Kristin Stokes, Chris McCarrell, and Jorrel Javier (Jeremy Daniel)
Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical continues the story first developed in Rick Riordan’s series of best selling books of the iconic half-blood teen who goes on an adventure with three of his friends to find Zeus’ lightning bolt to prevent a war between the Greek gods. Featuring a thrilling original rock score, with an onstage company of seven playing more than 47 characters, The Lightning Thief is an action-packed theatrical adventure about accepting that normal is a myth and embracing the superpowers inside all of us.
While the show has its many faults storyline-wise and might be too bit corny for the average audience, there is a lot to say about the cast and their performances. Leading man Chris McCarrell, who plays Percy, gives such a good performance which is both heartfelt and funny. His ability to play the innocence of a teenager really makes his character believable and there were quite a few numbers where he belted out all he had for the songs. McCarrell possess all the best qualities in a leading man and I look forward to seeing what he will do next.
Chris McCarrell (Jeremy Daniel)
Jorrel Javier is hysterically good in the role of Grover and Mr D. Kristin Stokes who delights as Annabeth, has some crazy belt-your-face-off moments. The rest of the cast were great as well — many of whom were wonderful in multiple roles, with voices every bit as good as that of McCarrell.
The show has just come off a year run on a National Tour where It was very successful—rightfully so, as bringing a show to Broadway like this makes sense due to the book (and its subsequent films) that have a huge teen fanbase. The producers have brought the show to the Longacre Theatre for a strictly limited engagement in the hopes to strengthen the demand for tickets.
The buzz around town is they are going to be close to sold out in November and December so be sure to get your tickets before it is too late. The show runs at The Longacre Theatre through January 5th. For tickets, click here or visit the Longacre Theatre box office.