USF’s spring musical, “The Lightning Thief,” is an adapted version of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. ORACLE PHOTO/VIOLET VASQUEZ PIMENTEL

A 40-member production team — made up of USF students and staff from USF’s School of Theatre and Dance — helped produce a musical production of “The Lightning Thief” in mid-April.

“The Lightning Thief” is based on Joe Tracz’s book by the same name, which drew inspiration from Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.

Additionally, the musical debuted as a one-hour show with a national tour in 2014, which expanded and returned to the theatre in 2017. It opened on Broadway in October 2019, according to Concord Theatricals.

The musical focuses on Percy Jackson, a Greek demigod, as he works to find and return Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt, according to the School of Theatre and Dance.

The cast presented the show on April 16, 18, 19, 23 and 26 at the Tampa campus in USF Theatre 1, according to the School of Theatre and Dance.

Each two-and-a-half-hour show was free to students who reserved tickets through Ticketmaster, according to BullsConnect. The April 26 show was sold out, according to the School’s Instagram. 

Some USF students who performed in the musical said “The Lightning Thief” was a fun show, and a final send-off for some graduating students.  

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Jenny Kokai, the artistic director for the School of Theatre and Dance, said the season selection committee picked “The Lightning Thief” as its spring musical because it was a “fun show” with different design and stage elements.

Aurora Peugh, a senior theatre arts major and the stage manager for “The Lightning Thief,”  said auditions for the musical started in November, while background work started around December. 

After almost six months of work, the School of Theatre and Dance produced the play seven times, which Peugh said was a gratifying experience.

“It’s really nice to see everyone’s hard work come to light,” she said. “This is my last show at USF, so it’s kind of bittersweet, but it’s really great to be able to see another show fully completed.”

Ava Meyer, a senior theatre performance major, played Sally Jackson — Percy’s mother — in “The Lightning Thief” and said she loved the experience.

Meyer said she wanted to audition for “The Lightning Thief” because it is a “fun and silly” show with interesting characters.

“It’s my first role that’s a pretty major character,” Meyer said. “Seeing it be put to life has been such a fulfilling experience for me.”

She said she got into character by grounding herself with deep breaths and placing herself in the character’s shoes — imagining herself as a different person.

“I think about what I would do if I was in the situation that my character is in, and how I would react,” she said. “Asking myself those internal questions really helped me bring the character to life on stage.” 

And while Meyer said she felt the auditions for the production were more nerve-wracking than the performance days, her favorite part of performing “The Lightning Thief” was doing so with the cast.

“The friendships I’ve made in this production are friendships I will never forget, and I’ll cherish forever,” she said. “Being there on stage with them is such a surreal moment for me.”

After nearly six months of backstage work and rehearsals, Meyer said she was proud of what everyone involved in the musical accomplished. 

“It’s something that you work so hard to make and create, and you put so much love and effort into it,” she said. “Finally getting to show it to people is definitely just such a proud moment.”

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Sam Lipsey, a senior theatre performance major, said he has been in theatre programs since middle school. Still, he said this production was bittersweet for him because it was his seventh — and last — show at USF.

“I’m like ‘Oh man, this is my last show that I’m gonna do here’ so I’m trying to enjoy as much of it as I can,” Limpsey said.

Still, Lipsey said he was excited to share each performance and feeling with the audience.

Lipsey played Grover Underwood, a satyr, a half-goat, half-human mix, having to dress up with goat legs and hoof shoes. 

Lipsey said this meant he had to be careful not to trample his own, or other people’s, toes during the show.

“I do have to adjust my steps a little bit because the toes are a little longer than my feet, because they’re goat toes, and so, if I’m walking weird, it might bend underneath my foot,” Lipsey said.

He said getting into character for “The Lightning Thief” felt easier than in previous shows because he connected with Grover’s personality, seeing him as someone trying their best but still slipping up at times.

“I find it very easy for myself to just kind of put myself into the situation and see what would be my reaction here,” Lipsey said.

Lipsey said his favorite part about performing “The Lightning Thief” was how much he got to connect with his castmates through rehearsals.

“Theatre is very much a team sport in the sense that you can’t do it alone,” he said. “Everything is a team.”

Peugh said “The Lightning Thief” was a meaningful production for USF students because it is a musical about “finding yourself.”

“I’m someone who strongly believes in the need for just fun theater,” she said. “The author of Percy Jackson is really great about diversity and uplifting marginalized voices.”

Kokai said that for her, the main part of a USF production is how much students can learn from the piece.

“Productions can get really stressful,” she said. “Students work incredibly hard. I think that people don’t understand how difficult the tech process is for a show.”

Kokai said she hopes the production reached and comforted people who are trying to find their place in the world.

“I was genuinely moved by Percy’s desire to find some place where he wasn’t seen as a bad kid, but fit in and could thrive,” Kokai said. “I think that’s what we’re always trying to do at the School of Theatre and Dance.”