In Which I Am Struck By "Lightning"

For the past couple of months, a little show called "The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical" has been camped out at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

And there are a few things you should know.

First of all, I think we were all worried about this show. This show adapts the YA Percy Jackson books which have a history of coming from a fandom that's way protective of their story world and who generally feel wronged by previous adaptations.

What I'm really saying here is that we've all read the books (what do you mean 'too old for them'??) and seen the movies (which people generally find embarrassing and/or disappointing, but which - you guessed it - I personally love anyhow), so you know that the series is about a boy who finds out the Greek gods are real and that he's the son of Poseidon. And stuff.

So you've got books that people are super protective of and movies which people generally find disappointing, and then you throw the word "musical" into the mix and that's when people start to get serious.

A Percy Jackson musical? I was skeptical. We were all skeptical.

But I was also way too curious to let this opportunity pass without seeing what on earth they'd done to this story this time. I saw the show (for the first time) in late March.

Can I tell you something? Like, can I confide this to you from my heart? I couldn't be more delighted to report what I'm about to proclaim and, I assure you, I'm not taking it lightly.

Here's my proclamation: The Lightning Thief is, without a doubt, the most fun show I've ever seen. In my life.

like good, proper fun

I have no reservations about saying that. I adore a good stage show, so this wasn't exactly my first rodeo, which is why you should know that I'm not messing around.

They did it. Against all odds, this show is brilliant.

So, wanna see if we can break this down? 'Cause I keep going over it in my head, marveling at the fact that they made the Percy Jackson musical work.

How did they catch lightning in a bottle? I went into the second viewing (last week before the show closed) and made note of the following reasons this show is awesome:

1. This cast. I can't emphasize this one enough. THIS CAST. It's a small group of people, but I had the pleasure of meeting every single one of them after the second time I saw the performance and not only are they delightful people to meet, but they're also mad talented and slayers of this material.

2. The music. You gotta check out the cast recording that we are about to be blessed with at the end of June. I have preordered my copy. Let's have a listening party.

3. This one's a crowd pleaser. Whether you're familiar with the books or not, you're going to have an thoroughly good time at this show. Both times I went, I saw it with people who had not read the books. They had seen some of the movies. But everyone who left was happier than when they went in.

4. The humor. The show doesn't make the mistake of trying to take itself too seriously. The result? Two hours of relentless fun. See: the joke they make on stage about the lightning being some tinfoil-wrapped piece of cardboard from some crappy "off Broadway show". Incredible.

when ur pen is rly a sword (and ur Chris McCarrell)

5. The space. The Lortel is a small theater, which means that pretty much everyone has a great seat. It makes you feel like you're in the show, so really? It's the closest you can come to actually attending Camp Half-Blood.

6. There's something of an underdog feeling to this show that just makes you root for it. We all know that this material probably shouldn't work, but somehow, a magical combination has produced an off-Broadway dynamo.

It's just a riot.

Another interesting point is that parents were bringing their kids to this show, but the adults were having just as good of a time as the kids. When they toilet papered the first five rows of the audience, the little boy in front of me was having the best day of his life, but his dad was also pretty excited.

I have no shame about this show. I thought it might be the worst thing I'd ever seen, but it turned out to be right up there among my favorite stage experiences of my whole life. I haven't been able to stop talking about it.

Bottom line: this show has major possibilities. The only other time I remember an audience being so excited for a show was when I saw Hamilton in January. People were also very excited when I went to see Anastasia last month. Both of those shows are the kinds of things that people wait months, even years for. And here's this little off-Broadway show that's actually more fun than anything on the "real" Broadway stage with an equally dedicated following. This is how little shows become big.

So here is my plea. I know the show has closed, but wouldn't it be wonderful if it could reopen? Like, please stay?? Please open somewhere else close by? Please move to Broadway?

Since the Lortel has been cleaned out and disassembled, I can't ask Percy's future-predicting Oracle anymore, but regardless, I'm pretty positive I'd get this answer: good things are in the Percy Jackson musical's future. Because a good thing (and a "good kid") like this can't possibly slip through the cracks. This is lightning in a bottle, people. We gotta catch it while we can.

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Thanks for the amazing gifs, Broadway Box!