All Flash, No Substance

The Lightning Thief – Broadway in Chicago

The Lightning Thief, based on the young-adult Percy Jackson novels, premiered in a musical adaptation this week at the Oriental Theatre. The story focuses on young Percy Jackson, who discovers that the pantheon of Greek gods is not only real but his father is really Poseidon, the god of the sea. It follows that, as so many teenagers with secret powers have done before him, he and his friends must go on an arduous quest. He must save the life of his mortal mother and get back Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt before it is used to start a war between the gods. So, you know, regular teenager stuff…

It premiered Off-Broadway in 2017 in a one-hour version and it got pretty good reviews, particularly in comparison to the less well-received movie version a few years back. That hour has been expanded to two for this new tour. Unfortunately, I think they should have kept the one-hour format, even if it would mean touring smaller houses. When it was published, the book was heaped with praise for its swift pacing and sense of fun. I can see how an hour-long version of what I saw last night would have done so as well. Stretching it out to two hours just added a lot more filler, and the characters themselves aren’t well developed enough to fill that time. The comparison to Harry Potter feels inevitable, so I’ll get it out of the way: It’s not that Lightning Thief feels like a rehash of the Harry Potter story — an awkward teen discovering they are secretly special has been a story ever since there have been stories — it’s that, at least in the musical version, it walks through the beats of that story arc without the careful world-building or specific character relationships that make you care, even when you know you’ve heard variations on the theme many times before.

Most importantly, the songs just aren’t that good. There were a couple of songs that managed to make me feel an emotion, but most were either exposition dumps or simply bland and predictable. Every song also leaned into the rock musical trope of screaming just about every line. Nearly every line of every song was sung at full volume just beneath the break in the singer’s voice. From an artistic standpoint, having everything expressed at ‘11’ makes it hard to care when the story finally gets there. From a safety standpoint, I want to offer all the cast members some tea and send them to get checked for vocal nodules.

The staging was very ‘rock concert’ as well. The band is on both sides of the stage on raised scaffolding, and most of the set pieces are also achieved with the bare scaffolding being moved around to simulate places and objects. The layout of the band’s scaffolds on stage only made it look they were trying to fill more space than they needed to make this show. On a smaller stage in a smaller house, the bare staging would be fine — even charming. In a space like the Oriental, it came off as unfinished. And the less said about the fight ‘choreography,’ the better.

I will give some unreserved praise to the cast. It’s a small cast, doubling up a lot of parts, and everyone is obviously incredibly talented. In particular, Jalynn Steele as Percy’s mother, Sally wrings more emotional depth from her lines than I think is actually in the script. She doubles as Charon, the ferry driver across the River Styx to Hades. She escorts our heroes to the Underworld to the tune of a huge disco production number that, in terms of plot, made almost no sense at all, but, as spectacle, was a highlight of the evening. If it’s not going to move the story along, it’s should at least be big and fun. She also gets the best comedic line of the show, but I won’t spoil it for you. I also loved Jorrel Javier as Grover, Percy’s best friend and a literal satyr. ‘Physically comedic sidekick’ is a tough job. You have to steal the show to just the right degree, and he does. Chris McCarrell originated the role of Percy in the Off-Broadway production, and it’s clear he has the talent and charm to pull off a leading role. I just wish the script let him have a few more emotional settings beyond ‘angsty’ and ‘angstier.’

In the end, though, all this analysis may be a little redundant. The house was full of kids and, let me tell you, the kids loved it. I confess to not having read the books, so there were a few moments where references or characters seemed pretty random to me, but got a laugh from the audience. I maintain that a good adaption should be able to stand on its own, even if it does throw a few winks and nods to the die-hard fans. That said, I cannot deny that the target demographic seemed to love it. I just wish for the sake of cool aunts everywhere taking their nieces and nephews to a big Broadway show that there were a little more there for the adults.

I’m always a little reluctant to let a show off the hook simply because of a younger target audience because it’s a deeply held belief of mine that kids, particularly teens and preteens, should see stuff one small step more sophisticated than we think they should at that moment. We should entertain not to the person they are but to the person they will be very soon, and I don’t think being for kids means failing in basic storytelling. (See: Steven Universe) Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

So, if the preteen or teen in your life likes the Percy Jackson novels, then there is a pretty good chance they will enjoy this musical. And while I wish there were more for you in the show, you can spend the evening basking in the glow of how well you nailed their Christmas present.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented January 8-13 by Broadway in Chicago at the at the Ford Oriental Palace, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago.

Tickets are available at all Broadway in Chicago box offices, the BIC Ticket Line at 800-775-2000 or online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.