Video: High School Students Become Demigods in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

Welcome to the latest Playbillder Video Spotlight, highlighting shows and events from educational institutions around the country (who have used Playbill's program-building service). By welcoming these Playbillders center stage, we give our readers and viewers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation!

Putting on a musical is always a heroic quest, but when high school performers take on The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, licensed by Concord Theatricals, the stakes feel mythological. In Playbill’s latest Playbillder Video Spotlight, we take you behind the curtain and inside the rehearsal room of Paloma Valley High School to see how student performers transformed into demigods, monsters, and Greek deities, and how Playbillder helped them bring a professional Broadway-caliber program to their audience.

This dynamic musical adaptation of Rick Riordan’s bestselling book opened on Broadway in 2019. When teenager Percy Jackson discovers he’s a demigod, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus’ missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods.  A fresh exploration of classic Greek mythology, the musical is a perfect fit for schools seeking vibrant material to tie in with their English, history or social studies curricula.

Though the original production featured seven actors playing an entire Greek pantheon of characters, the authors invite amateur productions to cast as many actors as they wish. They also encourage theatre makers to look beyond traditional casting “types” when it comes to the characters’ race, gender and physical ability. “Above all, the characters in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical are gods and heroes,” they said in an author’s note, “and gods and heroes can look like any of us.”

Playbill would like to thank Stephanie Fombry and Michael Gold from Paloma Valley High School, and Courtney Kochuba, Isabelle Lovejoy, Jim Colleran, and Billie Davis from Concord Theatricals for their support in our Playbillder Video Spotlights.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical was originally commissioned, created and produced off-Broadway by TheaterWorksUSA. Orchestrations are by Wiley DeWeese and Rob Rokicki. If you would like to apply for a production license for The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, visit Concord Theatricals' Website.

To go inside PVHS’ production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and hear from students and staff about their experience, watch our video below.