UToledo's Theatre Department Puts On Percy Jackson Musical

Graphics Provided By The University of Toledo’s Theatre and Film Department

Written By: Megan Matthews TOLEDO, OHIO – The University of Toledo’s Theatre department is putting on “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical”. Performances will run from April 9-12th and April 15-19th and are free for students with a valid rocket ID.

This musical is based off the book “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan, and follows Percy Jackson (Joseph Schreiner), Annabeth Chase (Whitney Bechstein), and Grover (Brooklyn Mitchell-Nelson) as they attempt to return Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt.

“Theres a lot of crazy stuff going on, gods, monsters, a lot of fight choreo.” says Schreiner. 

The set for the musical brings in some fantastical elements, with Ed Lingan working with the crew to create a unique look for the Center for Performing Arts (CPA) stage.

“This was a decaying world of the gods, and the universe has a cyberpunk and sort of a roleplaying, DnD floor look to it.” Lingan states

A lot of work is put in to make this show run. Lingan is the director and associate dean of the JHCASE, has been planning this musical for a while.

“We decided to do this show a year ago, and we start working on our shows very far in advance.” Lingan says

The cast and crew have had a lot of rehearsal time because of this, and have not taken that for granted. 

“It's quite a lot of work, it's a five day a week, 4 hour commitment,” says Schreiner. “It's a lot of work but it's rewarding, because it's a lot of fun and it's not draining.”

For some cast, the hours put in are even greater.

“I am putting minimum 40 hours a week into this show everyday,” says Tevy Dembski, playing Clarisse, daughter of Ares.

Rehearsals for this production didn't begin in the spring semester, In fact, this production has been in the works for about 5 months.

“We started preparing in late November and have been working everyday with 4-6 hour rehearsals, a lot of time has been put into this.” Nicole Dail, Head of Wardrobe, shared.  

The musical will be held in the Center for Performing Arts at the University of Toledo. Thursday, April 9th, will be the free campus and community preview. 

Additonally, shows running on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday start at 7:30 p.m. with Sunday performances starting at 2:00 p.m.