For avid fans of Greek mythology, “Epic: the Musical” is truly an epic production — or at least the beginning of one. It follows the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, on his long journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War — in other words, the same story Homer told in “The Odyssey.”
Wanting nothing more than to be reunited with his wife Penelope and infant son Telemachus, Odysseus expects the journey to be a breeze — until a series of events leads to him facing the brunt of sea god Poseidon’s wrath. Opening with Odysseus’s internal moral conflict in killing an enemy baby, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, creator of “Epic: the Musical,” brings us to the beginning of the Troy Saga, “The Horse and the Infant.”
Though this isn’t a Broadway or an in-person production yet; instead, it is more of a “concept musical,” for which the songs are released on online streaming platforms.
Rivera-Herrans began working on “Epic the Musical” in 2019 as a passion project in his college dorm room.
As a pre-med student at the University of Notre Dame, he found himself stuck between choosing the parental influences that wanted him to be a doctor and his passion for musical theater. Ultimately, he decided to follow his dreams and began writing what would become a truly awe-inspiring musical.
When the pandemic hit, Rivera-Herrans could not hold live auditions due to quarantine restrictions. Instead, he decided to hold auditions on TikTok to discover local talents and bring his characters to life. From posting snippets of the songs and allowing anyone on the internet to audition, Rivera-Herrans exposed his music to the world. They gathered a large fanbase eagerly awaiting updates on the evolving project.
After the concept albums for the first two sagas gained popularity, Rivera-Herrans began to release the official sagas. The entire musical will consist of nine sagas, with only one more that is set to come out in around a month: the “Ithaca Saga,” where Odysseus finally returns home, reclaims his throne and reunites with the loved ones he missed so dearly. The saga has been confirmed to be released on Christmas day.
Something unique about the musical is that each character has their own instrumental motif. For example, Odysseus is characterized by the guitar, ranging from electric to acoustic, depending on the mood. When a lesson learned from a previous number rings in a character’s mind, the same musical phrase is repeated. Penelope’s motif, played on the viola, plays under certain songs when Odysseus finds himself thinking back to his main goal — to return to Ithaca.
The musical’s dramatic and intense storytelling sparked the hearts of many fans, who frequently create animatics and fan art for the songs. WolfytheWitch and Gigi are just two of the many amazing artists inspired by the musical. Singers of all skill levels also create covers of the songs to experiment with the many voices and ranges in the musicals.
Rivera-Herrans’ full-hearted interactions with the fanbase through YouTube shorts and the Discord server bring the community much closer together.
It’s safe to say that the Epic hype won’t die off anytime soon. While we wait for the “Ithaca Saga,” we’ll enjoy the many more animatics to come. We can’t wait — but we also don’t want it to end.
