Did you read The Odyssey freshman year? Or maybe you saw Footloose on campus last spring? Recently, there’s been a new project on TikTok that combines the play and a musical in a fresh and exciting way. 

EPIC: The Musical is a loose adaptation of The Odyssey into a musical format, created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans. Its forty songs are being released in sagas—collections of songs that make up a certain part of the story. So far, seven of the nine sagas have been released, meaning that thirty out of the forty songs are currently available for listening. 

The story of EPIC follows Odysseus, a Greek soldier who is trying to bring his men home to their island, Ithaca, after fighting for ten years in the Trojan War. Along the journey, he faces challenges such as giant storms, tensions among his crew, monsters of all kinds, and mysterious and powerful gods, both helpful and harmful. But the greatest challenge Odysseus faces is the choice between kindness—greeting the world with “open arms”—and ruthlessness, which may be the only way to protect him and his crew from the dangers they encounter along the way. 

A unique feature of EPIC is how its creators inspire connection and participation from its audience and fans. For casting in the concept album, Rivera-Herrans allowed anyone to audition by submitting a video of themselves singing a portion of the audition clip. This practice offered many passionate fans the opportunity to get involved in the project and share their work as lesser-known artists. Another way fans can participate is by making art and animations for livestreams when new songs from EPIC are being released. The musical has a thriving online community featuring several artists, writers, and animators who are supporters of the musical and make related content. 

There are also unusual influences for the different songs in EPIC. Rivera-Herrans has explained that much of the story is inspired by video game mechanics. For instance, in the song “God Games,” Athena has to convince the other gods to help Odysseus. The various stages of her conversations are based on fighting mini-bosses in a video game. Many of the other songs are also reminiscent of video game soundtracks. 

Overall, EPIC is a wonderful story and worth checking out. It’s funny, thoughtful, full of bangers, and generally, epic!