No One Could Have Stolen the Thunder From This Ensemble

“The gods are real, like the Greek gods!” In silent darkness, the opening line of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical echoed throughout the Dolan Center Theater and transformed the Friends Academy stage into a new world where the idea of normal became a myth.

Over the ensuing two hours, 35 Upper School students in the ensemble cast shared the spotlight while 10 others worked behind the scenes to tell the story of Percy Jackson, the demigod son of Poseidon who goes on a hero’s quest to recover Zeus’s lightning bolt and prevent a war from breaking out amongst the gods of Mt. Olympus.

Percy, played by senior Kody Mitchell, is joined on a cross-country, multi-dimension journey by his best friend Grover (a half-goat played by senior Jemima Constantino) and Annabeth (the daughter of Athena played by senior Andie Herman). Together, they travel from Camp Half-Blood, where demigods train in the summer, to Los Angeles, where they enter a portal to the Underworld.

From l. to r., seniors Andie Herman, Kody Mitchell, and Jemima Constantino.

Along the way, they encounter a belligerent minotaur, survive a bus explosion, fend off three flying deities of vengeance, get lost in the woods of New Jersey, befriend a squirrel who gifts them Amtrak tickets, chop off Medusa’s head, hitch rides on farm tractors and motorcycles, explore the meaning of family, overcome betrayal, and sniff out the true identity of the lightning thief.

In the end, no one could have stolen the thunder from this ensemble.

After the third and final show in early February, a packed house celebrated the dynamic, fast-paced, non-stop singing, dancing, swordplay and special effects (a glowing camp fire! flowing tapestries! an exploding toilet!) with a rousing standing ovation that brought many of the seniors to the verge of tears as they stepped forward and took their final bows in a Friends Academy theater production.

Beyond the three main characters on the hero’s quest, four other seniors starred in principal roles: Mackenzie Breg (Ares, the sword-wielding, motorcycle-revving god of war); Abby Frazer (Mr. D, the overworked, sassy camp director with deep disdain for all children); Eleanor Lawton Flatters (Mrs. Dodds, the stare-you-down teacher turned hunt-you-down demon); Daphne Li (Aunty Em, aka, Medusa, who lost her fake head but never her dark wit).

Clockwise from top l., seniors Daphne Li, Eleanor Lawton Flatters, Abby Frazer, and Mackenzie Breg.

The seven seniors might have bid farewell, but for many others, this production was just the beginning of their theater careers at Friends Academy.

The newcomers included Ms. Colby Christina Myers (pictured below, far left), an all-school theater teacher who joined Friends Academy in September and made her directorial debut at Friends with the winter musical.

“Her organization for this show, what she conceptualized on stage, and the overall story she told was magnificent,” says Mr. Andrew Geha, director of the arts department at Friends Academy. “It’s been a joy having someone who pulls so much weight and who connects so well with the students.”

Beyond her classroom, Ms. Myers is also an advisor to the freshmen class. Her relationship with those students helped bring a wave of young energy into the theater department.

More than half of the students who performed in The Lightning Thief were ninth graders, and a few earned roles that required poise and confidence beyond their years. Those standout newcomers included Alyssa Obioma (Charon, who transports souls across the River Styx and performs a banger demo that commands the spotlight) and Elijah Fuller (Hades, the dapper and distempered god of the Underworld).

“We had 40 kids come out for these auditions — the most since the pandemic — and to have so many freshmen join us has been a gift,” Mr. Geha says. “Any time a kid walks in our doors for the first time, they are nervous. But Ms. Myers helped them all feel brave enough to walk in for the first time. They quickly figured out their space in the group in a healthy way and realized that they belong here. They’ve all been so much fun to work with, it’s been a blast. I want them all back in the door next year.”

From l. to r., ninth graders Alyssa Obioma and Elijah Fuller.

Ms. Myers described the show — which also featured six juniors and three sophomores (the full cast can be viewed on playbill at the end of this story) — as “one long run-on sentence” that forced actors to be strategic about getting drinks of water because there were few pauses in the 100-page script.

No matter the role, Ms. Myers says she assigned parts based on how students performed at auditions — and the potential they showed to keep improving during the months of rehearsals.

“I wanted everyone to be challenged and walk away with more confidence than when they first came in the door,” she says. “I have no problem taking risks if students show that they’re willing to put in the work and improve. With this show, they were all able to learn something new and finish the production with more confidence in themselves.”

Ms. Myers’ approach aligns with the ensemble philosophy that Mr. Geha holds up as a North Star for the theater department at Friends Academy.

“An ensemble-approach gives everyone a chance to be on the stage as much as possible,” Mr. Geha says. “But an ensemble isn’t just about many people having a part. It’s about creating a place where everyone matters — where everyone knows your name and you know everyone’s name. It’s a place of safety and creativity and exploration. We haven’t had an ensemble this big in a long time, so for this group to be so tight is a beautiful thing.”

Multiple times during The Lightning Thief, the entire cast (minus a character or two based on the plot’s timeline) was on stage singing, dancing, or fighting with swords. That alone, however, doesn’t fully convey the ensemble philosophy.

Before each show, Ms. Myers took the stage and told audiences, “This story is packed with adventure, humor, and heart. At its core, it’s about discovering your identity, your strengths, where you belong. Our cast has poured a tremendous amount of time and effort into bringing this story to life. But in our program, we talk a lot about the power of ensemble — that no hero stands alone, that no story is told by only one person. So, what you’re about to see is the result of trust and collaboration, both on stage and behind the scenes.”

The work behind-the-scenes included intricate and versatile set designs by Tye Burris and mesmerizing (if at times frightening) costume design by Pia Fleischmann and Selina Collier. It included support from the dance, music and art departments at Friends Academy, and it even included help from alumni (Sam Towse ’16 and Spencer Towse ’23 in the pit band, and Marc Chernoff ’09 and Nell Kurita ’23 on the set construction crew).

“Our backstage crew never wants the limelight,” Mr. Geha says. “But without them, there’d be nothing. We’d be in the dark.”

The ensemble approach included a level of trust so deep that freshman Jackson Yu (The Minotaur, pictured below) didn’t stumble despite his mask shifting and leaving him unable to see during a pivotal battle scene on opening night. He worked from muscle memory, played off the sounds of other actors on stage, and calmly followed Mr. Geha’s voice off-stage to exit the scene.

“He wasn't freaking out,” Mr. Geha says. “I don’t know what to call it, other than magnificent.”

Ensemble, it seems, might be a synonym for controlled chaos — which Mr. Geha witnessed from all directions while serving in a producer’s role for the show.

“The amount of running happening at all times backstage that the audience had no idea about was spectacular,” Mr. Geha says. “The kids are getting off stage, they’re running to change costumes, and they’re getting back just in time for their next entrance. There were so many different moving parts in the show. Watching this cast get their heads wrapped around all of it, and mastering it, was joyful.”

High above it all, perched in the control room at the back of the theater, senior Angelina Posada called the shots as the stage manager — a position she’s held for many of the school’s theater productions over the past four years.

Wearing a headset, Mr. Geha listened in as Angelina moved the show forward with every cue. He described her as having “the poise and accuracy of an air traffic controller.” And he shared what David Shocket, the show’s lighting designer who also works on Broadway, told him: “She’s unflappable and calmer on the headset than several professional stage managers I know.”

Her performance behind the scenes perfectly describes the level that Ms. Myers and Mr. Geha target with their approach to teaching theater.

“Students are able to stretch all parts of themselves in the arts department at Friends,” Ms. Myers says. “They have a chance to train an insane level of versatility — vocal coaching, acting coaching, dance coaching, combat coaching, costumes even. You learn how to multitask, how to balance your energy, how to manage your time. You learn how to work as part of a group and how to work in high-paced environments. You learn how to tell another person’s story and impact an audience. The opportunities are essentially endless.”

To see more photos from this production, visit our Flickr album.

Photos by Amanda Fisk ’99 / Friends Academy