The play’s the thing

The spring theatrical production at Soda Springs High School proceeded on schedule, with “The Lightning Thief” being staged on Monday and Tuesday.  The musical is an adaptation of the plot of the “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” book by Rick Riordan, which is the first in what has become a long series of popular books.  Percy Jackson initially came along during the Harry Potter phenomenon of the late 90s/early 2000s, featuring coming of age stories of kids whose parentage is unclear but ultimately reveals itself to be supernatural or rarefied in some fashion.

Percy Jackson is a bit of an nth level iteration of that theme, as (spoilers for a decades old book and movie and play you should have seen!) Jackson discovers that he is the son of Poseidon while at a summer camp full of demigods.  Along with his newly discovered friends and some hidden enemies, Percy takes on a quest to recover Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt and earn his father’s favor and mother’s life.

For many of the actors in the play, the book was a part of their childhood experience, so bringing it to life on stage probably comes with a bit of coming of age wish fulfillment.  Like many works that take up the idea of “growing into yourself,” the plot moves us through the main character’s path from false bravado to true confidence as he learns more about himself and his place in the world.

As a book, and even a film, the focus is strongly on the internal life of protagonist Percy Jackson.  In the musical version, the action shifts focus to the strength of the relationships that populate Percy’s life.  Percy, played with an appropriate confidence by Tilden Warner, quickly becomes team up with an initial foil, Annabeth Chase, played by India Galloway, and his friend Grover, played by Rachel Hansen, who turns out to be a satyr sent to protect him.

In order for this particular play to work, the three leads have to have a strong sense of their characters and have a good sense of timing with each other.  In this case, the energy between the three was spot-on, and their friendship was as believable as their personalities were distinct.  Warner, Galloway, and Hansen also had good comic timing, which makes a lot of the scenes in the script work well.

Since it’s a musical, it would be an oversight not to mention the abilities of the main players on that front, each of whom grew stronger as the play went on and did an excellent job of projecting and inhabiting characters while they sang.  Many of the songs are in the autobiographical/confessional mode, and the connection between the character and the actor needs to be convincing in order for that to work, which it very much did.

There were a number of other great solo and lead performances throughout, but the highlights were the large group numbers.  The full cast songs were very dynamic, heartfelt, and well-executed.  Ranging from melancholic to rousing, the chorus (it’s based on Greek mythology, after all!) added a fantastic narrative layer to the play.

There were also a number of acting standouts, including Macie Clegg as Luke, Samantha Lowry as Ms. D (Dionysis), Sierra Muir as Hades and the Oracle, Jaymyn Chandler as Ares, and Elizabeth Beutler as Sally Jackson.  There may be no natural way to segue to this, but the scene between Rachel Hansen’s Grover and Mollie Renfroe and Courtney Call’s squirrels with Warner and Galloway heckling from a distance was especially entertaining.

In fact, there were no scenes without some sort of highlight, whether the effectively DIY stage design, musical performances, stage business, or acting itself.

A full cast list includes Tilden Warner, India Galloway, Rachel Hansen, Macie Clegg, Elizabeth Beutler, McKay Inskeep, Sara Fryar, Samantha Dickhaut, Jaymyn Chandler, Isacc Richardson, Samantha Lowry, Mollie Renfroe, Sierra Muir, Calvin Renfroe, Courtney Call, Audry Norris, Lorelei Richardson, London Galloway, Rylie Watkins, Kylee Fullmer, Mariah Richardson, Ruth Allen.

The musical was directed by Kimberly Mumford, who put on a fantastic show with a lot of moving parts.  Lights (including new LEDs!) were supervised by Rebecca Fryar, with the spotlight operated by Charles Fryar, Kelly Moore was the Stage Manager and Minotaur-R-Us operator, Austin Moody ran the soundboard, and everyone (except maybe Percy…) worked on scene painting and worked as stagehands.  

With a good mix of humor, action, drama, and real emotion, The Lightning Thief was a great time for audiences of most ages.  (There’s always someone…). Congratulations to everyone involved, who worked so hard to entertain the rest of us!