Percy Jackson has newly discovered powers he can’t control, monsters on his trail, and he is on a quest to find Zeus’s lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods. Normal is a myth when you’re a demigod. Based on the best-selling Disney-Hyperion novel by Rick Riordan, featuring live music, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is an action-packed theatrical adventure that will rock your world.
We were on the red carpet at Houston Hall for the show’s opening night. Check out our interviews below:
JUSTIN PAUL: Part of the Musical Composing duo Pasek & Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, LA LA Land, A Christmas Story, Dogfight, Smash)
Q: What prompted you to come to the show?
J: I’ve been hearing Rob play songs from the show for forever, so when we saw that it was happening, we couldn’t not be hear to support Rob and I wanted to hear the songs again, honestly!
Q: What is it like seeing your friends bring in new work?
J: To have a show in New York right now… I mean, we are across the street from our friends at Come From Away, and it’s an exciting time to have a show, and be part of this theatre season. Rob’s work is so original, and fresh, and exciting, and honestly just to get to be part of that world at all, is a real honor.
GEORGE SALAZAR AND SARAH BETH PFEIFER: Grover and Clarisse/Others
Q: How did you get involved in the process?
S: I have been doing different workshops of this show for the past three years. There’s this website called Actors Access, that generally doesn’t result in anything amazing… but this is the best gig that has ever come out of an Actors Access submission.
G: I worked on a show a couple years ago, with Stephen Brackett, our director… And so I did that show in 2015. So after we finished with that, I was asked if I wanted to be part of this developmental workshop, where they were expanding the show from a one-act, into a full-length… I couldn’t be happier, I mean this is a dream job. We all love each other, our brains work in the same way.
S: And the rehearsal process was just us, trying to make each other laugh. Our director, Stephen Brackett, is brilliant- he literally just steps back and lets us mess around, and then uses the most brilliant stuff to come out of that, and that’s basically the show.
PATRICK MCCOLLUM: Choreographer
Q: When did you start working on this project?
P: I stepped in, I met with Stephen Brackett, the end of last year, I wanna say November? And they were in search of someone to make some new moves, some new shapes on it…we met down here in the West Village, and a few days later he said you’re on board.
Q: Did you pull any inspiration from other sources?
P: I looked at some super hero movies- my favorite research day was watching “The Incredibles”, because the shapes are so iconic…and I did watch a few things from “Harry Potter”, you know the shapes that kids, in these dire situations, when they are showing their bravery for the first time, and that’s what I tapped into.
