Have you ever wanted to see a production that rivals those on Broadway? Opening tonight, Trinity’s Department of Theatre Arts presents the regional debut of “The Lightning Thief.”  

The musical “The Lighting Thief” (book by Joe Tracz, music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki, adapted from the bestseller by Rick Riordan) finished a run on Broadway, began a national touring production in the 2020–2021 season, and now  in 2022 has arrived at Trinity for the regional premiere.

The lead of the musical, senior Carson Mehlbauer, plays Percy Jackson. Early in the rehearsal process, Mehlbauer said of defining his character: “So we’re pretty early in the process. So far, my character work has been working with this source text, just the original book, ‘The Lightning Thief’ by Rick Riordan. I had never read the book, but I was familiar with kind of what the series was about.  We will have a Sunday rehearsal, we’ll get to sit down (that’s called characterization), and then we’ll work with the entire cast on characters. That’s when really a lot of the characters start to flesh out.” 

Producer/director Ms. Kate E. Reedy said of the difference between the fall show (“Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”) and this musical: “Well, it depends on the show.  So if you we’re going to compare our fall show to our spring show, our fall show was very dark, and it was more of a horror story, more of a mind bending of what was going on.  We used minimal aspects of the set.  It was more about you creating the imagination of the space. As an audience member when we move into the spring, it’s a little less using the imagination. Our concept for the set design is a Greek temple under renovation. There are lots of scaffolding pieces that move, but we still have the large Greek columns that will be there.  We also have a lot of what’s called Visqueen.  It’s a very heavy, thick, almost frosted plastic that hangs to keep dust out of things.”

As opening night has come closer, the stage crew has stayed busy. Stage manager senior Sammy Kushner said, “I’m very excited about the opening performance of ‘The Lightning Thief,’ really pumped up about it. Once we hit the public performances, I’m ready to go on.”

Kushner said of his job, “I’m in charge of making sure that every actor as well as technician is being accountable for every rehearsal, as well as every public performance.  I’m also in charge of taking what is called blocking notes. Blocking refers to where an actor or set pieces should be located at any given time on the stage.  Basically, it’s a map that I make for my future reference for where an actor is in relation to other actors or other set pieces.”

An experienced actor, Mehlbauer encourages others to become involved in Trinity productions. He said, “First of all, if you would want to get involved here at Trinity, do it. You can email Miss Reedy. It’s [email protected]. Always, always do it. It’s never too late to take a leap.”

Reedy added:  “Make sure to see ‘The Lighting Thief’ on Mar. 9. The musical will run for three weekends. We have added two performances this year, for a total of 12 performances, so hopefully everybody will get a chance to see it.”

Performances take place at 7 p.m. on Mar. 9, 10, 16, 17, 18,19, 24, 25 and 26 and at 2 p.m. on Mar. 13, 20 and 27.