadway this fall, beginning performances Friday, September 20 ahead of a Wednesday, October 16 opening night at the Longacre Theatre (220 W. 48th Street) in a strictly limited 16-week holiday engagement.

Two River Theater announces the cast, creative team and design team for its world-premiere production of Love in Hate Nation, an original musical with music, lyrics and book by Tony Award nominee Joe Iconis, directed by John Simpkins.

Get ready to head to Camp Halfblood because the demigods of The Lightning Thief are coming to Broadway this fall! Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and more are coming to the Longacre Theatre, starting previews on September 20th and opening on October 16th for a limited run through January 5th. To prepare you to bring on the monsters, we've gathered all the info you need to know about the show, from the show's journey to a sneak peek at its score. Check it all out!

Today's top stories: Diana and The Lightning Thief will both come to Broadway!

Following last night's final performance of Be More Chill, composer Joe Iconis took to the stage to give a speech. After his speech, the cast was joined on stage by family and friends to perform The Goodbye Song.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Be More Chill will play its final Broadway performance today, August 11th following 30 previews and 177 performances.

We're getting an upgrade thanks to Andrew Keenan-Bolger's performance at Be More Chill's final post-show hang! Check out the video to see the Broadway favorite sing 'Blue Hair' alongside the show's Tony-nominated composer Joe Iconis!

Bring on the monsters! TheaterWorksUSA and Martian Entertainment have just announce that The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, the original musical adaption of Rick Riordan's New York Times best-selling novel, will arrive on Broadway this fall for a strictly limited 16-week holiday engagement at the Longacre Theatre (220 W. 48th Street) following the recent successful conclusion of its 32-city North American First National Tour which has been celebrated by audiences and critics alike.

BE MORE CHILL makes its Central Valley premiere at the Selma Arts Center with performances running from July 19-27.

The viral hit musical Be More Chill, with a book by Joe Tracz and music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, plays July 11 through 29, 2019, at Monumental Theatre Company. Be More Chill follows nerdy loner Jeremy, played by Ben Ribler, who ingests a supercomputer called a 'SQUIP' in order to become cool and popular. Jeremy's best friend Michael is played by Christian Montgomery. His love interest, Christine, is played by Monumental newcomer Jyline Carranza. The 'SQUIP' will be played by Caroline Dubberly. Check out the video!

How much one enjoys THE LIGHTNING THIEF, The Percy Jackson Musical, currently at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston through July 28, may correlate directly with one's familiarity with the source material. On opening night, the large number of teens and tweens in the audience - who were clearly anticipating the appearance of every monster, plot twist and special effect - were laughing, cheering and clapping with unbridled vigor. However, the adults whom I queried at intermission, who had no such prior exposure to the immensely popular Rick Riordan children's book series that mashes up teen angst with Greek mythology, were considerably less enthralled.

The Be More Chill: Original Broadway Cast Recording two-disc CD set is available online and in stores today, Friday, July 19. It was released for digital download and streaming earlier this year, with a vinyl release planned for later this year.

Be More Chill only runs a few short weeks - don't miss it. The company has scheduled several special performances including a late night on July 19, a 'chill and grill' picnic on July 21, and two industry nights. Check out photos of the production below!

Be More Chill is playing at Monumental Theatre Company through July 29. Let's see what the critics had to say!

Two River Theater announces the lineup for its 9th annual Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) festival of plays and music by Latinx theater artists. The summer festival will take place August 1-4 and will include free readings of new plays, live music and conversations with artists.

Jeremy Heere is a socially-awkward, hopelessly uncool student languishing at the bottom rung of the high school's social ladder. "I don't want to be special, I just want to survive," he sings in the opening number of Be More Chill, a show that makes its Washington-area premiere in a wonderfully effervescent and wholehearted Monumental Theatre Company production.

How does a book so grounded in popularity in Young-Adult fiction, that was then translated to a 2 film series, transition its magical storytelling to the stage? These and more are the questions I asked myself upon entering Morsani Hall Tuesday evening for the opening of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. As a fan of the book series, and having seen the films a few times, I was skeptical at best. Upon finding my seats and purusing the program I found 10 actors making up the subsequent company of the show before me. Little did I know that each character minus Percy, would be doubling as several other characters throughout the night. At a talk-back immediatelty following the show, one actress said she had upwards of 21 costume changes throughout the show which can be an astounding feat. Having little knowledge of the music in the show I sat back and was ready to embrace the adventure. Usually I find myself listening to the Cast recordings prior to seeing shows, however with this one I wanted every surprise available to me.

Be More Chill: Original Broadway Cast Recording is now available for CD pre-order and the two-disc set will be released online and in stores on Friday, July 19.

The cast of the national tour of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical brought on the monsters during its June 25th performance as the drama students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School join Chris McCarrell, Kristin Stokes, Jorrel Javier, and more for a special encore performance at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Check out the full video!

C-c-c'mon! We're giving you the chance to win tickets to see Be More Chill on Broadway! The winner will receive two tickets to a performance of their choosing*. The contest will run now through July 7th, at 11:59 PM EST. The voices in our heads are telling us that you should enter for your chance to win TODAY!