The Epic: The Musical Fandom

If fans of Greek mythology and musicals have ever wanted a combination between the two, look no further to Epic: The Musical. Epic: The Musical, created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, is a concept musical based on the story of Homer's The Odyssey. The fandom largely contributed to the success for this project with their wide artistic talents, creative minds, and passionate voices.

The Artistic Side of the Fandom

Art comes in many forms within this fandom, but is mainly dominated and popularized by its animatics and animations. People new to these types of fandoms often confuse these terms together and like to use them interchangeably when they’re actually both distinct. To make it simple, animatics are like a rough draft to an animation, with the animation being the final draft. The animatics and animations made by fans help portray what's going on in each song, since there is no official live production for this musical. These animatics mainly started out as commissions from the creator of Epic: The Musical. He would commission individual artists that were already fans of his work to make short animatics to promote a new and upcoming song or saga that was in the works (1).

Animatic for the song "Mutiny" by Gigi (1)

These short promos would lead to the rise and popularity of certain artists like AnniFlamma and Gigi within the fandom. The way these popular artists designed the characters then led to a canonization of what these characters would look like. This canonization of character designs then led to an upbringing in smaller creators and artists making their own interpretations on how a song would play out in an animated way. It's easy to find several playlists on Youtube with the entirety of Epic: The Musical with animatics and animations for each song made by the collaboration of multiple fans (2). 

                      Animatic video for the song "God Games" by Stella Luna, et al. (2)

The Fall and Rise of Merchandise

Poster of Odysseus by Luiza Xavier Mazzei (4)

Merchandise for Epic: The Musical was something very sought out by the fandom for a long time. When the first big drop of merchandise officially happened early this year, fans at the very least were not pleased. The outcry by fans was caused by the huge price tags on the bundles of merchandise for what they considered to be minimal effort in the designs, especially on the shirts. Because of the fandom's reaction, the creator of Epic: The Musical took the criticism to heart and made the next wave of merchandise to appease more fans (3). The prices had decreased tremendously from the last wave merchandise and the new designs for apparels and accessories were made by actual artists from the fandom. Luiza Xavier Mazzei became one of the artist's featured for this as she had already established herself within the fandom for some short animatics she made for Epic: The Musical (4). It's clear that the fandom isn't afraid to voice their opinions on things they dislike, and when they do, they can end up positively impacting it, even the creator himself.

The One Who Calls Himself Hermes

Hermes cosplay by Troy Doherty (7)

Among all of the talented voices that worked on Epic: The Musical, one has solidified himself into the fandom, that being TROY. Troy Doherty is the voice actor for the character Hermes, a god who aids Odysseus in his trip trying to get back to his home. Troy managed to audition for his role through the use of Tik Tok and the fans immediately took to liking him through his spectacular voice (5). He fell in love with his role as Hermes so much that a lot of his videos started to revolve around him role playing him in character. He even puts on a whole fancy costume with giant circular glasses and a large fur coat alongside the iconic accent he adds to his voice. His skits often involve him interacting with another voice actor from Epic: The Musical as they traverse through day to day life while acting in character (6). His popularity within the fandom grew so large that he decided to make his own Greek mythology inspired music through his album ZODIAC. The fandom would not be as beloved if it wasn't for Troy's passion and effort he adds to it. 

The Abundance of Reaction Videos by Fans

Cosplay of Odysseus by Danny Motta (7)

One of the most popular ways that fans communicate their feelings about certain songs and animatics to those songs comes in the form of reaction videos. Reaction videos allow the fandom to form critiques and praises for certain songs with live commentary through certain online platforms like YouTube and Tik Tok. What helps more with this engagement among fans is the comment section to these videos, where it can provide them a place for further discussion about the song and even the video itself. While many fans have created a whole series of reaction videos for the entirety of Epic: The Musical, the most popular and recognizable series by far comes from Danny Motta. Danny had already been a well established channel when reacting to videos, but he really took off when he started reacting to Epic: The Musical. Fans immediately fell in love with his content as he provided good perspectives and commentaries throughout all of the songs and animatics covered. In addition, Danny throws in lots of jokes and skits throughout his videos, even getting a feature from Troy Doherty, which the fans love to eat up (7). The animatics that became featured in his reaction videos helped fans discover new artists within the fandom, which then boosted their popularity. Danny's reaction series grew to such fame that in his final reaction video, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the man who created Epic: The Musical, made a cameo for a joke (8). The multitude of reaction videos made help the fandom have discussions and debates with one another and reach a farther and wider audience.

The Effort Dedicated Towards Fan Productions

Cast for the Epic: The Musical Fan Production by Mir Paredes (9)  

Since Epic: The Musical is a concept musical, it doesn't have any official live production. However, that didn't stop fans from creating their own fan made productions. Tons of fans took it upon themselves to try to accurately depict what Epic: The Musical could actually like in a live setting. They include all of the works like their own singing, stage props, costumes, and so much more (9). A ton of effort goes into bringing this musical to life without having anything physical to build off of other than the songs themself. These fan productions don't just stop at being in person as they're a whole other set of fan productions done purely online. These online productions are used through the platform known as Roblox, a game where players have the ability to design their own games. Players having the ability to design their own game allowed fans of Epic: The Musical to design their own theater and stage production. Everything that's typically seen in a live production is diligently replicated within a digital landscape (10). The use of Roblox enables fans, who have the limitations that come with doing an actual live performance, to do it online with the same amount of effort put in mostly for free. The dedication of the fans to bring this musical to life is truly a hidden gem within the fandom.

        Video of the Epic: The Musical fanmade production on Roblox by TheRealSY (10)

Works Cited

(1) Rivera-Herrans, Jorge. “Thank you Gigi for this incredible animatic for Mutiny, ft. Armando Julián as Eurylochus!!” Youtube, 17 July 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxzTz90WEZM. Accessed 1 December 2025.

(2) Stella Luna. “God Games | EPIC: The Musical Animatic (MAP).” YouTube, 5 November 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVo5qvbaTQo. Accessed 1 December 2025.

(3) Rivera-Herrans, Jorge. “Thank you all for your support and feedback on the EPIC Merch!” Tik Tok, 16 September 2025, https://www.tiktok.com/@jorgeherrans/video/7550809377427574046?_r=1&_t=ZP-91u7QDDsXXT. Accessed 2 December 2025.

(4) Mazzei, Luiza Xavier. “King Odysseus Poster.” Epic: The Musical, 5 November 2025, https://epicthemusical.com/products/king-odysseus-poster. Accessed 3 December 2025.

(5) Doherty, Troy. “Troy Doherty as Hermes: Epic The Musical Audition Insights.” TikTok, 28 January 2024, https://www.tiktok.com/@troydoherty/video/7329192960602459438. Accessed 3 December 2025.

(6) Doherty, Troy. “HERMES & APOLLO.” TikTok, 1 November 2025, https://www.tiktok.com/@troydoherty/video/7567815563674766622. Accessed 3 December 2025.

(7) Motta, Danny. “The Vengeance Saga is PEAK (Feat. Troy Doherty).” YouTube, 26 April 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHFUY6kAIiM&t=1135s. Accessed 4 December 2025.

(8) Motta, Danny. “THAT'S How Epic ENDS?! (Feat. Anna Lea and...uh...well...).” YouTube, 17 May 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhgh_ZBIimA. Accessed 4 December 2025.

(9) Paredes, Mir. “EPIC: The Musical Fan Production.” YouTube, 23 October 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqPgBwogG9Q. Accessed 4 December 2025.

(10) TheRealSY. “EPIC: The Musical (Euterpe's Theatre: Run 13).” YouTube, 5 August 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3tePSzrfcg. Accessed 5 December 2025.