Image of: Show poster for the lightning thief. Six lightning bolts shoot out of swirling white clouds around the Empire State Building. Hand-drawn title reads The Lightning Thief. The next two lines, in white, read NARA Park amphitheater, June 24, 25, and 26. There are six symbols related to accessibility: wheelchair and low vision/Blind access, ASL interpretation, Closed captioning, assistive audio listening devices, and live audio description. www.opendoortheater.org The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical book by Joe Tracz, music & lyrics by Rob Rokicki

In June 2022, Open Door Theater presented The Lightning Thief at Nara Park in Acton. This was our first venture into an outdoor performance and our first show since the Covid Pandemic.

The Lightning Thief is a dynamic musical adaptation of Rick Riordan’s bestselling book and first opened on Broadway in 2019. When teenager Percy Jackson discovers he’s a demigod, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus’ missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods. Rick Riordan wrote the series as a love letter to his neurodivergent son. The fact that the main character is ADHD, Dyslexic, and Neurodiverse enhanced the storyline and the majority of our cast self-identified with disabilities which enhanced the performance. Representation matters and heroes come in all forms, colors, genders, and abilities.

In keeping with our mission, all of our shows were ASL interpreted, offered open captions, and Assisted Listening Devices and were sensory-friendly. Additionally, two of the shows were audio-described.
BIOS of our cast, crew, and creative team can be found HERE.
The program for The Lightning Thief can be found HERE.

Bravo to our 2022 Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theater Dash Award Nominee Liz Seilan for Best Youth Actor in a Musical (apparently you will be remembered!!!!) and Our Winners of DASH AWARD for Best Specialty Ensemble in a Musical Jared Palazzo, Liz Seilan and Spaghetti Jensen-Fellows.

A picture of three ASL interpreters & three actors performing on stage
Lightning Thief Cast Conversations
Watch cast members discussing their roles and the show in the video below. <Turn on captions>
A crowd sitting in lawn chairs watching an outdoor performance of The Lightning Thief
A picture of an actor raising a sword while other actors wave blue fabric representing waves
A picture of four cast and crew members
doing the hokey pokey
Lit stage with scaffolding. Actors “battle” a 10 ft Giant puppet worn by 3 actors
A picture of three teenage actors (winners of EMACT DASH 2022 Award for best cooperative performance) performing on stage
A picture of a crowd outside at night watching an outdoor performance of The Lightning Thief
Backstage smiling selfie
Actors sit in formation to represent a motorcyle with sidecar
A picture of four actors in action battling each other one jumps high over a swinging bat