In Act One of “The Lightning Thief,” audiences learn that normal is a myth. 

The message is delivered gently through song by Israeli Jones in the role of Sally Jackson. She’s singing to her son Percy, who’s played by Sydney Ryan. Percy is friends with Grover (Ameriah Lockett), who’s taught by Chiron (Abby Ohlau), who occasionally mentors Luke (Kaitlyn Rose). 

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All but one of the characters aforementioned are men. And every single one of their portrayers are women.  

“I auditioned all kinds of people,” director Angela Schulz said. “I probably called back about 24 people…and then went through several different scenarios that I could do casting wise, but the one that excited me the most was all women.” 

“The Lightning Thief” is a musical based on the first novel of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series by Rick Riordan. With a book by Joe Tracz and lyrics by Rob Rokicki, the show follows namesake Percy Jackson, a troubled 12-year-old who, after being kicked out of school, finds himself in a summer camp for demigods, where he is framed for stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt. To prevent a war between the gods, he must embark on a quest with two friends: Annabeth (who’s played fiercely by Edie Balester) and Grover. 

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“I thought about these fight sequences, because there’s actual sword play and things like that,” Schultz said, “and it was really exciting to me to think about young girls sitting out in the audience and seeing these roles that are normally played by boys to be played by other young women and have those kinds of role models and to show that they can do these intense, physical things as well.”

Her creative choice paid off. Despite some technical hiccups during dress rehearsal, the actresses remained unfazed. Their roles were performed so passionately that if you were to take Riordan’s novel and shake it upside down, I wouldn’t be surprised if this cast fell out. 

In fact, Logan Lerman, Chris McCarrell and Walker Scobell should all go ahead and step aside, because Sydney Ryan is Percy Jackson. From her mannerisms and facial expressions to her captivating energy, Ryan fully embodies the role, making it her own. Schultz’s decision to change the key of the songs to fit each actress’s voice proved to be the right choice as well, as the number “Good Kid” is arguably as good as (if not better than) the Broadway soundtrack. 

“Percy is like the classic tenor Broadway role. I never, ever thought that I would be playing one of those,” Ryan said. “Like I’m having my ‘Santa Fe’ moment…It feels really cool.” 

“Santa Fe” is a song from “Newsies” in which the leading male dreams about escaping his past. Similarly, Percy goes on a journey of self-discovery. He’s always struggled with dyslexia and ADHD, but soon he learns that, as Jones beautifully sings, those are the very things that make him strong. 

Ohlau said the casting choice for Percy was “really important,” as learning disabilities are often overlooked in women. 

“It’s so much harder to find in women, because people just say that, ‘Oh, that’s just how you are’…so a lot of women don’t end up getting tested for those kinds of things until much later in their life,” she said. “So I think, you know, if there’s like, a little girl sitting in the crowd, and she’s watching this all-female cast of Percy Jackson, and she’s like, ‘Well, maybe that could be me. Maybe I might have those problems, but they make me stronger, not weaker.’” 

The casts’ performance also illustrates another prominent theme: People are stronger together than alone. There are only seven actresses in total, but with how powerful their harmonies are, you’d never realize there wasn’t a full ensemble backing them up. 

It helps that the cast is close off stage. Ryan, who bought her co-stars matching lightning bolt necklaces as a good-luck charm, said the cast was so proud to see their hard work pay off that they recorded the harmonies in an empty hallway. Additionally, Rose said they’ve found solace and comfort in one another.

The script features over 30 characters including principal and ensemble roles, but the original production was written for seven actors. Schultz had the opportunity to cast more people, but she elected to push students with the challenge. 

“We thought about it as a faculty and then decided it’s such a good opportunity acting-wise for those seven actors to play all of these different characters,” she said. 

The cast deserves all the praise for their acting range. In addition to her hippie, endearing portrayal of Grover, Lockett is a comedic genius as Dionysus. Rose plays a charming Luke at Camp Half-Blood and an infuriating Ares during the trio’s quest. Olivia Manning, who primarily plays Clarisse, is tasked with the role of evil Mrs. Dodds. But that’s only a small portion of the parts the cast has to juggle. Ohlau, for example, takes on nine roles in addition to Chiron. While the actors aren’t able to fully disguise themselves for every character, their versatility is impressive. I can’t recall a single time that I was confused about which character was being portrayed. 

Jones, who has five parts in addition to her principal role, said she didn’t mind the cast size until they “started putting stuff together.” 

“First dress was terrible,” she said, followed by laughter from her castmates. “It’s just the different costumes and the throwing stuff and running around with just seven people and then such a small crew as well.” 

But if the cast really did have a terrible first dress, they somehow managed to turn things around overnight. Their performance in the second dress rehearsal was seamless, especially when it came to the song “Put You in Your Place,” which brings to life a game of capture the flag. 

In the number, Percy comes face to face with the scrappy daughter of Ares, Clarisse. Manning is a phenomenal singer, but audiences won’t just be blown away by her vocals. The number, which features choreography from Matthew Williams and Darryl Clark, teeters between a battle and a dance. For that reason, Lockett said the scene is her favorite. 

“I think that combat on stage is really interesting to an audience who doesn’t know about stage fighting, you know? So I think it’s gonna be very exciting,” she said. 

Characters shift from opposing Clarisse to joining her in interrogating Percy, foreshadowing the conflicts and isolation he will soon face.

Lockett said they were originally going to have a few additional cast members take over some of the ensemble roles, but budget cuts prevented them from doing so. The school faced a significant lack of funding this year, as they received $0 for productions and recruitment in comparison to the $75,865 they received the previous year. 

“That was stressful, but we are doing great, I think,” she said. 

Schultz said the set and costumes were the areas most affected. 

“We had to completely redesign our set based on that, which is a big challenge,” she said. “So there was much more to the set itself originally, like there was a huge structure and a second floor to it, and that all had to go.”

Ohlau said, “It’s not even a problem that we can’t buy the resources to make this stuff, because we have tons of supplies in the scene shop and the costume shop that could be torn apart, remade into what we needed. We didn’t have the money to hire the student workers to do it.” 

The production might not have a scaffolding set, but it remains resourceful. Scenic designer Ron Naversen presents a stage outlined in Greek marble and surrounded by frost king curtains. Images are projected by Brad Carlson, transporting the audience from New York City to settings like the beach, forest and Camp Half-Blood, all without the need for physical set changes. Mitchell Brandon deserves all the kudos for his lighting design, as blackouts and flashing lights pave the way for realistic fight scenes. 

As for costumes, the cast praised designer Wendi Zea.

“She was really creative in terms of how to represent, you know, the god of war in a modern sense,” Manning said, adding that their “camper clothes” are all gender-neutral outfits inspired by Greco-Roman designs. 

Gender-bending a popular story amid budget constraints is no small task, and the actresses noted how much pressure they’ve faced. Fortunately, they’re already starting to see an impact. Manning, for example, said that she recently broke the news of an all-female cast to the public at an event at Carbondale Public Library. 

Schultz said she had many discussions with the cast regarding their roles, but there were two notable instances. 

“Thankfully, we had a good conversation with one of the writers of the musical, Rob Rokicki…and he is so supportive of casting the show however you want to do that…So just getting my cast to embrace that was fun, because now I think there’s not a fear about it, so that’s good for six weeks in,” she said. 

Jonathan Raviv, who played Chiron in the original Broadway production, also spoke with the cast. Ohlau said these conversations helped them better connect with their characters. 

Schultz said people should come see the show because it is “so much fun.” 

“It’s a big spectacle,” she said. “They’re gonna hear some fantastic singing. It’s like Greek theater meets rock concert. It’s funny. It’s so outrageously funny. So I think if they want to feel moved and also laugh and also just hear some really fantastic singing, they should come.” 

When asked if there was any message they want audiences to take away from the show, Ryan had just one thing to say: “Girl. Power.”

“Girl power,” her castmates echoed. 

“This is on, sort of, non-traditional casting,” Manning said. “‘We also encourage you to look beyond traditional casting types when it comes to the characters’ race, gender and physical ability,’” she said, reading from the authors’ note in the musical’s script. “‘Above all, the characters in ‘The Lightning Thief’ are gods and heroes – and gods and heroes can look like any of us.’ So I think I would love for people to leave the show with the knowledge that gods and heroes can be any of us.” 

“The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” runs at the McLeod Theater from Oct. 10 through Oct. 13. To experience this journey through Olympus firsthand, be sure to purchase tickets online, by phone (618-453-5741) or at the McLeod Theatre Box Office. Or don’t. But the minotaur might just track you down. 

News editor Carly Gist can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.

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