The Greek gods come to Green River

An epic tale of mythological proportions is coming to Green River. 

"It's something new, it's something different that we haven't ever done on stage at Green River High School," Bradlee Skinner, the GRHS theater director, said of the play. 

The high school theater department's latest production will bring a well-known story to life in fantastic ways. "The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical" will celebrate opening night with a red carpet event tonight and will have performances through the weekend. 

Bringing the book to life

The play is based on the first book in Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympian" series, which puts Greek mythology into modern times and tells the story of a young demigod and his friends going on an epic quest to recover Zeus's stolen lightning bolt. 

"One of the reasons we picked it was knowing it's a story that a lot of people are familiar with," Skinner explained. "But most people aren't familiar with it as a musical, so it's something new. So we're hoping that the familiarity with the story mixed with the newness of the music will intrigue people enough to come out and watch it."

While bringing new elements to the story, Skinner also said it was important to everyone to stay true to the book and honor the story's origins. This included putting book-related details throughout the show, from props to makeup to sets. 

"We have a ton of easter eggs in the show, little hints and things to the books, to the movies, so that hopefully our fans of the book series will appreciate the loyalty that we really put to it," Skinner said. 

Putting kids on stage

Another factor that drew Skinner to the show, but also provided a unique challenge, was the ability to have a large cast. While the show's original Broadway production had only eight cast members, Skinner explained that almost every actor was playing multiple roles. This meant the cast could vary in size from small to large, and for this production Skinner decided to break it up into a large number of individual roles.

"It just gave that chance for everybody, especially all of our high school students, to have a part, to be actively involved, to be creating that character that they say 'this is my version of that character and I'm going to help bring it to life on stage,'" Skinner said. 

One exception they chose to make for this production was double-casting the roles of Poseidon and Gabe, Percy's father and step-father, who are both played by Alex Hudson. Skinner noted that this shows a similarity and contrast between the two men Sally Jackson gravitates towards.

"We thought it would be a unique aspect to it and to the casting, and we think Alex plays both parts incredibly well," Skinner said. "And it just makes it fun."

Fun has been a crucial part of this production, especially since the cast and crew includes not only high schoolers, but also middle school and elementary school students. Skinner estimated that there are approximately 90 kids involved with the production, which is one of the biggest casts they've had in the last few years. 

"It's amazing," he said of the show and working with the cast. "It has been so much fun to work with them, to see that excitement, especially with new things that we're doing, putting some magic tricks on stage, making things appear out of nowhere, that we kind of need to give that Greek mythology lore."

Projecting magic

One of the main ways this production will bring the magic of mythology to life is through the use of projections. The projections help with special effects and with being able to represent the many different locations the characters travel to throughout the play, Skinner explained. This allows the characters to go from an apartment to the beach in a split second, for example, which lets the production do things it couldn't otherwise. 

Another element of using projections is that it starts to blur the line between film and stage, according to Skinner. 

"It's unique in its own way, but at the same time we're really excited because we see that's where the industry is going," he said. "We want our students to be able to work with projections because we know more professional theater companies are going that route. And now we're going to be one of the first schools in Wyoming to help really pioneer that for our students."

The uniqueness of the show has been a challenge for everyone involved, and Skinner admitted this was initially a source of stress since they were all trying things that hadn't been done before. But he said the excitement quickly overcame the stress as everyone decided to dive in and try something different, address the challenges, and figure out how to make things work. 

"Our technicians and our actors have risen to the occasion, and it's been great," he said. 

Succeeding together 

Skinner was also quick to acknowledge all the support that made the play possible. 

"The show couldn't happen if it was just me," he said. 

Skinner pointed to the importance of the people who are helping him with various aspects of the production. Julie Mortensen is the assistant director who has worked with blocking and choreography. Danielle Forbush is the music director who is conducting and helping the students with the songs. Julia Eaton is the assistant musical director and has also taken on being the primary makeup designer. Katherine Skinner is also helping as the choreographer, and Melissa Skinner is helping as the backstage coordinator. 

"We have a lot of parents that are helping as well, especially some parent volunteers that are helping backstage with all of our little ones," Skinner added. "And we couldn't do without them, so we appreciate their help."

The show has also received community support, from Red White Buffalo hosting a cast meet and greet and performance last weekend, to Stellar Coffee having special Percy Jackson themed drinks, to Sarah's Mad Batter bakery selling blue cinnamon rolls at intermission to raise funds for the theater department, to the Sweetwater County Library hosting Camp Half Blood training to give away tickets to the show. 

Sharing the show

With everyone having worked together to overcome the challenges and bring the epic story to life, the cast and crew are ready for an audience. 

"First and foremost, we hope [people] just come and have fun," Skinner said. "It's a fun show. We want them to be excited."

He pointed out that many of the high school's productions appeal to an older audience, but this musical is a family-friendly show that targets a younger audience and can be enjoyed by all ages. He hopes people will bring their kids to see it. 

Skinner also hopes the audience will be wowed by the large scale of the show and the special effects, from representing creatures like minotaurs to having exploding toilets, all of which will be unlike anything audiences at the high school have ever seen. 

"We hope that they just enjoy that experience of seeing something new, or seeing something different and just having fun," he said. 

"The Lightning Thief" will have performances at 7 p.m. on March 29, 30 and 31 as well as April 3. There will also be a matinee performance at 1 p.m. on April 1. Tickets are available online at showtix4u.com.