Winter Musical, The Lightning Thief, Brings Greek Gods to Avon

After months of memorizing lines, practicing choreography, building sets, and perfecting their singing, students from Avon Old Farms and Miss Porter’s successfully transformed the Adams Theater into “Camp Half-Blood” for two nights with a performance of The Lightning Thief, a musical based on the Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series.

The show began with several cast members setting the scene, transporting the audience into a world filled with Greek gods and mythic monsters. The story then followed son of Poseidon Percy Jackson, portrayed by Porter’s student Hannah Satran, and his friends as they went on a quest to find and return Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt. To succeed on his quest, Percy had to travel to the Underworld and back, all while coming to terms with his new powers and the father who abandoned him. 

For senior Ethan Renvyle ’25, the thrilling and familiar story partially compelled him to act for the first time after serving as part of the tech crew for multiple shows in the past. “I like Percy Jackson. I read all the books when I was younger, and so I said ‘why not act?’ It’s my last year at Avon and I want to make the most of it,” Ethan shared. 

While Ethan was already stepping out of his comfort zone, it was taken a step further when just two days before opening night he was asked to fill in for the character of Medusa, in addition to his roles as Gabe and the Oracle. However, overcoming that additional challenge made it even more rewarding. “I did something new for the first time, and people said I did really well, so overall I feel really good about it.” 

This may be just the beginning for Ethan’s acting career. He says he is open to taking on a role in the upcoming One Act Festival held annually at Miss Porter’s School in the spring. 

Jordan Lee ’26 also made his acting debut for this show, portraying Hades, God of the Underworld. He also performed the role of the Minotaur, perhaps the most monstrous of the obstacles Percy had to overcome. “I had enough friends that are seniors here and at Porter’s, and they’ve been trying to get me to do a show, so I finally said yes.” 

He says it may not be the last time he acts, whether that’s the upcoming One Act Festival or in next fall’s production. “It went well,” Jordan said. “It was a fun few months. I had a fun role to play. Depending on the show, I’d do it again, for sure.”

While this show marked several Old Farms Theater Company debuts, it also marked one of the last performances for senior Joon Lee ’25, a champion of the school’s theater program who has been acting since his freshman year. His involvement with the theater program in all areas from acting to playwriting to directing made him a fascinating featured artist profile in the fall 2024 edition of the school magazine, The Avonian.

In The Lightning Thief, Joon played the role of Mr. Brunner, a teacher at Percy Jackson’s school who turns out to be Chiron, an immortal centaur who is a director at Camp Half-Blood and a mentor to Percy. After the final curtain close, Joon reflected on how this show compared to some of the others he’s been involved in. “I think it went really great. We had fun and there weren’t many slip ups. This show had a little bit more work put in overall by the whole cast and crew, but everyone did a great job.”

He says it was an enjoyable, although emotional, final performance in front of an Avon audience. “It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling because it’s my last ever show at Avon, here in the Adams Theater,” Joon explained. “But it’s also a relief because we’ve been working on this all winter, for what feels like half a year.”

It won’t be Joon’s last ever performance, however. He, too, plans on being involved in the One Act Festival in the spring. Tryouts for that event will take place toward the end of March, with the festival likely taking place sometime in early May. 

With the well-crafted set now dismantled, and our actors at home for March break, the Adams Theater has returned to its normal state—with no danger of monsters, minotaur, or flying swords.

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