Percy Jackson & the Olympians is one of the most prominent multi-media YA fantasy universes of our generation, following demigods (children of the Greek gods) in a modern setting. In the initial series there are seven books, the first released in 2007; the last two—The Chalice of the Gods and Wrath of the Triple Goddess—having been released nearly ten years after the first five. There are also numerous spin-off series and stand-alone novels within the world of Percy Jackson, including not just Greek mythology but Egyptian and Roman mythology as well.
The franchise doesn’t just feature the book series and its spinoffs. There are film adaptations of the first two books, The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters, that came out in the early 2010s; a more recent Disney+ TV adaptation of the series whose third season is currently in production; and a popular Broadway musical.
Local fans of Percy Jackson were in luck in March this year, because The Lightning Thief musical was brought to the Missoula Children’s Theater (MCT) accompanied by a very talented cast and crew, featuring a small ensemble that played nearly 50 characters over the course of the musical.
The cast was primarily college-age or older, but there were a handful of high school students, specifically Hellgate students, on the cast as well. Hellgate seniors Seamus Cellan, Kyori Davis, and Olive Kreta played the parts of Percy Jackson, Silena, and Ensemble, respectively.
“It’s probably the best cast I’ve worked with community-wise,” Cellan said. Cellan has been doing shows with MCT since he was six, and said that this was one of the more higher-level shows he’s done.
“[The cast] always came ready to play and make fools of ourselves doing this weird choreography. [It was cool] just being able to be kids and tell this amazing story that a lot of us have grown up with,” said Kreta, who has been doing MCT shows since she moved to Missoula in 2020.
Auditions for the musical were held in the beginning of January. The first audition was singing, and then people were called back for dance, and again after that for more role-specific auditions. The roles were announced three days after auditions, and then three days after that announcement, the five weeks of rehearsals began. “…we rehearsed every week, six days a week for three hours a day… closer to four to five [hours] on a weekend,” said Cellan.
“It was a very short process compared to how most musicals are, with how MCT runs their stuff,” said Kreta.
The musical is mostly singing, with funky choreography and lots of funny moments and lines that perfectly reflect the banter, wit, and playfulness that is ever present in the Percy Jackson universe. The show also featured many intricate battle scenes that had to be pulled together in a very short amount of time, but the casts’ final performance was seamless.
“It never felt like anyone was taking it uber-serious. Doing a show like Percy Jackson, it shouldn’t be serious, it should be a funny show,” said Cellan.
The musical starts where the book does: on a field trip at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The scene begins with the song “Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled,” acting as an introduction to Percy (Seamus Cellan) and his troubles, and features his fight with his math-teacher-turned-Fury Mrs. Dodds (Aubrie Goldhamer). We then follow Percy on his journey to Camp Half-Blood, where he fights the Minotaur that kills his mom, Sally Jackson (Darci Monsos), discovers that his best friend is half-goat, and learns that he is the son of Poseidon.
The rest of the musical follows Percy, Grover (Gabriel Malek), and Annabeth (McKenna Raup) as they go on a quest to find Zeus’ missing lighting bolt. The musical leaves out a few beloved scenes from the books, including Percy’s fall from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and getting stuck in the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas. Though, there are nods to these events in the musical for long-time Percy Jackson fans to catch.
Both Cellan and Kreta agree that Percy Jackson was one of their favorite shows that they have done in their time doing theater, and both hope to continue participating in the performing arts in the future.
“I think keeping music in my life has always been my goal,” said Cellan. “All of the colleges I’ve applied to I’m going in for a minor in music.”
“I’ve loved singing and dancing my entire life, and I started doing theater when I was ten,” said Kreta. “I’m currently going through the process of auditioning for BFA programs for colleges.”
MCT put on an incredible show, packed with energy, powerful songs, and laugh-out-loud moments—all of which couldn’t have been done without the talented cast and crew.
