|
|
|
|
|
|
Cahir O'Neill, left, Vasco Emauz and Kayna Montecillo Pictures: Johan Persson The Lightning Thief – the Percy Jackson Musical Birmingham Hippodrome **** Many moons ago I read the Percy Jackson books with my son. Whilst there is precious little I remember about them, barring the demigod foundations, I do remember that that Rick Riordan’s books had a lot of oomph to them, so I was interested to see how the tale translated to a musical. Writer Joe Tracz and Composer and Lyricist Rob Rokicki chose to rattle through the first book in the series – The Lightning Thief – for their production and, from speaking to PJ experts with memories better than mine, they have stayed pretty faithful to the original text. The biggest plus for me is the real feeling of youth and camaraderie which the show exudes. It feels authentic and it feels like they really love the source material rather than simply cobbling something together to plod through the motions. The affection is palpable. Central to this feeling of camaraderie is the superb cast. The trio of heroes, Vasco Emauz, Kayna Montecillo and Cahir O’Neill as Percy, Annabeth and Grover respectively are fantastic. Each one brilliant in their own right, they showcase excellent singing voices and super comic timing - bouncing off each other with ease. Danny Beard takes no prisoners as the gloriously hammed up Mr D. Meanwhile too many characters to mention are played by Joseph Connor, Ellie-Grace Cousins, Paolo Micallef, Simone Robinson and Niall Sheehy. It is truly impressive how good they are and how many characters they inhabit, and there’s still five more people in the ensemble.
The songs are the part of the show which were a real unknown quantity (as neither the books, movies nor TV series feature them). Rob Rokicki has written some real ear worms though, with particular mentions for The Campfire Song, The Tree on the Hill and Lost!. There are some real High School Musical vibes at times (which is a good thing, in case you’re wondering!). The live band, headed by Musical Director Will Joy, are top notch and really ramp up the rock. Set and costume designer, Ryan Dawson Laight, does an excellent job of immersing you in the world (and underworld) with clever scenery and really interesting and engaging animations and illusions. The story rattles along and although uberfans reap the rewards of their insider knowledge, people with little knowledge like myself, or those with no knowledge whatsoever, can still enjoy it and easily understand what is going on. Overall, it is a fun, family, show which is just very happy and positive – a feeling mirrored by the audience who had the time of their lives. It felt like a celebration of a Percy Jackson world which everyone just loves and it soon becomes infectious. The age rating is 8+ which I would say is about right but there is a fair amount of strobe and flash lighting to be aware of. It’s on until Saturday 28th February and whilst tickets start at £20, there is a special family offer whereby two under 16s go half price with every full paying adult for the Tuesday – Friday performances. Which is an absolute bargain for an evening of family fun. Buy your tickets here: https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/the-lightning-thief/#performances To 28-02-26 Theo Clarke 24-02-26 As seen by a teen ***** This musical production of Percy Jackson was excellent and a great adaptation of The Lightning Thief book. I would recommend it for anyone of any age looking for a great night out and some superb performances. You don’t need to be a fan of the books as it is completely enjoyable and understandable, but fans will probably enjoy it even more. I especially liked Danny Beard as Mr D and Cahir O’Neill as Grover. They brought their characters to life and were really funny too. Genuinely funny, not just trying to be. Vasco Emauz as Percy Jackson and Kayna Montecillo as Annabeth were also really convincing and brought real life to their characters while Simone Robinson is brilliant as Percy’s mum. I thought the set and costume design all added to the magical atmosphere to make you really feel like you’ve been placed within the books. The songs are a really clever addition, my favourite was Lost!, I thought that was brilliant and really catchy. Overall, I think that this musical does justice to the books and recommend it to both children and adults. Hallam Clarke
Accessible performances are: - BSL interpreted by TheatreSign: Wednesday 25th Feb 7pm. - Captioned by Stevie Burrows: Thursday 26th Feb 7pm - Audio Described by Caroline Burn: Sat 28 Feb 2.30pm Tickets are rightly starting to sell out to act fast if you don’t want to miss out. |
|
|
|
%20Cahir%20O'Neill,%20Vasco%20Emauz%20and%20Kayna%20Montecillo%20-%20The%20Lighting%20Thief%20(Production%20Images)%20-%20Photo%20credit%20Johan%20Persson%20-%2001281-Edit.jpg)
%20-%20Photo%20credit%20Johan%20Persson%20-%2001266-Edit.jpg)