The Lightning Thief is a gem of a musical that didn’t get its time to shine. The books by Rick Riordan are a wonderful read for all ages and the most recent series on Disney+ has also been a wonderful addition to this Percy Jackson universe. We don’t talk about the 2010 movie for reasons, but it was an addition to the same universe with its own pros and cons… but mostly cons.

Suzart has been on my radar for a while, but I’ve never been interested in the show they’ve done in the past. They do tend to do some out there shows that I absolutely appreciate, but this is the first one that I was rearing to watch when I heard it announced. Considering this is my first show for Suzart, my review might be a little less reliable, as I try to adapt my expectations to my experience with that company’s history. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the show and they have a pretty solid show.

General Direction

Alright, take the next parts with a grain of salt. I thought that the Poseidon/Hades (Ben Spindler) were too similar of characters. The musical version has them a little less serious than you’d think they’d be. Hades was also too much of a standup comedian for my liking. I understand that they might be trying to stay close to the script, as the Broadway versions had him as this flamboyant personality with a midwestern accent, but the hilarity of that concept didn’t translate well into this version of the show. It also bled a little into Poseidon’s mannerisms and made it feel like Percy (Cooper Dunn) had two fathers. I also might be a hater, but Chiron’s (Michael Malek) hind legs were way too distracting at points. I understand the hilarity behind using a hokey horse costume to represent a centaur, but the hind legs just kept moving and shaking throughout their appearance. What was a funny joke at first became a stagnant nuisance after seeing the same joke over and over again. This is Ana Lorena Fuentes Roman’s directorial debut in Ottawa and I look forward to seeing what more she has to offer, as I believe they did a good job with the show.

Choreography

Fight choreography was handled by Zach Counsil and for a show like The Lightning Thief, fighting is a huge part of the show. From my experience with fight choreo, there were very safe choices in terms of what was happening and left me wanting more. Safety and health always comes first, but I was left wanting more. The big battle in “Put You in Your Place” was a huge highlight of me wanting to see everything. One of the parts that really held them back from creating good fight scenes were their weapon of choice. The pen sword looked to be a 3-D printed one that had an interesting telescopic design, but ultimately was it’s downfall as it felt and looked more like one of those cheap lightsabers that are just 3 cylinders of decreasing size. It made the fight choreo feel more soft and airy; rather than grounded and heavy.

Dance choreography was handled by Wendy Lamont and like a lot of modern musicals, it’s not a show that has crazy dance moments or numbers: it is more movement based show. So it’s very odd when you see jazz pirouettes. Overall, blocking was done well and they used the space extremely well too! The studio space at Meridian Theatres is an excellent place to do a show because of that upstairs area that allows for different ways to play. There was a part during the Oracle’s exposition that gold silks were thrown down to ensemble members below to create a shimmery ripple that didn’t add much to the moment itself and looked out of place.

Music Direction

Music direction was handled by Steve Vesely, who recently worked on Something Rotten with Orpheus and Scream Queens with Lost Baggage. He’s been an emerging music director and I’ve been quite interested in the work he’s done. With this production, the five-piece band was cohesive and had some decent balance. There were points where I found the percussion a little too heavy in volume. Volume issues were here and there, but one volume issue I couldn’t get past is when actors drop enunciation and volume for emotion. There were times when I couldn’t hear or understand what was being said because of a character’s excitement or sadness that dramatically changed the way they spoke. We shouldn’t sacrifice clarity for emotion: it’s a fine line we have to find and walk.

Ensemble has such a huge part in this show with some crazy harmonies and ostinatos. The problem I had was that the ensemble did not have microphones and when they were offstage singing from the wings there wasn’t a microphone for them there either. This created a lackluster sound to support songs like “D.O.A” and “Good Kid”. With such a modest sized ensemble, I wish they had utilized some as pit singers in a Greek chorus style to really hit those numbers where the ensemble is necessary to build some colour.

Now, I’m not a purist when it comes to songs staying true to recordings or OBC. In fact, I am a huge proponent of lowering songs to fit the vocal range of the performer. One notable change is during “Good Kid” was played in the original key, but Percy’s melody was changed to the point where it sounded more like he was singing harmony rather than the melody: which is awkward especially when it’s his solo moment. Broadway songs for lead male presenting roles have been slowly trending towards an upper register which sounds impressive, but also displaces those with a lower vocal range. If they had the opportunity to, I wish they had lowered the song so that Percy could belt his lines.

Design

Alright, you probably know the drill by now: I LOVE SIMPLE SETS. I took a quick shot of the set at the beginning because of how much I loved it. The ionic columns made out of led lights was a choice that accentuated the space with surround blue and UV lights to enhance the luminescent paint. Also the beautiful road signs during “Drive” were really well done and looked like sign you would see on highways to attract your attention.

I already talked a bit about sound issues in the lack of microphones on ensemble, but things happen during live shows which aren’t always in our control and one of those moments happened during one of my favourite songs: “D.O.A.” where they had to remedy the issue halfway through the song with a quick-witted bring on of a handheld mic. The balance between actors and the balance of the band also made it hard to understand either at points.

Costumes

Alright, I get picky when it comes to costumes because this show has some of the most simple costumes ever: camp shirts with modern day clothing, which isn’t a drag on the costumes at all! I loved how each character had the same outfit, but it was personalized to their character! Great examples you could see were how Luke (Alex Davidson) and Grover (Charlie Lapointe) had their own style.

Alright, here’s the nitty gritty: apart from the camp costume, the monster “costumes” left a lot to be desired. Grover’s satyr legs worked fine with the show, but there were other parts where the campiness of the original Broadway performance was lost and felt more cheap and hokey. Things like Medusa’s reveal, the Fury’s reveal, and Cerberus’ reveal to a lesser extent. They felt and looked like odd puppets and didn’t really do well to show off the monster. I wish more time was spent on making the monsters more like monsters. There were also big moments where water was represented by ensemble members wearing reflective blue shawls that instead of camp felt more tacky.

Standouts

In an absolutely outstanding standout, Clarisse (Ace Corbin) absolutely killed this role. Clarisse has one major song, “Put You in Your Place” and Ace crushed it. I’ve seen them many times at Broadway Nights and I’m ecstatic that I finally got to see them in a show and in a role that is perfect for them!

Sally Jackson/Charon (Meg Barbeau) was also one of my favourite performances. “D.O.A” is one of the best songs in the show being an absolute disco diva banger. She did a great job going between a sweet, comforting mother to an egotistical DJ.

So here are some problems I think there is with the script and not the show itself: Luke gives Percy winged shoes, but he never wears them in the book because that would be him infringing on the division of the sky, the water, and the underworld his father and uncles had; however, the show has Percy wearing the shoes. Also, changing the pearls to a shell horn was a nice change, but it didn’t make sense that he receives it in a dream and doesn’t acknowledge he comes into possession of the shell until the time it’s needed. If you’re looking for a faithful retelling of the original book, be prepared for some weird changes.

Overall, this is a solid show from Suzart. I enjoyed my time and was happy to knock this one off my “to experience” list for shows I want to see performed. They sold out their run pretty well before their opening night and it’s very clear as to why it sold out. This lands in a weird place for me where I enjoyed the show, but there are a lot of things that I personally wish were different and ultimately places it this limbo of a good show: not a bad show, not a great show, but a good show. I see a lot of room for improvement, but I would definitely recommend seeing this show if you have the opportunity to. Congratulations to the cast and crew on an absolute delight of a show.