With more than 100 million copies of the book series sold worldwide, this global phenomenon has found a new home on the live stage in a "mesmerizing" theatrical event that proves "lightning can strike twice!" (TheaterMania). Following a sold out run in New York City, where it garnered 3 Drama Desk Award nominations, including Best Musical, this "winning adaptation" (The Hollywood Reporter) is coming to rock a city near you.
6 comments:
How strange that a young adult novel has become a musical. Not that the Percy Jackson series wasn’t good, it just never struck me as musical material. Interestingly, the reviews seem positive, with the lead McCarrell earning high praises from Davenport of Broadway world. I have a feeling that I will more agree with Huntsberger of the Chicago Sun-Times in believing that Percy Jackson can only go poorly. I originally liked the book series back in elementary school, but I found the movie absolutely terrible. Something about the magic of the series is impossible to convey in movies and I feel like it won’t transfer well into the real world. Theater has a power of making things magical through great acting, sets, lights, sound, etc. but I find it unlikely that the mystical Greek mythology will transfer well into theater. Also, the series is incredibly long. In order to tell a cohesive story, they will have to cut out a great deal that I think will hurt the narrative and flow of the story.
NOT TURNED IN
I have heard nothing but good things about this musical from people who have actually seen it or heard it. I have heard pretty much only negativity or at least skepticism from people who haven't. I haven't seen it or listened to it so I won't judge as it seems to be a "see it to believe it" kind of work. That said, I originally had similar doubts to Emily about the ability to convey the magic of the series. After seeing the insanity that is King Kong, though, I believe it can be done. My biggest worry with all of the stellar reviews was about the demographic of those reviewers. I grew up with Percy Jackson also with the Hero of Olympus series that followed. No matter how fresh and poppy the music is (which isn't even something I like all that much in a musical) or how talented the actors are, if the plot was changed significantly, I knew it wouldn't be something I would be as happy about as other reviewers seem to be, but this article mentions how faithful this adaptation is and I therefore cannot wait to see it. As for those who think that not every story needs to be a musical, you are right, but we got such a horrendous movie, can you blame us for being excited at a second chance to see characters we know and love so well?
Of course they did what I this story does not deserve, a cheap production. I walked past the Oriental when I was at home and the whole block was jammed with people trying to get into the theatre for a matinee so it will clearly make money, like the books did. I am pleased with the fact that the rock score is the style the show deserves, but I hope it still retains some traditional musical qualities or else the story will get lost in the noise of the rock and roll. What angers me is the tiny cast and what seems like over simplistic production. Nothing ruins a show when young actors try to play older, wiser characters, ala Barbra Streisand as Dolly, she just cannot capture the same authenticity. Also actors can play 2 or 3 roles well but after that it becomes obvious and banal. Also if there are no magic, illusions, or spectacle to some extent a story of this magnitude will just fall flat. If they try the over simplified show it can also flop, ala Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there has to be an obvious creative choice as to why it would be simplified, and the reason “so the audience can use their imagination” is NOT A VALID REASON. They seem to have struck the right chords however and I am sure it will continue to do quite well.
Are they really making everything into a musical? First Mean Girls, then Freaky Friday, and now Percy Jackson? The plot of this incredibly generic book series (yes, I read them all) wasn't even entertaining enough to really last on the silver screen and now they are trying to make it into a musical- grand. I'm sure that the actors are compelling and its probably filled with mythological lighting that is out of this world, but looking at the picture, it looks just like any other camp musical you'll find on Broadway. Don't get me wrong, I like funny musicals about high school aged students just as much as the next guy, musicals like "Be More Chill" do an excellent job capturing this genre and making us laugh, but does this story really have what it takes to be a musical? I think not. I expect the musical to have stellar affects, they definitely have the budget for it, but I think its just another example of how our industry is losing its artistry and falling victim to capitalism and cheap entertainment.
I hold a similar sentiment as revealed in some of the comments above that this story has not been given the love it deserves. When I became aware of this book series, I was in elementary school, and I was part of the wave of children that became pretty obsessed with it. I thought the movie adaptation was garbage. Perhaps The Lightning Thief is just a novel that cannot have its imagery creating power as a book recreated accurately as visual entertainment. However, I think that the actual reason no production has met the expectations of the book and the fans is because of the point Shahzad mentions, and it is something I have seen time and time again. Musical rendition of pop culture hits, or musicals about pop culture topics, are being produced and streamlined to New York, and they are falling flat because Broadway is trying to pull in the audience of people that do not normally watch live theatre. Broadway is a for profit business, so I guess I can not be mad that their incredibly capitalistic motive is so obvious, but you would think that producers would put in the money and effort to create a good piece of theatre. It kind of feels like bad advertising for live theatre in general: if someone who has never really had an interest or seen any shows in New York sees that The Lightning Thief is coming out, is enticed to see it because of their old love for the book, sees it and is disappointed in the lack luster execution, that is not going to create a return customer. It is a bad marketing plan and it creates bad art.
Ten year old me was angry when the movie industry carelessly ruined the highly-anticipated film version of one of my all time favorite books. I really hope nineteen year old me does not have to go through that again. The Percy Jackson series is so complex and interesting, and when executed properly in a visual manner it could be incredibly entertaining. It seems that the production’s reviews have mixed feelings about some components of the show. The actors sound as if they performed well, but were cheaply overloaded with roles. This is a shame, given the wide range of characters that Riordan has in his books. The show, likely if it had a larger budget, could have solved this issue and hopefully many others, but money can only do so much. I think the trend of jukebox and movie musicals in the last few years is sort of exhausting. If producers really want to do these kinds of shows, I feel it would be better to sparse them out and better develop them. People WILL come out to see stage versions of their favorite music or movies, but why disappoint a loyal audience and shorten your run because of negative reviews? I cannot speak to the success of The Lightning Thief musical, as I have not seen it myself and the reviews are either heavily positive or negative, but I would hope it is at least better than the terrible movies we were served a decade ago.
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