By: Graci Parry and Kennedi Canova
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical came to Fremont this February via Ms. Obray’s Play Production class. The musical derived from the novel of the same name by Rick Riordan. This production was fast-paced, emotionally moving, and stunning.
The musical, written and adapted from the original Riordan novel by Rob Rokicki, premiered in 2014 and was a smash hit. The rock-and-roll-style track appealed to fans across the globe. After the disappointing adaptation of the film in 2010, this reinvented performance was a much needed breath of fresh air.
Mrs.Obray, Fremont’s Play Productions and Drama teacher chose the musical for her students. Obray says that she knew how beloved the musical was among her pupils. As a result, there was high student engagement. It was very ensemble-heavy, meaning there were a lot of performers helping with the chorus, transitioning scenes etc. This allowed for most if not all of the cast to be on stage at one time.
The preparation began in November by learning the musical tracks and how to sing each corresponding part. The goal was to convey “the angsty teen” vibe within the performance. This landed well, with members of the audience saying they were able to relate. A member of the audience said that she may not be able to relate to being a demigod, but she was able to relate to being a misunderstood teen.
Lightning Thief was full of dance and musical numbers, which is a lot of hard work! Multiple sources confirmed that they spent around 3-5 hours, 5 days a week practicing the choreography and lots of time learning the lyrics to each song.
Paige Peterson, a senior who played Annabeth Chase, said “My favorite number is ‘DOA’. I get to be in the first half of it, but then the second half I’m just standing there acting terrified. It’s fun because I don’t have to do the hard part and get to watch. It looks so good, and I just love getting to see the audience’s reaction to it when they are all lit up by the stage lights and stuff.”
The matinee was one of their largest crowds with hundreds of students from the elementary and Jr. High invited to watch the show.
Belle Francom, a senior who played Selena and took part in the ensemble, says “I think one of my favorite shows was the elementary night. There were so many people and energy was high because it was opening night, plus the last one for us seniors.”
This year the advanced theater classes are heavily made up of seniors. Each night the students jam packed each performance with emotion, Lighting Thief being the seniors last show was a great conclusion for many.
Corbyn Macari, a senior who played Percy Jackson, says “Being a senior and this being the last musical, it is, like, killing me. I’ve been dreading this- it’s just the end. But again, it’s a bittersweet moment because this is just the beginning for a lot of us, even though we won’t be together. I think it brought us closer together as a group and we all learned something that we’re gonna take for the rest of our lives.”
A challenging show with a large ensemble, the lead who never leaves the stage, difficult monologues, and long musical numbers, Obray expresses her appreciation for every student who made this show the hit that it was, “They performed it exceptionally well and consistently worked really hard, I’m really proud of them and it turned out better than I ever could’ve imagined.”
