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EPIC: The Musical

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Fandom
Name: Epic: The Musical
Abbreviation(s): EPIC
Creator: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Date(s): 2022-12-22 – 2024-12-25
Medium: Musical Theater
Country of Origin: United States, Puerto Rico
External Links: Epic: The Musical's Official Website, Jorge Rivera-Herrans' YouTube Channel, Jorge Rivera-Herrans' TikTok Account
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EPIC: The Musical, sometimes referred simply as EPIC, is a series of musical concept albums that retell an adaptation of the story of Η Ὀδύσσεια [The Odyssey], chronicling the struggles of the legendary king Ὀδυσσέας Ιθάκης [Odysseus of Ithaca], from Ancient Greek mythology, on his journey to return home after the end of the Trojan War.

The albums were written by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, who also played the part of Odysseus. The first album, The Troy Saga was released in December 2022, with a total of 9 albums released between 2022 and the final album's release in December 2024.

Due to the activity of Rivera-Herrans and other members of the EPIC cast, the series is particularly popular on TikTok.

Canon

Music

The songs of the musical are divided into nine albums, referred to as Sagas, that are grouped up into two acts. The first act contains the first five Sagas, while the second contains the remaining four. Each saga covers a specific period of Odysseus’s journey.

The finished musical has a total of forty songs and its finished version was released on December 25, 2024:

  • The Troy Saga was released in December 2022 and contains 5 songs (The Horse and the Infant, Just a Man, Full Speed Ahead, Open Arms, and Warrior of the Mind).
  • The Cyclops Saga was released in January 2023 and contains 4 songs (Polyphemus, Survive, Remember Them, and My Goodbye).
  • The Ocean Saga was released in December 2023 and contains 4 songs (Storm, Luck Runs Out, Keep Your Friends Close, and Ruthlessness).
  • The Circe Saga was released in February 2024 and contains 4 songs (Puppeteer, Wouldn't You Like, Done For, and There Are Other Ways).
  • The Underworld Saga was released in April 2024 and contains 3 songs (The Underworld, No Longer You, and Monster).
  • The Thunder Saga contains 5 songs (Suffering, Different Beast, Scylla, Mutiny, and Thunder Bringer), and was released in July 2024, alongside remastered versions of the Troy and Cyclops sagas.
  • The Wisdom Saga was released in August 2024 and contains 5 songs (Legendary, Little Wolf, We'll Be Fine, Love in Paradise, and God Games).
  • The Vengeance Saga was released in October 2024 and contains 5 songs (Not Sorry for Loving You, Dangerous, Charybdis, Get in the Water, and Six Hundred Strike).
  • The Ithaca Saga was released in December 2024 and contains 5 songs (The Challenge, Hold Them Down, Odysseus, I Can't Help But Wonder, and Would You Fall in Love with Me Again).

Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the musical’s creator, and the musical’s ensemble regularly shared in-progress clips of upcoming songs on TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms prior to the official release of their finished versions.

Characters

The characters with singing roles in EPIC: The Musical include:

  • Odysseus, the king of Ithaca,
  • Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and the queen of Ithaca,
  • Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, and the prince of Ithaca, who seems to have been excluded from the line of succession to the throne of Ithaca in favour of conceding the title to the whichever suitor ends up becoming Penelope’s second husband,
  • Anticlea, Odysseus’ mother,
  • Polites and Eurylochus, Odysseus’ best friend and second in command, respectively,
  • Elpenor and Perimedes, named members of Odysseus’ crew,
  • Polyphemus, a cyclops,
  • Circe, a sorceress,
  • Tiresias, a prophet,
  • Penelope the Siren, a siren that takes the name of Penelope,
  • Scylla, a marine monster,
  • Antinous, Amphinomus, Eurymachus, and Melanthius, the named suitors of Penelope,
  • The 10 Unnamed Suitors of Penelope, each with a couple of individual lines but without a proper name,
  • Calypso, a nymph exiled to Ὠγυγίη [Ogygia],
  • The Princess Winnion, the only Winnion credited individually,
  • Aeolus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon, and Zeus, all of them Greek Gods.
  • The Ensemble, the musical’s choir, which during some songs takes on the specific roles of The Crew, The Cyclops, The Winnions, The Laestrygonians, The Sirens and The Suitors.

Cut Songs

Due to the public showcase of the creative process during the writing and recording of the soundtrack for the musical, snippets of several songs that were cut from the final version of EPIC: The Musical were published in social media before the decision to cut them was taken. Many of these snippets have been taken by the fandom of EPIC with the same enthusiasm shown for the canonically released songs from the final version, often inspiring the creation of fanworks and treated as pseudocanon for the story retold in EPIC.

Some characters who originally had singing roles planned for the musical, but lost them due to the songs they appeared in getting cut, include: Μενέλαος [Menelaus], Ἑλένη του Άργους [Helen of Argos], Μάρων [Maron] (a priest of Ἀπόλλων [Apollo] at the city of Ἴσμαρος [Ismarus]), the god ᾍδης [Hades] and the goddess Ἔρις [Eris]. The characters of Elpenor and Perimedes no longer have full songs focused on their perspectives in the final version of the musical, but they both still have minor roles in other songs as part of Odysseus crew.

Songs cut from the final version of EPIC: The Musical include: Mercy Has a Price, Ismarus, Your Light, Man of the House (Eurylochus' version), Unhand Him, Comfort Zone, Cope with That, Pick Me, Be Mine, Man of the House, Trick, Athena vs. Aphrodite, Hades, Appetite, In Vain, The Light Inside, Olive Tree, The Lotus Eaters, and The Boy and the Boar.

Canonised Animatics

TBA

Fandom

Fans of the musical refer to themselves as "Winions" on social media.

Due to the originally audio-only nature of the canon, the fandom frequently creates visual fanart and animatics based on individual songs in order to visualize the events being narrated in each track. Some of these animatics have received attention and support from the musical's creator.

Fans have also created instrumental and cover versions of both current and to-be-released songs. Among these, there is a significant number which were published as audition videos after Rivera-Herrans announced that he was seeking new voice actors to play characters yet to be introduced to the narrative.

Tropes

Popular tropes in fanworks for EPIC: The Musical include:

Memes

Wet Hades: TBA

12 Long Years: TBA

Who!?: TBA

Interactions with Other Fandoms

TBA

Fanworks

Cosplay

Covers and Translations

Instrumental Covers:

Original-Language Vocal Covers:

Translated Vocal Covers:

Video-Auditions:

Meta

Parodies

Subtitles

Videos

Animatics and Animations for Cut Songs:

Animatics for Parody Songs:

Animation Memes:

Animation of the Cast Out of Character:

Live-Action Reenactments:

Narrative Animatics and Animations:

Stage Animations:

Stop-Motion and Minecraft Animations:

Visual Fanart

Written Fanfiction

Multifandom Fanworks

Crossovers in Written Fanfiction

Videos

Animatics and Animations of EPIC: The Musical Set to Songs from Other Fandoms:

Animatics and Animations of Other Fandoms Set to Songs from EPIC: The Musical:

Crossover Animatics and Animations:

External Links

References

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