Home Show The Lightning Thief The Percy Jackson Musical

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welcome because it's time for another home show number four sixty for those you
playing the home game. My name is Rob. I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast.
And this is going to be a fun one to talk about because I look at this from a different
angle, but I'm not alone for this particular episode. I very rarely am if ever sitting
in the coach host chair is my co host and a man that probably was ready to compare this
to clash of the Titans and he probably shouldn't have he is chat welcome sir not even close
okay good good and rounding out the dais is a man who wasn't with us for what we're about
to talk about, but he has a fair interest in it. He is Alex. Welcome sir even more than
me even more than me Sean is incredibly jealous of you and she doesn't even do stage
productions. Whatever we do one of these it is to review something and this is no exception.
This is a stage show we're going to talk about because playing at the wind spear opera
house for a very quick run is the lightning thief the Percy Jackson musical and we are
such a fan of everybody Cindy and everybody over at the AT&T performing arts center. Thank
you so much guys. Let's just come do stuff. First of all, wow great seats that we have
for this 13 rows back in the middle nice. So at a point I was actually frightened by the
chandelier over and when I found out about this like I know they did the movie back in 2010
right which I was which I'd seen did not go very well didn't really connect with audiences
per se they did a second one. I was going to say it connected enough for them to do more than
one. Well you're probably talking worldwide though versus domestic blame the Greeks. So then
they decided to take this is from a series of books there are five books in this series
but this author basically has a connected universe of books right that's like over 20 books
or something by this point. So they decided to take the first book the lightning thief because
the series is the series of five books is called Percy Jackson and the Olympians yes
no no no not those Olympians okay. So the first book called the lightning thief and they
made it into a musical and my niece Megan who loves these books said to her father that if this
happens then she wants to go. Far be it from Uncle Rob to deny my niece what she what she needs if I
can if I can provide it. So she was my plus one for this and I was very interested to see how this
goes because she has read every book that this guy has written every single book written by Rick
Royden. Royden Roy Royden Roy Royden. Rewarded. Rewarded. Thank you. Pronunciation. She's read
every book and he has a series of books and there's a series of books that comes after this one
there's also a series of books that deals with the Egyptian gods. So he's done a lot of these. So I
was going to be very very interested to see this through her eyes because this to me is a lot like
Harry Potter never wrote a book never seen a movie right to this day nothing but I'm interested
I'll check it out. So here's what you need to know Percy Jackson is a teenager kind of having
rough govick spelled from five schools. The story opens with his class on a field trip to a museum
weird things happen he gets expelled so his mom takes him on a camping trip and decides to let him know
that the reason that his father has never been around is because his father is a Greek god.
I'm surprised you didn't use a sound effect on that one. I don't know what you talking about. I
figured you would use some echo on like. Oh great. Go not there. We're not there. Okay. So she sends
him to a summer camp for what they call half-bloods which are also known as demigods one parent human
other parent god. So he meets other people there. He finds out that his best friend at school is
actually one who is kind of protecting him who he also meets the son of Hermes. He also meets the
daughter of Athena and finds out that he has to yeah from the films I know what you're doing over there
yeah I didn't know I was in Alexandria D'Dario played that role in the films that was her breakout
how you doing uh but they go on a quest across the country to find the stolen lightning
from Zeus that they believe it belongs to Hades because if Hades uses the lightning it could cause
a war amongst the gods and I think we all know how that winds up and of course where does Hades live
in the underworld also known as Ely because why not because there are seven people in this entire cast
separately yeah mm-hmm the only people that play one role are Kristen Stokes is Anna Beth
and Chris MacKarrel as Percy well those are your two primaries right what but even even the kid uh
that plays Grover plays a second role too the protector mm-hmm but he has a second role that he plays
okay where he plays the cat the camp director mr. D also knows Dionysus
mm-hmm it does it quite well this is the most complete cast I've seen in a production in years
really there is not there's not a performer in this cast that made me go
well now I know I read your review currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com
that's our website and you and I are gonna disagree on this one okay I thought this cast was
rock solid from a tech standpoint very simple stage I referred to this musical as new Broadway
this is one of the things I wanted to discuss with you actually and this is never actually hit
Broadway this was off Broadway right which to me I'm rounding up it's still a Broadway show yeah
we have gotten a healthy dose I mean how long we've been doing this now oh geez from a from a
stage standpoint right we're creeping up on five years okay I have to go back and look and on an
average we see how many how many stage productions do you think we we go through a year 10 to 12
okay so we're talking you know upwards of 50 60 you know stage productions that we've sat
through easily easily more and more of these that we are going to are being done with this particular
style of of stage production bare minimum lots of scaffolding lots of scaffolding lots of
we're lighting and projection is used to convey a lot of the scene changes not a lot of props I
mean hardly any props and a lot of these things that we've seen versus the full on lavish thing
you know more like wicked where everybody's got 15 costume changes and you know and
well I'm really starting to get one over by this bare minimalist style where at first I thought
I was gonna have a problem with the first time I saw them like really like I think it was like a
black box production that I saw just to keep the corrections here come a week from Tuesday uh-huh
we will have been it'll been five years since we did our first stage review for Mama Mia wow okay
that was June 4th 2014 okay so yeah so right around five years so yeah we've been we've seen
we've been doing this for a minute we've seen that we've seen a a crud ton of these things
and I would refer to that way but nicely done you're a crud ton a crud ton rolls off the
ton nicely hashtag crud ton but I'm really starting to to get really fond of this I mean because it
it it allows really seamless really quick scene changes because there's not a lot of props to
swap around right especially when you've got a cast that's also doubling as the crew and they're
doing a lot of the swapping you know they don't have to worry about it so much and the transitions
are very smooth yeah yeah it's all talking about but I have an interesting question is it more of
a razor's edge kind of thing because you're getting a lot of talented people that do come through
the Dallas area if you were somewhere say you know Hoboken or where they're not focusing on the
stage would it with the minimalist really hurt it though or is it because it's just enjoying the
style might take away from the fact that you have good people working on this I'm just wondering if
you're a real theater snob and you're you know you're you only like one particular style then go see
that yeah yeah the same for you you know but I think it's it's really brilliant it's it's it's
really the tennis also has multiple layers to it yeah with the with the four piece band up in the
rafters on either side of the stage so they're out in the open uh the light bars is what really
yes me in on this thing there are LED bars in the scaffolding yeah that there's it's like one it's
almost like it's columns and I'm sure that was intentional yeah and depending on what particular
nature's sitting there in like it looks like it's water it looks like it's fire it's just it's
really well utilized especially the beginning of act two yeah you open up in the bus yeah very well done
and the underworld dear lord yes oh man and we're just watching these actors go from character to
character and I'm just gonna I'm just gonna not even bury the lead Ryan Knowles no joke this dude uh he
plays the teacher that finds out that's not the teacher as they get to camp he also plays Hades
and when you suck because we don't want to give up people that don't know we don't want to give a
way who uh who Percy's father is right but when you saw him the first time did you think hungry little
fella yeah and I'm sure that was more than just a little bit did you use somebody different than
the movie or is it the same I didn't see the movie I don't know as I'm saying I haven't read a book
yeah his portrayal all I can't think he was pressure predictor didn't come at so is that his he
was murdered his portrayal in this is the polar opposite of the theatrical release really nothing
because I know that dude he was like I want to say he's the voice of soap and modern warfare and
call of duty I can't remember his name I know he was in graze working on it now uh something
McKid like I think his life something like the kid Kevin McKid yes yes he's very he's very Scottish
yes uh this guy name he could play bond I think he could too he's in train spotting he's on the
graze anatomy he's done a ton he's fin row on rubble that's right um wait he's ginger isn't he
it's a voice thing on bond uh here no no I was like you want a ginger bond I'm good with it okay
good with it okay but this this guy I don't know what I really don't know if I could boil down to
one particular character that he played that I love he killed them all but I'll tell you this much
Medusa was amazing yes they did a great job with anti m if you will it was this guy I mean this
cast is solid the tech is solid when it starts I was a little concerned uh as we got into the
prologue and the day I got expelled it was a little cheesy for me but and I said this in my written
review currently located at www dot the clubhouse podcast dot com that's our website love the
enthusiasm keep it up uh just understated understated I don't know if the music settled into itself
or I just became accustomed to it I couldn't tell which way that went but once it kind of got
its feet under it I was told I was all in now you on the other hand felt differently here yeah a
little bit please do I'm ushering you in so uh granted I know the christmas Carol kind of birth
this role on stage I just don't know if he's a good fit for it uh see I have no reference to go
from so well he's well I don't have much of one because it's been so long since I've seen the film
and I really don't even try to marry it to that to that portrayal otherwise I'd have a huge issue
with how they portrayed you know I you know hungry little fella I don't have a problem with that if
they want to go and look at you and do that I lost it if I can't make eye contact with the
outside would have peed myself uh because I was taking the exact I was like really needs us to
rubber boots you know I saw your cousin in my head you know Ken um but uh there's something about
the way that it's his vocal style that just graded on me it was just that that high pitched
nasally delivery of his of his vocals that it just it just it just got on my nerves for me that fit
the character like he's just a kid trying to figure things out now he might have been cast a little
old for that vocal style I think that's that may have been with through you I think that is with
through um but I I just I really enjoyed this and for me the barometer of this was my niece
and you could tell she was digging it you know so she was kind of we were talking about a little
bit she's like oh you don't know anything about it I go I saw trailer once you know I never saw
the sequel I never saw was a sea of monsters yeah yes um yeah I never saw that one because I was
I was just kind of met with the first one I was like okay that's kind of a cool idea but I said
the idea the first yeah I think I get the entire series which is why this gets the stage run it
I like it is because it's kind of like fables yes he's fables oh make that series no kidding uh
but I I really did enjoy this I thought it was a lot of fun and then saying to Megan afterwards
okay so how does this get to the source material and she said this is closer to the book than
the movie was that that shocked me wow and that shocked me because how often do you hear that about
a musical in a stage production color purple but well that's coming next year which we've
already seen yeah and I'll see it again I've got you had issues with it um you can go back and
listen to the spectral dish and if you like it's been a while I mean I've slept since then what's
happened I just I really really enjoyed this and I wonder if if you know when the color purple
comes through again seeing it in that smaller area because we're the last time we saw it was a
different venue right a lot bigger stage true I think that might help us on a smaller stage
to see it yeah I would love for them to do that finally I would really like to see that would be
really small but but but the intimacy of it now let me just go on our next episode we're
going to talk about something it's also playing at the Wiley right now yeah okay that'll be
home show 461 so stay tuned but I just I really enjoyed this I love the the
minimalist use of tech but maximizing the use of said minimalism I love how they did the
costuming without going over the top with the costuming you know the fury the minotaur that whole
bit I thought was amazing so they do a good job representing the characters just in wardrobe one
word 80s oh yeah again how again play by mr. no but with that wardrobe how close was it to the film
representing I couldn't tell you I don't I don't think I have no reference I don't think I don't
think there's a snowballs chance it was close I'll explain it to you oh I mean could we explain
to him or do we have that kind of time um can we say Jim Jay Bullock and leave it at that pretty much
I don't know who that is Google it you do okay you know who he is he worked with Tammy Faye on a
talk show for a long time that was called Jim Jay and Tammy Faye mm-hmm I I just I loved it
I had so much fun he if anything was the absolute straw that stirred the drink it was Mr. Noles
it just I couldn't you couldn't take your eyes off of him and I just you would swear this I was
like I know I've heard this guy's voice in a commercial because he's got such a distinctive
presence as soon as he speaks you're like wow it almost sounds like he's faking it and I was like
I want to know everything this guy's done because he's yeah he's amazing but for you it just it didn't
it didn't resonate as well as it for me it didn't strike me as much because again I not only did I
think that just the lead just didn't quite seem to fit what I had in mind but and I and something
that I mentioned was that there wasn't any one particular song to just stuck out and said
it's going to get stuck in my head I'm going to find myself humming in one look for me that was
that was kind of the brilliance of it is that there wasn't any standout song for me it was more
about the songs complimenting the story which Don who's on assignments night couldn't be with us
for this episode that's what he said in his written review currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com
that's our website now you get it um it's amazing what happens when you talk
into a microphone this I could uh I'm struggling with this one but to me that was more the
brilliance of it that it was there was a lot of music but it wasn't just like I didn't feel like
I felt when I watched Frozen the first time yeah I kind of did that's kind of how I was getting
on like we don't need necessarily another song right but I I very much enjoyed this Alex
any more questions you have for get the final analysis see the problem is is there's so many
questions I would have as it relates to the film and possible spoiling as well because there are
certain things that I really enjoyed that they did with the film that I'd be curious if they carried
over or if it was more wholly unique so I don't know if I'm going to get much on that now the reason I
asked about the Hades wardrobe was because Steve Cougan in the film played it as like LA mid-age rocker
no and that's that's why I was wondering about the wardrobe there is a very specific character type
that he plays it as okay I'll tell you what we're yeah uh no I just be really interested to see
was there any allusion to the seeing how this would go to then expanding it into other books
for the musical I think so I'm curious about that yeah they they they they left it very open ended
oh I'm not even talking about the story I'm I'm just talking about from the actual people now
granted with as much the way mythology works they're all open ended let's be honest well and
and Megan told me it ended like the book ends okay so it doesn't leave it open for the possible
of more stories hopefully they get a really good run out of this and based on you know this this
only runs six days here I mean let's call it a test run then there hopefully they get enough
of a test run to expand this tour but when it opened more what year did it open the musical version
when did it when did it hit that that's a lot more questions when did it hit the broad with the
off Broadway stage I want to say I saw was like 2017 but anyway it's got to be relatively new since
the films only you know 10 years old the books are a little bit older from Reardon uh let's see
original Broadway castles in 2017 2017 okay so they haven't been around that long and they're
going to play anabeth played it anabeth Percy and uh James Hayden Rodriguez and Sarah Beth
fight for all four of those are from the uh off Broadway cast oh nice so they actually came through
yeah Ryan Knowles was actually added to the first US tour cast for this year originally that
the his role is originally played by a Jonathan Ravi okay shall we get to the final analysis let's
do the final analysis on the show it's a little bit different because this is a stage production
we're not going to give you thumbs up thumbs down letter grades numbers you know crackings
anything like that we're gonna ask up the two questions question number one is what we see this
again if the answer no then we're done here but the answers if it's yes it's a little different
because this is a stage production the follow up question becomes where we'll be willing to buy
tickets to sit there's a closer you sit the more money there is Chad would you see the lightning
thief the Percy Jackson musical again probably not oh I was not prepared to press that button
I would but I think I would sit probably um back center section a little bit further back
from where we were just from a price standpoint right yeah like I thought where we sat were great
seats I would just think from a price standpoint I'd probably go a little bit farther back and
there were a lot of families there and the kids seem to be engaged I mean there were people
wearing merch before they walked in oh that was a huge I think you saw you saw cap half blood
t-shirts oh yeah well that was even oh before they even walked up to the merch that was a
thing for a while before this though yeah yeah yeah but I was like interesting I like a lot of
people not just a handful a lot it is the lightning thief the Percy Jackson musical playing through
May 26th at the wind spear opera house in Dallas but it's a touring company so keep an eye out for it
when it comes to a city near you let's do the plugs visit our website the aforementioned www.theclubhousepodcast.com
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for Alex for Chad on the empire i'm rob clubhouse is closed printing Palmer Aphrodite i'm just say