MOSES LAKE — The curtain rises Friday on the tale of a teenager who discovers his life is way more complicated than he knew comes to the Moses Lake High School theater Friday. “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” runs for two weekends.  

Director and drama club advisor Sharon Winningham said the 2023-24 season focused on classic literature and serious subjects, and she wanted to go with something a little lighter this season.

“The last musical we did — also was based on literature, but it was definitely a different type, more serious. And last season we ended with a very serious show. So I was looking for something upbeat and something that would work for kids. And a lot of high schools had done this one, so we gave it a try,” she said.  

Percy Jackson (Kaleb Stanberry in the MLHS version) is just a guy trying to get by, dealing with all the baggage that comes with school, and struggling with learning disabilities. He has his mom’s support; his dad is – somewhere, but definitely not around. Then one of his teachers turns into a demon and tries to kill him, he’s kicked out of school and that’s when things get scary and really weird. 

What was the creature that killed his mom? Who is the guy in the Hawiian shirt that saved him? Why does his best friend Grover (Trenton Busching) have goat legs all of a sudden? Who is Annabeth (Sophia Villalpando), the girl who everybody says is the smartest person in camp? And exactly what kind of summer camp is Camp HalfBlood?  

Stanberry said Percy learns some life lessons as he works to survive summer camp. 

“In the beginning, he’s (got) a lot of pent-up rage, definitely. He’s closed off. But I think the more he surrounds himself with people who know how he feels and just experiences what a half-blood is, I think he learns to accept how he is. And then he meets his dad, which I think makes him feel a lot better,” Stanberry said. 

This is Stanberry’s first theatrical role, he said. He got involved in the theater group through his friendship with Busching, his best friend in the play. Busching was part of the tech crew for the last MLHS production, and Stanberry tagged along.  

“Me and Trenton actually met through (MLHS) Jazz Choir, and he roped me in,” Stanberry said. “He (said), ‘You should do this next year. We’re doing a musical.’ I didn’t know what the musical was the time, and I saw it was Percy Jackson and I (said), ‘Oh, that would be fun,’” Stanberry said.  

Busching has been part of the theater program for three years, he said, both behind the scenes and on stage. Acting, he said, is a matter of learning how to be somebody else. 

“Actors have (what) we call our switch,” he said. “It’s the thing we do before we get into character. We have to get energized and we have to really jump into the person we’ve trained ourselves to act like. So, acting is all changing your personality to be someone else – you're acting all day, just as yourself. All we do is study someone in fiction and then we do just what they do. We step into their spot and perform.” 

It’s also the first theatrical experience ever for Villalpando.  

“I was in Winningham’s Drama 1 class, and I saw the posters and everything, and I (said), ‘I’m going to do that because I like to sing,’” she said.  

She’s a Percy Jackson fan, she said. 

“I read the series as a kid, and I really liked it, I read it multiple times,” she said.

It’s on a supernatural level, but like Percy she has parent problems, in her case her mom. 

“She’s really just a smart girl who is kind of stuck at camp. She’s been waiting for her chance to show her potential, show all the skills that she has,” Villalpando said. 

Winningham said it’s the biggest MLHS production since 2019, and it’s been fun to direct. 

“it’s been a real challenge musically for us,” she said. “But we have the talent that can really handle it.”  

Show times 

Nov. 15-16 – 7 p.m. 

Matinee, Nov. 16 – 2 p.m. 

Nov. 18-19 – 7 p.m. 

    Percy Jackson (Kaleb Stanberry), left, gets an explanation of sorts for some of the weird stuff that’s been happening form Annabeth (Sophia Villalpando), right, in the Moses Lake High School production of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” opening Friday.
  

    Campers at Camp HalfBlood gear up for battle in the Moses Lake High School production of “The Lightning Thief.”
  

    Annabeth (Sophia Villalpando) leads the campers in a song.