The Georgia College & State University theatre & dance department put on a musical rendition of Percy Jackson over the weekend.
The musical is based on the 2019 Broadway adaptation Rick Riodran’s “The Lightning Thief.” The bestselling series focuses on teenager Percy Jackson, who discovers that his father was Greek god Poseidon. Percy’s story spans multiple books and spinoffs. On top of the Broadway show, the series has seen other resurgences over the years in the form of movies and a Disney Plus TV show.
The play ran from March 5-8 with multiple night and morning shows for various age groups. With numbers up to 750 kids seeing the play, the theater and dance department were kept busy.
Sound designer and mix engineer Ryan Merhcant talked about the response from the different age groups.
“I don’t think the older kids knew Percy Jackson like we did, but the kids, they loved it, so that was awesome,” he said. “I mean you could hear the kids screaming from outside across campus. I hope it’s a good response from the college kids because we all know the show, so I’d hope they’d have fun.”
Merchant also talked about the work the crew has put into the play.
Pre-production started for some students as far back as December. Even though Merchant started his role for the play in February, that doesn’t detract from the role that each person plays. Merchant spends each show mixing more than 40 microphones at once, all functioning for either music, voices, or sound effects.
While Associate Professor of Performance Amy Pinney served as the director for the play, almost every major role was filled by GCSU students. Kelsey Hall is another GCSU student who was a major contributor to the play. The scenic charge discussed the work that goes into theater production.
“I started painting the set around the third week of January, and it took about a whole month to really get it done,” she said. “It took two to three weeks for the set poles to be built, and I painted them as they were being built. Anyone at GCSU can do theater. You don’t have to be a theater major, and I think that is what’s really wonderful about it.”
The theater and dance department was able to draw In schools from all over the state to come watch “The Lightning Thief.” The department will look to its next project in April with Lauren Gunderson’s “Exit Pursued By A Bear.”