Rick Riordan's 'The Lightning Thief' is adapted as a musical
Rick Riordan鈥檚 children鈥檚 novel 鈥�The Lightning Thief鈥� has made bestseller lists in its literary form and it was adapted into a movie in 2010 (with a sequel in 2013). So what medium is next for Riordan鈥檚 story? It鈥檚 now becoming a musical.
鈥淭he Lightning Thief,鈥� the first book in Riordan鈥檚 series about Percy Jackson, a young boy who discovers he鈥檚 the son of Greek god Poseidon, is the basis for a new show that will play off-Broadway in New York City this summer. Eric Meyers will play Percy and 鈥淧eter and the Starcatchers鈥� actor Graham Stevens will take the role of the centaur Chiron.
The show will premiere July 24 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre as the featured production in the Free Summer Theatre Program, which is presented by Theatreworks USA. As noted by , actor Kevin McKidd, who portrayed Poseidon in the 2010 film, is the honorary chair for the 2014 Free Summer Theatre Program. Tickets for the show will be free and will be first-come, first-served.聽
Following its New York performances, which will end on Aug. 22, "The Lightning Thief" will tour the country beginning in September, according to .
Rick Rokicki, the show鈥檚 composer and lyricist, recently spoke with EW about the show's music. Because of the electric and acoustic guitar used in the show, he hopes that 鈥渒ids that wouldn鈥檛 necessarily see a musical would come in and see this kind of musical.鈥�
Riordan is also the author of such series as the Kane Chronicles and the Heroes of Olympus.
