Wow! What a show! We arrived at The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical with zero expectations of what we would see. We hadn’t heard a soundtrack of the show, seen a movie or even read a Percy Jackson book. Yet my eight year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing! In a nutshell, Percy discovers his absent father is really a God son of Kronos. You meet and hear about mythological creatures in the forms of minotaurs, centaurs, Cerberus and Pegasus while going on quest to find out who really stole the lightening bolt belonging to Zeus, which friend will betray Percy and who the children of the gods really are, all in an engaging and somewhat educational way.

The small cast delivered multiple performances and those who weren’t the main three, switched seamlessly between the roles clear costume theming helped keep track of who was who and their role in the story. Special mentions to Vasco Emauz who played Percy, Kanya Montecillo – Annabeth who both had strong vocals, as well as Ellie-Grace Cousins who played Clarisse and others – honestly, she had so many parts and all were so strong, so different and so polished. 

While the set was simple it was enhanced by really clever lighting effects, making it look as if you were really underwater, by the sea as well as in the underworld. The parts of the set were seamlessly moved to create different settings, not only different places but different worlds! The bus explosion was “pretty epic” in the words of my son! 

The songs were really catchy, the voices of the cast were really strong and a few of them were cemented into our heads for the entire train home! But what I loved most is that for the journey after, he was able to tell me the story, the characters and their part in Greek mythology and even what he thought would happen in a sequel. This musical not only entertained him but it taught him Greek mythology in a way that captured his imagination and made it purposeful and fun. 

We’ve been out of the theatre for fifteen minutes and have already created a Spotify playlist and ordered the first book in the series. We are already looking at when we can see it next! Would 100% recommend this show for families and anyone who enjoys an evening of music and fun with children, this is definitely who is aimed at! 

Review by Katie Jinks

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is on at New Wimbledon Theatre until 1st November. You can find out more and book tickets here.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Back to the Future, Starlight Express and Stranger Things The First Shadow.