Review: The Lightning Thief at the Liverpool Empire ***1/2

More than a quarter of a century after it first burst on the storytelling scene, the ‘young adult’ fantasy fiction genre remains hugely popular – and big, big business.

JK Rowling led the charge, and Rick Riordan wasn’t far behind with his book series (the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles) based on the adventures of teenage demigod hero Percy Jackson and his friends.

Riordan’s literary flights of fantasy have spawned both films and a TV series, along with this enjoyably droll musical romp – full title The Lighting Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical – at the Empire this week as part of its first UK tour.

And it was lovely to see so many young people among the audience on its opening night, particularly little boys.

For the uninitiated, Perseus ‘Percy’ Jackson (a confident central performance from Vasco Emauz) is a troubled 16-year-old New Yorker. He never knew his dad, he and his mum Sally live with her grotesque and slobbish partner and, struggling with dyslexia and ADHD, he’s been expelled from a raft of schools.

It’s the latest expulsion, after what you might call an eventful class trip to the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which propels Percy into a strange world where he discovers that his AWOL dad is actually Poseidon, mighty Greek god of the sea, storms and earthquakes.

Not only that, but Percy’s uncle Zeus is convinced his ‘half-blood’ nephew has stolen his lighting bolt (it's never really explained why that is) and all-out war is set to kick off unless it’s returned.

It’s down to Percy, his devoted old schoolfriend Grover (Cahir O'Neill, endearing as a Mr Tumnus-style satyr) and the cerebral-but-kickass Annabeth (Kayna Montecillo), new housemate at Camp Half-Blood - a Hogwarts-style summer camp for kids who have one human and one god parent…and not in the Christian sense, to embark on a quest to find the real thief, recover the lightning bolt and save the world.

As you do.

Above: Grover (Cahir O'Neill), Percy (Vasco Emauz) and Annabeth (Kayna Montecillo). Top: The cast of The Lightning Thief. Photos by Johan Persson.

Along the way, they have to battle some wily gods and destructive furies who are all trying to stop them.

Mentioning Hogwarts, The Lighting Thief, with its trio of teens on a quest to vanquish the forces of evil, does tread some of the same Potter ground – albeit served here in musical form with a side order of Dear Evan Hansen and a sprinkling of The Wizard of Oz.

Writer Joe Tracz has remained faithful to Riordan’s book, including the relaxed style and humour which underpins his storytelling and which comes out not only in the dialogue but also in the wry and sparky lyrics of Rob Rokicki’s original music for the show.

It’s modern poppy melodic stuff, delivered with gusto by the cast, although there are no particularly memorable hum-the-tune-in-the-car type numbers. Montecillo has a particularly sweet voice while Simone Robinson, who plays an array of characters in addition to Percy’s mum, shimmers as the 70s disco queen gatekeeper of the Underworld.

Above: Simone Robinson is Cerberus, gatekeeper of the Underworld. Photo by Johan Persson.

Director and choreographer Lizzie Gee keeps the action moving along briskly on Ryan Dawson Laight’s malleable set (it even transforms into the Minotaur at one point), although at the end of a long and eventful adventure, the grand denouement/showdown turns out to be something of an anti-climax, which is disappointing. It lacks the epic proportions it really deserves.

Of the supporting characters, Niall Sheehy exudes calm authority as Mr Brunner and the centaur Chiron but also gets to channel his inner Stacey Jaxx as Hades, the king of the Underworld, while Aidan Cutler has a rollicking time scene stealing as ‘Mr D’ (flamboyant, good time Greek god Dionysus) the child-loathing head of Camp Half-Blood. I’d pay good money to see him go head-to-head with Annie’s Miss Hannigan.

Irreverent, breezy and energetic, while the action never quite reaches Olympian heights there’s still much to like about The Lightning Thief.