The Lightning Thief @ Oakcrest High School

"Bring on the Monsters," says the cast and crew of Oakcrest High School's production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Theatre for Young Audiences Edition).

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is the story of a young boy named Percy Jackson, who discovers he is a demigod. This "special characteristic" doesn't always make things easy for him, so his mother decides to send him away to a camp where he will be surrounded by other demigods. Here he is faced with the quest of finding the thief who stole Zeus' lightning bolt in order to prevent a war amongst the gods. The Lightning Thief is based upon the 2005 novel by Rick Riordan. It premiered on Broadway in October of 2019 and closed in January of 2020. The musical was written by Joe Tracz with music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki. In its pre-Broadway run, it managed to be nominated for three Drama Desk Awards, one including Outstanding Musical!

One thing that really pushed Oakcrest's production over the top was its use of lighting. The "lightning" effect in the opening of the show really set the tone for what was expected for the rest of the show. The use of fog was also heavily used, and used well. The fog allowed the fighting scenes to be much more enjoyable by hiding the illusion of the fighting, making it look more real.

Percy Jackson, played by Kevin Podolski, struck the audience like lightning with his wonderful vocals. Annabeth Chase, played by Lorelai Slack, left audience members in awe with her rendition of "My Grand Plan", and the two's chemistry together was superb.

Clarisse, played by Kaia Woodruff, hit the stage like a hurricane. Woodruff did an excellent job executing fight choreography, making it look believable, while also serving amazing vocals. Grover, played by Valentino Carcache, was a stage delight and provided comedic relief, especially in emotionally intense scenes. Sally Jackson (Percy's mother), played by Vivian Broadbent, really stepped into her role as a mother by channeling her emotions into passion and hope for her son to do his best in life.

Another notable aspect of this show is the scenery. Oakcrest's crew did a fantastic job moving sets on and off stage efficiently and quickly. The sets themselves were also fantastic. They immersed you in scenes and allowed you to clearly differentiate scenes.

"The Last Day of Summer" at Camp Half-blood might have been bad, but this show definitely was not! The cast served amazing vocals, jokes that had audience members hootin' and hollerin', and the crew did a stupendous job at making scene transitions move smoothly and quickly.