OMTA PRESENTS

THE LIGHTNING THIEF 

Music and Lyrics by Rob Rokicki

Book by  Joe Tracz 

Directed by Alvaro Barquero Rodriguez ('26)

Music Directed by Stephanie Bloch ('27)

May 3rd-5th, 2024 

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Everyone has that one piece of media that their younger self was obsessed with. You’re expecting me to say mine was Percy Jackson, right? Wrong. I grew up with many other things, and I did develop a fascination for Greek mythology thanks to Disney’s Hercules, but I didn’t read Percy Jackson until Covid hit when I was 17. Fast-forward four years later, though, I’ve read all seventeen books in the series, watched the TV show and most of the cast’s interviews, and now directed the musical adaptation.

When I decided I wanted to direct a musical at Oberlin, it didn’t take me long to set my eye on The Lightning Thief.  After all, it’s the kind of goofy show people would enjoy, and with the Percy Jackson TV show adaptation coming out recently, the timing just felt right. But most of all, I wanted to put up a piece of art that reminded people of their childhood, or their teenage years, or whatever age they were when they read the books. I wanted my peers to experience, in person, the magic of a story that means as much to them as it means to me.

And now the day has come. It still feels surreal that so many people put their trust in me to bring this story to life.  I want to take this little block of text to thank every person in this show’s cast and crew: every single one of you injected life into this show and helped it grow, and you transformed my simple vision into something extraordinary and beautiful that I could not have pictured in my wildest dreams. Thank you!

And to you, the person patiently reading this as you wait in your seat in Wilder Main, thank you for coming, and I hope you have a blast watching this show!

- Alvaro

MUSICAL NUMBERS


ACT 1


“Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled” — Percy and Company


“Strong” — Sally and Percy


“The Minotaur/The Weirdest Dream” — Percy and Company


“Another Terrible Day” — Mr. D


“Their Sign” — Chiron, Percy, and Luke


“Put You In Your Place” — Clarisse, Annabeth, Percy, and Company


“The Campfire Song” — Luke, Annabeth, Katie, Grover, Chiron, Silena, Percy, and Company


“The Oracle” — Oracle and Company


“Good Kid” — Percy and Company


“Killer Quest!” — Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Company



ACT 2


“Lost!” — Percy, Annabeth, and Grover


“My Grand Plan” — Annabeth


“Drive” — Grover, Percy, Annabeth, Ares, and Company


“The Weirdest Dream” (Reprise) — Percy


“The Tree on the Hill” — Grover and Company


“D.O.A.” — Charon and Company


“Son of Poseidon” — Percy, Sally, Annabeth, Grover, Ares, and Company


“The Last Day of Summer” — Percy, Luke, and Company


“Bring on the Monsters” — Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Company

CAST BIOS

Phin Samdperil (Percy) 

Phin Samdperil (he/him) is a 3rd year Theater Major and is excited to be participating in an extracurricular! In his spare time, Phin enjoys doing his schoolwork. Some of his favorite past credits include: Student (Introductory Astronomy), Student (Innovation in the Early Modern World), and Student (Introduction to Audio Technology). He hopes you enjoy the show, assuming of course that you have made a responsible decision when you chose to come here and that you do not have any overdue work. Otherwise, he advises you to leave the theater and get your overdue work done. He would like to thank Alvaro, Sarah, Stephanie, and Kiley, for being exemplary role models by having good time management skills and staying on top of their studies.

Eva Fraser (Annabeth)

Eva Fraser (she/her) is a first year prospective English major from Columbus, Ohio. This is her first production at Oberlin! She has been reading the Percy Jackson books since infancy and is so excited to play the character she based her entire personality off of in fourth grade. She would like to thank her mom for always supporting her, and her friends for putting up with her silly little antics.

Quinn Miller (Grover) 

Quinn Miller (he/they) is a first year from Indianapolis, IN hoping to double major in sociology and theater. This is his second production at Oberlin, but he has performed for basically his whole life! "Percy Jackson" was his entire life in middle school, so being a part of this production is literally a dream. He has hooves in real life, so this role is perfect for him! Follow @natethehoof guy on TikTok for more info. 

Ashlyn Tsui (Sally, Medusa, Others) 

Ashlyn (she/her) is super excited for you to watch the silly show that is the Lightning Thief! She has performed as a soloist in various venues such as The Herbst Theater, The Great American Music Hall, The Marines’ Memorial Theater, and more. In high school, she was a leader in several vocal ensembles, led teams to semi finals for an International Championship of High School Acapella competition, and was invited to sing the national anthem for the SF Giants for Chinese heritage night. She also arranges music and volunteers her time to rejuvenate the music programs in local schools. Ashlyn hopes you enjoy the show.

Andrew Wainwright (Mr. D, Hades, and others)

Andrew Wainwright (he/him) would like to assure you that he is not as mean as his Lightning Thief roles in real life. Unfortunately, he is also not DJ Cerberus in real life. He's just a fourth year physics major and math/music double minor, who's been a big fan of Percy Jackson since elementary school! Last year he was in OMTA's The World is Only Magic, and The Lightning Thief will be his second and final production at Oberlin. What's he doing once he graduates? Only the Fates can say. Oh, and he would like to thank all of his friends!!!

Evan Hamilton (Chiron)

Evan Hamilton (he/him) is a second-year from beautiful Oregon City, Oregon (a suburb of Portland), majoring in creative writing and biology with a minor in Spanish. You might have seen him previously perform through OMTA as the bird seller in Sweeney Todd or as Mr. Tinsworthy in 9 to 5, and around campus he sings in the Oberlin College Choir and serves as a peer advising leader, tour guide, and admissions blogger. He’s been performing in theatre since he was five years old and can’t wait for you to witness this new installment in his career on the stage. He’s additionally ecstatic since this performance will allow him to depict one of his favorite childhood fantasy series. He would like to give special thanks to the cast, production team, and crew of this show for creating an awesome community, and to his family back home for always being loving and supportive.

After the performance he hopes any half bloods in the audience who see themselves in this story will know that they’re welcome at camp where they will have the full protection of the gods!

Erika Scharf (Clarisse and others) 

Erika Scharf is a third year English and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies major with a French minor from Niles, Ohio. She has previously been in productions such as Rent, Peter Pan, Annie, Cinderella, and was the Assistant Director for OMTA’s production of 9 to 5. She has loved being in The Lightning Thief and wants to thank the cast and crew for making it so fun. She also wants to thank her mom for always supporting her and having her back. She hopes you enjoy the show, NEWBIE!!!!!

Julia Argilan (Charon, Katie, and others) 

Julia Argilan (she/they) definitely knows what she's doing. They're a prospective creative writing major from Annapolis, MD who recently performed in OMTA's Ubu Roi! She also recently started reading the Percy Jackson series for the first time! If she was a half-blood, her godly parent would be Iris, the goddess of rainbows.

Nathan Greeley (Luke, Poseidon, and others)

Nathan Greeley (he/him) is a prospective Studio Art/Musical Studies major and hopes the show makes you undulate and writhe even!!! Nathan grew up in Chicago in the 2000's (although not BCE). He previously performed in OMTA's production of 13! and was Shakespeare in Something Rotten in high school. He would like to give a special thanks to Gabriel Semrau showing him the "whey" to these huuuuge muscles.

Abby Ehrenstein (Ares, Minotaur, and others)

Abby Ehrenstein is ecstatic to be in her first musical at Oberlin. She is hopefully a psych major by the time you read this. She has previously played Sally in The Lightning Thief (Wildwood Summer Theater). This go round she is fulfilling her dreams of playing a chaotic evil himbo and looking like a badass in fights. Her godly parent is Apollo and she would happily spend all her money at the Hoover dam. Much love to the cast and crew. She demands you enjoy the show, loser.

Tali Goelman (Nancy, Nico, Dance Ensemble)

Tali Goelman (she/her) is excited to be a part of her first production at Oberlin! She is a first-year student majoring in psychology and musical studies. Tali comes from a family of Percy Jackson fans but did not grow up reading the books herself, so she is happy to finally understand her cousins’ references. She would like to thank everybody who helped make this show happen, as well as her family for supporting her along the way. Enjoy the show!

Marney Harris (Thalia, Squirrel, Dance Ensemble) 

Marney Harris (she/her) is a fourth-year Creative Writing major, a Linguistics and Anthropology minor, and a lifelong Percy Jackson fan. She was in OMTA’s Theory of Relativity in Spring 2022, and she worked on Ubu Roi this past Winter Term. She falls dramatically on the ground 3 separate times throughout the show; count 'em! She’s so happy that she got to spend her last semester having so much fun in this show with so many great people.

Belle Dascanio (Dance Ensemble) 

Belle Dascanio (she/her) is a second year English major and is the shortest person in the cast at a mere 4 foot 11. This is her second show with OMTA, previously being a part of 9 to 5. She is so excited to be a part of a show with such an amazing cast and crew!

ARTISTIC TEAM BIOS

Alvaro Barquero (Director)

Alvaro Barquero (he/him) is a second year creative writing and neuroscience major with a theater minor. He’s also a big nerd. He previously performed in OSTA’s Portal (Cave Johnson) and OMTA’s 13! The Musical (Malcolm) as well as other performances in high school, and this is his first time directing! As you might expect, he absolutely loves Percy Jackson, and he thinks his godly parent is Apollo, but Internet quizzes keep telling him it’s either Athena or Aphrodite. He would like to thank this show’s incredible cast and crew, who are also huge nerds. He would especially like to thank this production's Heroes of Olympus: Sarah for their yellow hat, Gabriel for his snakes, Kiley for her creative writing workshop comments, Stephanie for her piano, Nova for slaying, and Ansel and Sam for making sure nobody died during rehearsals. He hopes the show changes your whole view on life, or at least makes you laugh!


Gabriel Semrau (Assistant Director)

Gabriel Semrau (Assistant Director) has no idea what the heck a Percy Jackson is. He isn't a stupid dumb nerd like the rest of these losers.


Sarah Storace Nelson (Stage Manager)

Sarah! They/them! Stage manager! Sarah is a future second, third, and fourth year from Brooklyn, New York. With OMTA, they’ve done stage management for Ubu Roi, and will also probably do more things at a later date. But who’s to say? They’ve had an absolute blast working on The Lightning Thief, and would like to thank the entire cast and crew for making this a smooth and painless process (note to self: edit this later if process becomes not smooth and painless).


Kiley Flynn (Asst. Stage Manager)

Kiley Flynn (she/her) is a Creative Writing major with a minor in Theater from the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. When she isn't helping with productions, she's writing stories she dreams of seeing adapted into productions one day (her proudest playwriting achievement is a play about Home Depot). She hopes you love the show as much as she does!


Stephanie Bloch (Music Director)

Stephanie Bloch (she/her) is an 19 year old percussionist coming from a Latin family who moved from Venezuela to Florida, in search of better opportunities. She is a first-year at Oberlin Conservatory under the study of Ross Karre and graduated from Interlochen Center for Arts under Keith Aleo’s teaching. She’s performed with the NY Phil, New World School of the Arts, NYU Sandbox Percussion, Juilliard's Percussion Seminar, and Interlochen and Oberlin’s ensembles. She’s also won concerto competitions and composes as well. Her goal is to continue to share her and other's art in the form of music.


Nova Gomez (Choreographer) 

Now at the end of their life, Nova Gomez (any) realized that their true calling was choreographing The Lightning Thief. Having 1) never choreographed a show before and 2) never read Percy Jackson or seen any of the movies, Nova seemed like the perfect person for the job. IG: @novanishing ★ for gus ★


Livia Bernstein (Lighting Designer)

Livia Bernstein is a second year theater major from Brooklyn, NY who is so excited to be designing for the Lightning Thief, finally fulfilling her buried 6th grade dream. Previously she has been lighting designer for "Frankenstein", co-lighting designer for "13", and assistant lighting designer for "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" She hopes you enjoy the show!


Ari Heff (Asst. Lighting Designer)

Ari Heff (he/him) is Ari! And Heff! He has lit some OMTA shows at this school and not anywhere else and is excited to still be doing that in the future, and you may have seen his work in the hardware store under the "lightbulbs" section. Other than sitting in the Wilder Balcony and hanging lights on railings you can find him using his eyeballs to learn more about light, and using lights to learn more about his eyeballs (turns out they are not strong enough to look into the sun). He is really good at writing bios and would like to thank his dog Challah Dog for being really really cool.


Austin Young (Lighting Board Operator) 

Austin Young (he/him) is a ninth year trainspotting major from Hobbiton, The Shire, Middle Earth. He is staunchly anti-murder, has never eaten a human being (he swears), and enjoys painting himself green and throwing forks at people. This is his absolutely positively 100% his very first OMTA production (the other three don't count) and he hopes that you enjoy it!


Andrew McCracken (Set Designer)

Andrew McCracken (he/him) is a second year theater and French major who has been doing theater tech for at least six years. This is his fourth design of an OMTA show, but his scenic design debut! Besides for work with OMTA, you can see him running lights for O!Circus or Solarity, or working for Concert Sound or the Theater Department.  


Scenic Artists and Builders 

Réka Ladányi, Molly Reiser, Lorelei McCarthy, Juno Rose Thompson, Hannah Everett, Marcus Jensen


Run Crew 

Hannah Everett, Molly Reiser, India-Mae Fraser 


Charlie Sims (Sound Designer)

Charlie Sims  is a sophomore majoring in Cinema Studies and Creative Writing who also dabbles in songwriting and audio production. Originally an actor for his high school theater department in Potomac, MD, he's since moved on to various production roles for both theater and film. He continues to write and act in films at Oberlin, and recently did sound design for OMTA's production of Ubu Roi. Charlie's excited to once again be working with many of the same production members. As the director's roommate, his role in this production of The Lightening Thief was inevitable.


Ben Stankiewicz (Asst. Sound Designer)

Ben Stankiewicz (he/him) is a computer science/neuroscience major and is excited to be a part of the production. Though this is the first production he has been a part of at Oberlin, he has acted and done lights and sound in high school, back in Chicago. He is happy to be in a theater position again and hopes you enjoy the performance!


Natalie Scott (Props Designer)

Natalie Scott (she/her) is a second year Psychology major from Seattle, Washington. She's a huge Percy Jackson nerd and had so much fun working on this show. This is her second OMTA/OSTA show, and she hopes you enjoy!!


Kate Luke (Asst. Props Designer)

Kate Luke (she/her) is a 2023 Obie grad from all over the country who had majors in Film, Creative Writing, and English. She's dabbled in various theater and musical theater endeavors for the past decade or so, and is the (self-proclaimed) world's biggest Percy Jackson stan! She would like to thank her PJO pals and fellow awesome crew members!


Cal Avins (Costume Designer)


Andi Lipka (Asst. Costume Designer)

Andi Lipka is a first year student interested in sociology but who has always had a passion for theater and design. This is his first time on a costume design team, moving up from previous experience as a costumer. He loved working on this show and is very excited to continue designing with OMTA!


Marney Harris (Asst. Costume Designer)

Marney Harris (Assistant Costume Designer) is in here twice.


Ansel Mills (Fight Choreographer) 

Ansel '25  (he/him) is a Theater major from Bozeman, MT. He just recently assistant directed, acted in, and sound designed for All in Your Mind, and you may have seen him in Spelling Bee, Sweeney Todd, Grisling Hall, or maybe even The World is Only Magic. Ansel attended the British American Drama Academy last semester, and will be directing Julius Caesar next winter term. 


Sam Hechler (Intimacy Coordinator) 


Ev Ackert (Production Coordinator)

Ev Ackert (they/he) is an Art History and Archaeology major from Ohio who is writing this bio as they are making this program. He does stuff on campus! Like act in Galatea Erupted (Lab Series '24), perform and crunch numbers in Oburlesque, and care for his snails and 21 plants. Their favorite food is currently oatmeal. 


Juno Rose Thompson (Production Assistant)

Juno Rose (They/them) has successfully infiltrated the production team and is preparing to hijack the whole operation. Aside from that, they are a Studio Art major, and very happy to be involved in any capacity in their first show with OMTA/OSTA. They have previously worked in tech and production management at their middle and high school, and despite a hiatus due to COVID, they are excited to return to the (back)stage.


Chloe Howes (OMTA Treasurer)


PIT BIOS



Stephanie Bloch (Conductor) 


Yuhe Lin (Piano) 

Yuhe Lin (he/him) is a second-year musical studies major and hopes you love the show! He previously acted in two musicals in high school. He enjoys the switch in position and facing new challenges for this show.


Lucas Peters (Piano) 

Lucas Peters (he/him) is a first year dual degree student from Los Angeles, California, pursuing piano performance and math. He has been involved with theatre in some form for most of his life, from acting in local amateur productions, to accompanying his sister’s singing, to seeing professional shows whenever the opportunity arises. This will be his first time playing in a pit band, and he’s been enjoying the new experience and is looking forward to the performances!


Dora Adkins Courtney (Guitar 1) 

Dora Adkins Courtney (they/she) is a third year Music Studies major. Dora transferred to Oberlin from the New School last semester to pursue more performance opportunities. They are a songwriter, producer, vocalist, skateboarder, and visual artist under the name Hashdrowned. 


Heyu Wang (Guitar 2) 

Heyu Wang is a jazz bass and biochemistry major student and comes from China. Heyu previously played the bass in the pits in OMTA’s production of Thirteen.


Rylan Dean (Melodica) 

Rylan learned how to play the melodica for this show. Last week, she was in These Gay and Crazy People. She also choreographed All in Your Mind, which opened two weeks before that. A month prior, she was in Spring Back. Next week, she will be performing in two dance showcases. She is also currently writing and workshopping her original musical. She is very tired.


Zev Walker (Drums) 

Zev (he/him) is a jazz percussion major from Berkeley, California. He has played in a few musicals at Oberlin before (Chicago, Sweeney Todd, Spelling Bee), and is excited to be doing it again. He thinks this show is cool and is glad you're here to see it :3


Will Scheer (Bass) 


SPECIAL THANKS

Special thanks to these folks! We couldn't do it without you! 

Chiron's Wheelchair 

The wheelchair used by Chiron/Mr. Brunner in this production and throughout the Percy Jackson canon is a magical tool that conceals Chiron’s horse legs in addition to acting as a mobility aid. In Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, creators intend to explore this aspect of disability within the universe. Chiron uses a wheelchair as Mr. Brunner and a leg brace when using his horse legs. Showrunner and executive producer Dan Shotz says, “In lore, centaurs were warriors. So with our Chiron, the horse has a brace on his leg, a war injury, so that his disability isn’t just a cover. It’s something we’re going to deal with in the future of the series.” It’s speculated this references a myth in which Heracles uses an arrow to shoot Chiron in the thigh.

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