Review: The Lightning Thief – The Percy Jackson Musical at Milton Keynes Theatre

The book series is aimed at pre-teen kids, so I wasn’t quite sure how I’d take to this, quite frankly, wildly wacky story based on Greek mythology.

New York teenager Percy Jackson (played by Vasco Emauz) just wants to be normal but has difficulty settling down and has been in six schools in as many years.

But those troubles are nothing compared to his mum then being attacked and killed by a minotaur (a creature cleverly created with imaginative props)... and now his problems are really ramping up.

Percy defeats the beast and ends up being taken to Camp Half-Blood where he discovers he is the half-blood son of the Greek god, Poseidon and that his best mate Grover is half goat!

Being half god/half mortal brings with it a heap of save-the world responsibilities and other headaches for Percy – such as a whole host of mythical monsters on his trail who’ve been sent to destroy him.

He’s given a quest to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt from the Underworld for reasons I won’t go into in any depth as it got very complicated, but suffice to say it’ll avoid a war between the Gods if he’s successful and he enlists the help of Grover (I’m not entirely sure why he re-appeared at the start of Act 2 with his human legs back instead his animal ones) and another half-blood friend Annabeth.

Vasco as Percy really stood out for his very strong vocals and a fantastically energetic performance in the lead role. Kayna Montecillo as Annabeth also had a lovely voice and matched Vasco’s energy as the daughter of Athena.

But a special mention to Aidan Cutler whose performance as Mr D, the director of Camp Half-Blood, was outstanding. He was the God of Wine and I think he’d had a little too much as he got our hero’s name wrong (who’s Peter Johnson?!) and wanted to turn him into a dolphin. Another Terrible Day was a great number which he performed with aplomb.

Many of the cast had multiple roles and Aidan doubles up as Gabe Ugliano, Percy’s stepfather, an equally comical character who is stinky and obnoxious in equal measure.

As you’ll have realised by now, you can expect the unexpected with this show.

Evil demons attack our heroes on a bus as they make their way to the Underworld located in Los Angeles. They end up lost in the woods with half a dozen cast members holding up branches around them to create the woodland feel, and then umbrellas are used with ghost silhouettes to portray that it’s scary… but don’t worry a giant squirrel is on hand who they can try to get some help from!

The trio battle and defeat Medusa before finally getting to California and accessing the Underworld via an elevator at DOA (Dead on Arrival) Recording Studios, where we briefly encounter a three-headed DJ.

The plot at times felt as if we were racing along without dwelling on what the hell had just happened. At one point in Act 2, Percy was, it appeared, fatally attacked, but he was given a cure and miraculously recovered – all of this happening in little more than 10 seconds and was glossed over as just another run-of-the-mill miracle in this mystifying world.

There was certainly a buzz of excitement at certain points in the show as the action seemed to resonate with young audience members and their families who presumably were familiar with the books or maybe the subsequent films that have been made. The ending hints that the adventures are not yet over… and of course with six other books in the Percy Jackson series, they aren’t.

Overall it was unforgettable adventure for a variety of reasons. Just remember it is a fantasy world after all, so just roll with it, don’t worry too much about the plot and simply enjoy the ride.

The Lightning Thief – The Percy Jackson Musical is here until Sunday (September 7). Book your tickets now at ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes