By Ian Wesselhoff 

A s a first-year student at Georgia College & State University, theatre major Wesley Baumann is playing the lead in “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” opening March 5 – and in his Intro to Design class, he built the set that he will be performing on. 

Baumann, who is also a member of Georgia College’s audition-only Max Noah Singers choral group, got involved on campus as soon as he could. 

“Basically the first day I got to Georgia College, I went to a workshop for ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ and have just been throwing myself at every single opportunity in the theatre that I have been able to go to since then,” Baumann said. 

Baumann did not think that the opportunity for a lead role would come so early in his college career but says he has been treated like an equal in the Department of Theatre & Dance from day one. 

“I had been told by so many friends who are in college for theatre that you will never get afforded an opportunity and you have to be in this cutthroat environment to be able to make it,” Baumann said. “But GCSU really tries to make it as welcoming and accepting as it possibly could be. I went in so scared and nervous in my first audition, and now I feel like it is a place to both succeed and fail safely, and I’d say that’s an experience that you can’t really get many other places.” 

Despite his lack of prior experience on the technical side of theatre, the Intro to Design class thrust Baumann into an environment where he had to work with his hands in the Scene Shop – something theatre students pursuing performance typically do not find elsewhere. 

“It is rare. Usually, you don’t get to be involved in every aspect of theatre. That is what’s so special about having a B.A. program like we do here for theatre,” Baumann said. 

Patrick Hamilton is the technical director of GCSU’s theatre department and is Baumann’s instructor in the Scene Shop. Hamilton says that theatre students at Georgia College get a taste of everything that goes into a production. 

“I have tons of students who are performing. They’re also working within the lighting class to help light the scenery there. They’re also working on the costume side,” Hamilton said. “When we’re looking at liberal arts, and when we’re looking at building lifelong learners and things of that nature, I think that looking within a space like the theatre department is a perfect example of what that looks like on a larger scale.” 

Becoming Percy 

Baumann’s relationship with the “Percy Jackson” series started long before he was cast in the musical. As an avid reader of the books as a kid, he saw himself in the characters in a way that sparked a discovery. 

“I kind of found out that I had ADHD and figured out what that meant through the Percy Jackson books,” Baumann said. “I did a bunch of research and I was like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. That’s me. That’s what I got.’ Reading those books in elementary and middle school was just such a pivotal part of my childhood … I remember when they were releasing ‘The Trials of Apollo’ series, I was, like, first in line at the Barnes & Noble the night of the release to get my hands on that first copy.” 

His passion for the books meant he just wanted a part – any part – in the play, so being cast as Percy Jackson himself was special. 

“To get to be this character that inspired me in my childhood, and to get that opportunity to tell that story on a stage with some of my best friends – it’s one of the coolest things that I could ever ask for,” Baumann said.

Header Images: Dress rehearsals for “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” with first-year student Wesley Baumann in the role of Percy Jackson. (Photos by Caroline Wood)