Written by: Hannah Dang
The recent release of EPIC: The Ithaca Saga (Official Concept Album) on December 24, 2024 marked the stunning conclusion of artist and composer Jorge “Jay” Rivera-Herrans’ EPIC: The Musical.
Composed of five songs, the saga covered the final arc and challenge of Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey by Homer, an ancient Greek poet. After finally returning to his home, the island of Ithaca, the old king must face 108 suitors who vie for his throne and his wife Penelope’s hand-in-marriage.
Intrigued, yet? Before we get ahead of ourselves, I believe it’s best we start from the top.
What is EPIC: The Musical?
EPIC: The Musical is a collection of official concept albums for a musical adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer, consisting of two acts and nine sagas: The Troy Saga, The Cyclops Saga, The Ocean Saga, The Circe Saga, and The Underworld Saga for Act I, and then The Thunder Saga, The Wisdom Saga, The Vengeance Saga, and lastly, The Ithaca Saga for Act II.
From being roped into the Trojan War to escaping a man-eating Cyclops, dueling a sorceress named Circe, facing Poseidon, and incurring the wrath of several other gods and monsters, the albums cover Odysseus’ 20-year-long journey back to his wife and son in Ithaca. The entirety of the musical can be streamed on YouTube and YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, and Deezer.
Love isn’t enough to encapsulate everything I feel about this musical. As someone who was practically raised by Greek mythology, this musical is everything I could’ve asked for and more. The first song I heard was “The Challenge,” the opener to The Ithaca Saga (Yes, I got into EPIC when it ended), which follows Penelope’s side of the story as she protects her husband’s throne while awaiting his return.
Anna Lea’s, the singer for Penelope, voice was both sorrowful and hopeful, a beacon amidst the chorus of suitors threatening to overpower her, in a vocal sense and in terms of the plot of the story. I was brought to the brink of tears and hooked to hear this entire musical from the beginning.
Upon listening to and breathing the entirety of this musical, I can confidently say this is a musical for anyone who loves Greek mythology, fun character interactions and dynamics, and even asks the audience to what extent would you bend your morals to return to your family. It makes a classic like The Odyssey, the original source material, far more digestible for modern audiences.
There’s no genre this musical doesn’t have. From the genius lyricism, the range in instrumentals and vocals, the emotional stakes, and one of the greatest negative character development arcs in musical history, there’s nothing to not like.
Back in 2019, Jorge “Jay” Rivera-Herrans, the main writer and producer of EPIC as well as the singer for Odysseus, began writing and producing the musical for his senior thesis in college. He stated he drew inspiration from both video games (Kingdom Hearts was one of his greatest muses) and anime.
By January 17, 2021, he released his first rendition of the song “Full Speed Ahead,” which was about Odysseus and the 600 soldiers under his command sailing back to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War, on Tiktok. After which, Rivera-Herrans began uploading more and more drafts of his songs, reaching a wider audience.
Uniquely enough, the casting was decided entirely via Tiktok auditions. Some of the cast members include the artist MICO “Miguel Veloso,” who plays Odysseus’s son Telemachus, the voice actor and singer Brandon McKinnis, who plays Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, Steven Rodriguez, who plays Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and even Rivera-Herrans’ parents feature as Odysseus’s mother and as Hephaestus, the Greek god of the forge.
The first two sagas were released under Blair Russell Productions (BRP) Records LLC in collaboration with Blair Russell, one of the original producers of EPIC. Their contract was short-lived as in 2023, Rivera-Herrans was forced to enter a legal battle with Russell over copyright and ownership rights.
Russell claimed his company owned full copyright of the first two sagas, filing a lawsuit against Rivera-Herrans but the case was terminated. In response, Rivera-Herrans founded his own company, Winion Entertainment LLC, to reclaim his artistic and ownership license over EPIC.
In a brand-new studio booth built by his parents, Rivera-Herrans and the rest of the cast members were able to remake the instrumentation and re-record their lines for The Troy Saga and The Cyclops Saga from scratch. There’s talks of Rivera-Herrans planning to adapt the albums into a fully fleshed out staged production, a film, and even video games, but we’ll have to wait and see what he’s cooking up. A musical adaptation for The Iliad by Homer, the prequel to The Odyssey, is also on the horizon, but until then, EPIC: The Musical will be playing on repeat for me.
Interested in learning more? Follow Jorge “Jay” Rivera-Herrans @jayherrans on Instagram, @jorgeherrans on TikTok, or at @JayHerrans under Jorge Rivera-Herrans on YouTube to watch the behind-the-scenes and other fun tidbits.