The Lord of the Rings Musical

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This is childsplay compared to my webtrawling before Fellowship came out!

[JewelSong]

Well, here's some news!

About a week ago, I spoke to a reporter from Canada. This guy had made a post on TORC seeking people who were traveling from a distance to see the premeire of the LOTR musical. I emailed him and he contacted me by phone - we spoke for about 20 minutes. I also told him about my friend Connie, who would be meeting me there and traveling from Baltimore. She spoke to him too. We figured he was talking to a LOT of people and perhaps would be mentioned obliquely.

Well...looky here! http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/rings.html

(I'm Julie, in case you were wondering...and Connie is...well, Connie!)

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That's brilliant Jewel! You shouls post the whole article here. A lot of people don't follow links and that one's well worth reading.

Here's the latest from Toronto:

TORONTO (Reuters) - Hard-working hobbits, elves and wizards take the battle of good and evil to a stage in downtown Toronto on Saturday when the curtain rises on the first preview of the multimillion-dollar "Lord of the Rings" musical.


The production, drawn from J.R.R. Tolkien's popular stories, will align theater and a range of musical traditions, including work by Finnish group Varttina and Indian composer A.R. Rahman, to deliver an unprecedented retelling of Tolkien's fantasy classic, producer Kevin Wallace told Reuters.

"In terms of spectacle and visual impact, it is as big as a Vegas show and it's as beautiful as what you'd expect to see in three-dimensional art," said the 48-year-old producer, formerly an in-house producer with Andrew Lloyd Webber's London-based entertainment company The Really Useful Group.

"We've taken Tolkien and found what is appropriate in our art form of theater and applied it to the story," Wallace added.

Tolkien's trilogy tells the story of Frodo Baggins and his difficult task -- saving Middle-earth by destroying the "Ring of Power."

Previews begin on Saturday at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theater ahead of a March 23 world premiere -- a two day delay to an earlier scheduled preview date to give the team a chance to make final improvements. The show boasts a 55-strong cast, three acts and will run more than three hours.

Wallace said audiences should expect an "emotional journey" of enchanting music, fight scenes, acrobatics and dialogue in English and Elvish, a language Tolkien invented.

"It's not a singing, dancing hobbit show," he said. "The music is completely in tune, moment to moment, with the story in Tolkien. It's almost as if it's injected right into your bloodstream."

It took four years for Wallace -- now backed by producers Saul Zaentz, David and Ed Mirvish, Michael Cohl and others -- to bring Lord of the Rings to the stage. The idea initially bewildered the skeptics, even members of their own team.

Musical supervisor Christopher Nightingale told the Globe and Mail newspaper he initially thought the musical was a "really bad idea." And British director Matthew Warchus confessed he felt it would be "embarrassing, to put something that is so famous as a book and film on the stage and present it with music," according to a report in the National Post.

New Zealand director
Peter Jackson broke box-office records and won a string of
Oscars with his movie trilogy.

The stage show, which was initially budgeted for C$27 million ($24 million) but will likely cost more, has netted more than C$15 million in advance sales so far, said Wallace.

It is hoped the show will go to London next and then, if the musical proves to be a "megahit," to Broadway, said Wallace. All this will depend on the imagination of the audience, young and old.

"You have to believe in the jeopardy of the story - the power of darkness and power of the light, and the conflict of the two," said Wallace. "The underlying principle is you have to believe in the power of the ring,"

[JewelSong]

By request:

Fellowship of the Rings
Tolkien fans get ready to rumble (again)
By Alec Scott
February 2, 2006


Baltimore native Connie Anderson and Bostonian Julie Chilton have a lot in common: they’re both accomplished musicians, mothers and J. R. R. Tolkien lovers. And they’re among the thousands of diehard fans from around the world who have descended on Toronto to see early performances of The Lord of the Rings, the most expensive musical in history. (Previews begin Feb. 4, two days later than planned; the gala opening is March 23.)

Some of these “Ringers” will attend the shows dressed up as wizards, elves and orcs; many, like Anderson and Chilton, will not. Neither woman wants to make a spectacle of herself. Still, their fandom is intense. They’ve written poetry, songs and essays about life on Middle-Earth and have traveled widely to Lord of the Rings get-togethers.

“Tolkien saved my life,” says Anderson simply.

Anderson (a manager at a charity) and Chilton (a music teacher) met online at one of the over six million Tolkien websites, most of which sprung up after the release of the first Peter Jackson film, The Fellowship of the Ring, in 2000. Both women were struggling to raise an autistic child and were starved for adult company. “I kept feeling that my mind — I have a doctorate in sociology and family therapy — was fading away,” Anderson says.

Call it the world’s biggest book group. “We all met on a chat room called Frodo’s Kitchen,” says Chilton. “The ‘kitchen ladies’ — that’s what we call ourselves — still get together on-line and sometimes in person.”

The stage version of The Lord of the Rings will obviously attempt to appeal to regular theatregoers. But in order to recoup its $27 million price tag and potentially extend the show to New York and London, the musical also needs to have the cultists on side. Please the Ringers and you’ve got a group of people who’ll do your advertising for you; after all, many are motivated enough to travel long distances (and pay high ticket prices) to see the show.

Hoping to smite critics: Members of the company in rehearsal for the Lord of the Rings stage production in Toronto. (CP Photo/Frank Gunn)
Hoping to smite critics: Members of the company in rehearsal for the Lord of the Rings stage production in Toronto. (CP Photo/Frank Gunn)

Montrealer Michael Regina co-founded one of the busiest Tolkien fan sites, launching it around the time the films were being shot. At first, the message boards were flooded with young men; as time passed, women — many in their 40s — started signing on in droves. Regina estimates that over 60 percent of the total online Tolkien traffic is female.

That said, the books aren’t exactly chick-lit. They’re filled with pitched battles and feature precious few female characters. “Of course there’s the hunk factor with the film,” Anderson says. “But you can find hunks in any genre. It’s more than that.” Anderson loves the hobbit protagonist, Frodo. She recently wrote an essay entitled One Step More: The Heroism of Frodo Baggins.

“He’s not your typical adventure-story hero, with all the charisma, the swordsmanship and the women,” she says. “He gets slowly wrecked as he does what he has to do, and at the end, he doesn’t get to have a total victory. His is a total sacrifice that matches more the grinding day-to-day experience that many of us have.”

When news of the musical first broke in 2003, people on various message boards were appalled at the idea. “We pictured hobbits doing jazz dance,” says Ringer Anthony Ferretti, a University of Toronto student who bought a ticket for an early preview. “Everyone on the sites was transforming Broadway songs into mock-Lord of the Rings numbers. You know, Éowyn singing, ‘What I did for love.’”

Through a series of canny teasers and a promotional tour through the northeastern U.S., the musical’s producers — Kevin Wallace, David Mirvish, rock promoter Michael Cohl and legendary movie mogul Saul Zaentz — have tried to allay purists’ fears. They’ve released a film clip of a rehearsal that most fans have seen and approve of — despite the grandiose pronouncements made by the show’s creative team. Online ticket sales have been brisk, with more than $1 million in tickets sold on the day the show’s website launched.

Still, it costs $1 million a week to stage the show, which is why securing the Ringers’ loyalty is a must. But satisfying hardcore fans is no mean feat. They’re the sort of people who test message-board newcomers with trick questions like “Does a Balrog have wings?” (in the book, no; in the movie, yes) and “Was Stuart Townsend cast as Aragorn in the films?” (yes, but then he was replaced by Viggo Mortensen). A wrong answer can lead to a shameful designation as a NARF (not a real fan).

Peter Jackson has done his part to curry favour with the fan community, even attending Oscar parties hosted by Regina in Hollywood. “He came the first and third years,” Regina recalls. “But he had to miss the one after The Two Towers, and felt so badly that he called in and we put him on the loud speaker.” The films’ producers often send cast members to such events. (Video footage taken at one party reveals that actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, knows no shame. He licked a fan’s neck while croaking out his character’s signature line: “My precious.”)

Asked if he’s attending the musical, Regina replies, “I don’t know, no one’s been in touch yet about going.” Clearly, he’s used to being courted.

Not all of the fans are as presentable as Anderson and Chilton, though, and courting them can be a risky business. On the message boards, some fans have threatened to attend the performance and behave as if it were a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show — in other words, catcalling (“Gandalf’s not dead!”) and otherwise camping it up.

Rings fans don’t just produce essays and Elvish poetry. There’s a sub-genre of fan fiction called Slash, which re-imagines the relationship between two male characters in a popular show or movie as a sexual one. A medieval studies professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Anna Smol has studied the fan sites extensively (and will also be attending an early preview of the play). In the case of The Lord of the Rings, Smol says, the Slash usually revolves around Frodo and his servant, Sam.

“Among my favourite scenes [in the Slash pieces] are those where Frodo tries to convince Sam to stop calling him ‘Mr. Frodo’ or ‘Sir’ in the bedroom,” says Smol.

Some of the fans go in for less titillating yet somehow more bizarre fare. In Ringers: Lord of the Fans, a documentary co-produced by Regina, one Tolkiener is seen reenacting the trilogy with marshmallows in all the lead roles. Another devotee sends her Lord of the Rings action figures on a pilgrimage to the author’s grave in Oxfordshire, England.

During his lifetime, fans often harassed Tolkien at his Oxford home, prompting him to dismiss them as “my deplorable cultists.” He himself had doubts about the stage adaptation of his work.

“He once wrote that drama is naturally hostile to fantasy,” Smol says. “He thought fantasy required a kind of enchantment, and producers of a play would have to work with too many mechanisms to produce that effect.”

Connie Anderson is more optimistic. “The little bits [from the rehearsals] I’ve seen on the Internet make me hopeful. I just want them to capture the heart of it. So long as they do that, I’ll leave the theatre happy.”

The fans want to protect their master’s legacy — what they see as the story’s “heart.” Upset them with a gimmicky adaptation, one that appears to be unfaithful to the book’s core, and you’ll lose all credibility with the purists. Worse still, you’ll probably lose your $27-million shirt.

Alec Scott writes about the arts for CBC.ca.

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From Playbill.com

Some Spoilers.... including!:

Looks like the Scouring is in!

Fly, You Fools! Stage Epic Lord of the Rings Begins in Toronto

By Kenneth Jones
04 Feb 2006


J.R.R. Tolkien's Black Riders are conjured in The Lord of the Rings.
photo by Andy Whale

The stage, proscenium and walls of The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto have been taken over by the most unusual flora you may ever see growing indoors: A massive tree trunk and its twisting roots.

This earthbound yet expansive image, designed by Rob Howell, gives the world premiere theatrical epic, The Lord of the Rings its focus. Just as in the titular fantasy-novel trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, a natural world — be it forest, shire, mountain, swamp or volcano — becomes a playing area for characters who are magnetically pulled toward good and/or evil.

The $27 million (Canadian) production won't include members of the cast of 55 rushing out into the auditorium during what's expected to be 3-1/2 hours of action, but the scenic elements will spill out over the proscenium and onto the ceiling of the theatre.

"It creeps out, this root system," producer Kevin Wallace told Playbill.com in the days leading up to the Feb. 4 first preview, "over the boxes of theatre and out toward the circle and second balcony. That is the environment within which the story is told".

Lighting designer Paul Pyant is lighting it out to the extremities of that environment, as well, Wallace said.

"The focus of the story is in this fabulous 45-foot diameter, huge tree trunk, which is the conceit of the stage design, and which has within it, the revolves and the lifts which take us from one location to another," Wallace explained.

There wasn't a major tearing-out of rows of the Princess of Wales' 2,000 seats to accommodate the action, Wallace said, although Rick Fox, the conductor of the 18-musician orchestra, will lead the band from what used to be row AA.

While The Lord of the Rings, directed and co-adapted by Matthew Warchus, is billed as an epic theatrical event with spectacular visual elements, producer Wallace said there is something paramount to the visuals of the experience: the clarity of the storytelling.

"The reassuring point right now is that the story is ringing true and clear and that the arcs of the acts are beautiful," Wallace said. "We feel that we've got the arcs of the acts right…"

The "arcs" are not to be confused with the orcs — or the elves, men, dwarfs, hobbits, wizards and undead who populate the plot-heavy three parts of the Rings fantasy epic (the three parts of the novel are "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King").

The précis of the tale is this: Great evil is taking over the world (called Middle Earth) and an innocent, child-size hobbit named Frodo can eliminate the evil by destroying its talisman — an ancient, cursed ring — by tossing it into a faraway volcano. Sounds easy, no? The path, of course, is fraught with obstacles — an evil wizard, a spider, a gorge or two.

FAITHFUL TO THE BOOKS

Do the three acts of the stage version coincide with the books in the same way the three recent films followed the novels?

"They don't, strictly speaking, no," Wallace said. "The first act does culminate in the battle between the Balrog and Gandalf the Grey. And the second act finishes with Paths of the Dead."

Fans of the Tolkien epic who were disappointed with the films' excision of the chapter that includes the destruction of the shire by men will be pleased to know the furry-footed creatures Frodo, Sam, Pip and Merry do indeed lead a hobbit uprising against those who took over their world.

"We're true to the books, we do go back to the shire with Frodo and the hobbits," Wallace said. "The third act naturally culminates with Frodo's departure, [but] we deal with the fact that Sharkey has destroyed the natural beauty of the shire…and that men and Sharkey have imposed their rule on the shire. We deal with the hobbits' uprising and with them regaining control of the shire."

The character of nature lover Tom Bombadil, also axed in the recent films, is referenced (but is not seen) in the stage version.

"He gets an honorable mention in the show," Wallace said. "He has a wonderful reference from Treebeard, as Treebeard is saying farewell to the hobbits. That's the sort of touch we wanted in terms of our sensitivity to the story."

Wallace added, "There are little touches like that, I think the Tolkien fan will appreciate and they don't distract in terms of the core of the story for those people who don't understand the weight of the mention…"

Wallace said he's been "quietly confident" about the intelligence, clarity and faithfulness of Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus' adaptation since an April 2005 London workshop, attended by editors from the late Tolkien's publisher, HarperCollins U.K.

"We invited, among others, the two chief editors — Chris Smith being one of the eminent editors," Wallace said. "At the reception afterwards, he came up and said to me, 'It's a great adaptation.' We believe we're truly honoring Tolkien in the story that we're putting on the stage, and the principal themes that run through the books. To get that message from him was a very affirming one. I do feel confident the true Tolkien fans, who have come to Tolkien through the books, will respond to this piece and will see that we understand Tolkien."

Wallace said the collaborators and Laurie Battle, their Tolkien creative consultant, are "ensuring that the language as used by each character is not only appropriate to the drama and the story — and is interesting in terms of text, as used by an actor — but is also appropriate in terms of the examination by a dedicated Tolkien fan or indeed a Tolkien scholar. You really are dealing with a level of scholastic comment which is very detailed and very sophisticated."

As in the books, Wallace said, "the anchor of the emotional journey for the audience is the four hobbits."

ACTORS AND SCRIPT

The richness of the attempt at a successful stage experience is not only about the detail and arcana of the fantasy novels, but about the real, warm-blooded actors who bite into text, moment and situation.

Wallace said, "I'm thrilled by the fact that it is a unique take, an overwhelmingly inspired visual take on the book, and yet what rings true is the text and the use of language — that these wonderful actors have this language, which has the same economy classical theatre has."

Are whole pieces of dialogue lifted from the books, or do McKenna and Warchus put words in the mouths of the characters?

"There are some lines which are taken [from the books]," Wallace said. "'Fly, you fools!' — a famous line from the book, that Gandalf shouts to the fellowship. That is there. There's a wonderful phrase that Gandalf says to the hobbits: 'May the hairs on your toes never fall out' — that's from the book. But in essence, it is McKenna and Warchus' words — but always either true to Tolkien or in some places actually using Tolkien."

Wallace said that actors were encouraged to experiment and make discoveries about their characters, just as they would in any good rehearsal process for a classic (or modern) play. The reason to invite respected classical actors such as Brent Carver (who plays wizard Gandalf) or Michael Therriault (who plays poisoned Gollum) is because you know they will dive deeply into their characters.

In the cast of 55, you would be hard-pressed to find an actor who hasn't dipped into Shakespeare's pool. Carver and Therriault have played major roles at Ontario's Stratford Festival, two hours west of Toronto. Carver won a Tony Award for Kiss of the Spider Woman, the musical.

THE MUSICAL QUESTION

With a score penned by A.R. Rahman, the Finnish band Värttinä, and Christopher Nightingale (with lyrics by McKenna and Warchus), is The Lord of the Rings a musical?

"The books are absolutely full of characters who sing to express themselves," Wallace said, "but let's stick with calling it 'a theatrical event.' When the characters draw on music to express themselves, they draw on songs which are ancient to their culture or their species."

There is no big "I Want" song, as there usually is in traditional American musical theatre. But music will still pour out of the production. The writing credits, much like a musical, also include listings for "book and lyrics" (by McKenna and Warchus).

Calling the show a "musical" might be in the eye or ear of the theatregoer.

THE CAST

Frodo, the Hobbit ring-bearer, will be played by young British actor James Loye; Evan Buliung will play Aragorn, the king-in-waiting; wizard Saruman, the leader of the White Council corrupted by his lust for the Ring, will be played by Richard McMillan (Scar in the Canadian Premiere production of Disney's The Lion King); Peter Howe is Sam, Frodo's faithful friend (Howe was discovered by LOTR creative team in London after he wrote to the London production office requesting an audition; this marks his professional stage debut); Canadian Dylan Roberts is Merry and Irishman Owen Sharpe is Pippin; Gabriel Burrafato (of the recent Hal Prince-supervised Evita tour) is Legolas; Rebecca Jackson Mendoza is Galadriel, Lady of Lothlórien; Dion Johnstone is Boromir; Carly Street is Arwen; Ross Williams is Gimli, the dwarf warrior; Victor A. Young will play Elrond; Kerry Dorey is Théoden and Kristin Galer plays Rosie.

The ensemble consists of Greg Armstrong-Morris, Joel Benson, Alexandra Bonnet, Brent Buchanan, Matt Cassidy, Mike Cota, Susan Dunstan, Joe Eigo, Josh Epstein, Omar Forrest, Matthew Gagnon, Nicholas Gede-Lange, Don Gough, Graeme Guthrie, Colin Heath, Peter Huck, Chilina Kennedy, Krystal Kiran Garib, Bryce Kulak, Monique Lund, Shannon Lynch, Ayrin Mackie, Colin Maier, Patrick McManus, Tyler Murree, Philip Nero, Danny Pathan, Sean C. Robertson, Louise St. Cyr, Vincent Tong, Peter Van Gestel, Fraser Walters, Sanders Whiting and Shawn Wright.

Director Matthew Warchus previously said in production notes, "I am particularly proud of the huge diversity of skill in the company. Wonderful, experienced actors will be working alongside acrobats, stilt-walkers and outstanding singers, all pooling their talents to bring this magical story alive on the stage. Given the size of the show, this is bound to be the most grueling production process any of us has been through…"

The gala opening performance will be on March 23. By the first preview $15.5 million (Canadian) has been generated at the box office, Wallace said. He hopes to be "knocking on the door of $20 million by the opening night.

Producers Kevin Wallace and Saul Zaentz, in association with David & Ed Mirvish and Michael Kohl are behind the open-ended-run that employs hundreds of artists, technicians and support staffers.

Set and costume design is by Ron Howell; lighting design is by Paul Pyant; sound design is by Simon Baker for Autograph; music supervision is by Christopher Nightingale; moving image design is by The Gray Circle; "Tolkien creative consultation" is by Laurie Battle; special effects design is by Gregory Meeh; illusions and magic effects are by Paul Kieve; musical direction is by Rick Fox; orchestrations are by Christopher Nightingale, Rahman and Värttinä; and choreography is by Peter Darling.

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Not a review as such, but it does mention that the opening night had tech problems and ran 4 and a half hours!!!

Epic quest to stage a musical
Feb. 5, 2006. 08:39 AM
RICHARD OUZOUNIAN

As producer Kevin Wallace watched the crowds leaving the Princess of Wales Theatre last night, he was in a positive frame of mind, despite the fact that various technical problems caused the first preview of The Lord of the Rings to run over four and a half hours.

"We have a solid show," said a relieved Wallace, "the audience remained engaged throughout, even with all the problems and delays that we will fix in time. We just have to finesse things a little and we'll be home free."

Yet only now, with previews underway and the all-important March 23 opening clearly in sight, can Wallace finally admit how close we came to not having The Lord of The Rings here at all.

At several points in the complex negotiations, discussions broke off, with both sides convinced things were finished.

The city of Chicago even swooped in, Gollum-like, to try and steal the ring for its own.

In some ways, the story behind how The Lord of the Rings came to Toronto is as dramatic as the Tolkien tale itself. It's about dreamers, schemers, heroes, wizards and fools — all searching for the same band of gold.

Let the saga commence with the 48-year-old Wallace, Irish-born, theatre-bred.

After spending a decade as an actor, he discovered an aptitude for producing, which he pursued before joining Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. There he was put in charge of supervising European productions of the master's hit musicals.

One Sunday night in 1995, Wallace was at Le Plaza Hotel in Basel, Switzerland, looking for someone to contract the orchestra for both Sunset Boulevard in Germany and The Phantom of the Opera in Switzerland.

"I met a musician named John Havu," recalls Wallace, "and I was very impressed with him."

Not only did Wallace hire him for the Webber musicals, but they became and remained good friends. Then, in 1999, Havu placed a call that would wind up changing Wallace's life.

"He was working on an ill-fated version of The Hobbit being done in a tent in Berlin. A man named Bernd Stromberger was behind it all, but he had gotten in over his head and turned to John for help."

Havu, in turn, asked for Wallace's advice. He pointed him toward director Stuart Wood, who brought along playwright Shaun McKenna.

"Sadly for the whole lot of them," says Wallace with a sigh, "the thing went pear-shaped, but one night over dinner in Berlin, McKenna said to them, `The worst mistake you guys made was to just to do The Hobbit and not The Lord of the Rings. I'd love to do that on stage!'"

Wallace knows when he's planted a good theatrical moment, so he smiles, Cheshire Cat-like. "Cut to November 2001. I'd left RUG and set up Kevin Wallace Limited and I was wondering: When I am dust, what will I leave behind?"

The answer came to him shortly, when McKenna delivered the first draft of his musical version of The Lord of the Rings.

Wallace's voice, which is usually projecting to the Dress Circle of an imaginary theatre, grows hushed.

"This was my first exposure to the material. I was emotionally engaged from the start, and at the end, when Frodo parted from Sam, I felt such a strong emotional reaction that I knew I absolutely had to pursue this."

There was a full musical-theatre-style score attached, written by Stromberger, McKenna and Stephen Keeling.

"They were going to put it on in Switzerland and had negotiated a naïve community-theatre-ish deal with the Tolkien organization."

"I said I was interested in a radically different approach: I wanted exclusive first-class rights for around the world. Phantom has grossed $3 billion, Cats $2 billion. That's the ambition, that's the scale I'm dealing with."

But L.A. film producer Saul Zaentz had gained control of the Tolkien trilogy decades earlier. Wallace pursued him around the globe, finally winding up at a London hotel.

"In May of 2002, I met Saul at Claridges," recalls Wallace, "and this wise old gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and said, `We are going to do this, but it will take us a year to make a deal.'"

"At first, I thought he was exaggerating," Wallace says with a laugh, "but it wasn't until February of 2003 that they said yes, and then we had to start negotiating. But I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound."

Wallace had gone ahead and picked his creative team, led by director Matthew Warchus, but now they had to wait.

Then on April 15, Wallace was awakened at 2 a.m. by his fax machine spewing out all 22 pages of the signed contract. He recalls what he did to celebrate.

`All the armchair generals in New York told me Toronto was finished as a major theatre town'
"I don't drink very much, but I have a favourite Irish whisky called Green Spot, so I poured myself a small one and sat there and reflected about where I had been and where I was going."

Things began moving rapidly. Warchus hadrealized he needed something different from the conventional score they possessed, so Wallace sat Stromberger and Keeling down and told them, "The production has taken a different turn and the time has come for you to let go."

The Finnish group Värttinä and Indian composer A.R. Rahman were hired in their place. In September 2003, 10 actors embarked on a text workshop; in May 2004, a group of 15 performers tackled a full version of the script and music.

"The show had momentum and was racing forward. It was ready to go into rehearsal in 2005. It needed a home."

The problem was that the ideal theatre, London's Dominion, was housing the hit Queen musical, We Will Rock You, and Wallace was told that it planned to stay through 2006.

"I asked Matthew where else we could find actors capable of speaking Tolkien's language. He honed in on Canada. `You've got Stratford and Shaw,' he said. `They've got marvellous actors there.'"

At that point, in October 2004, Brian Sewell and David Mucci of the Mirvish Organization were in London. They knew about The Lord of the Rings, and David Mirvish had already called it "a mad idea," but Sewell and Mucci met with Wallace as a courtesy, heard the score, and looked at the scenic plans.

"Would you ever think about coming to Toronto?" asked Sewell, and a whole new game began.

"All the armchair generals in New York told me Toronto was finished as a major theatre town," sneers Wallace. "SARS, 9/11, Hairspray, The Producers, but we moved ahead."

Mirvish brought rock impresario Michael Cohl on side and a series of under-the-radar presentations were held at Toronto's Artword Theatre in December. Present were union, corporate, and government representatives who had the power necessary to let this show happen.

All were impressed. Before Wallace left town, Mirvish said, "The feedback we've received is so positive that we want to go forward with you."

But Wallace hesitated. Another pitch was being made. Theatre owner Jimmy Nederlander had a spot in Chicago he thought would be swell for Wallace's show. "Are you crazy, going to Toronto?" he raged. "What are you doing? Come to Chicago."

The day was saved by Nederlander's associate, Nick Scandalios, who Wallace recalls saying, "Jimmy, what kind of support are they going to get in Chicago? The people of Toronto really want them there. Let them go."

Still, Wallace had his doubts. "Something told me to wait for London. It's like a farmer tilling land. Do I know this soil well enough to make something grow here?"

Back in Canada, Mirvish and Cohl were growing tense. They gave an ultimatum

"We want to know on the 16th of December if you're coming or not. That's it."

Meanwhile, when Wallace arrived in London he was getting mixed signals about whether he could get the Dominion.

"If we go to Toronto," he thought, "we have to be completely committed. We can't have any sense of resentment if our theatre in London became available a week later. We have to be in love with Toronto."

On Dec. 17, 2004, Wallace called Mirvish and Cohl.

"I'm sorry, guys, but if you want the answer today, it has to be no."

"Okay. Thanks very much. Good luck," said the Canadians, and hung up.

The deal was dead, for all intents and purposes. But over the holidays, both sides thought things through further. "Why did Kevin say no?" asked Mirvish and started working on some union concessions to make things more palatable.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 6, 2005, Wallace was told that the Dominion would absolutely be unavailable through 2006. The next day he phoned Canada. "If you still want us, we're coming."

"We want you to come," said Mirvish. "Let's go for it."

Fast-lane manoeuvring in the next 10 weeks brought them all to March 16 when, at 9:15 a.m., all parties concerned signed the contract, then announced their plans to the world.

But now that The Lord of the Rings is finally here, its very existence raises some questions.

Will this be the magical event to restore our tarnished lustre as a theatre centre and vitality to our sagging tourist market?

Or, like the ring itself, will it only be as strong as the people who possess it?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

They’re the sort of people who test message-board newcomers with trick questions like “Does a Balrog have wings?” (in the book, no; in the movie, yes)

Well, I'm glad that's settled.

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First Review:

Well, I just got in from the World Premiere of Lord of the Rings, then a quick drink with the cast & crew after the show. (I can’t believe they have a show in less then 12 hours, at 1 pm!!!!)

Let’s get some of the big things out of the way first. It is most decidedly NOT a musical, but it IS SPECTACULAR!!! To elaborate, there is a lot of musical scoring throughout the whole show, and there are a few sung songs, but maybe only 7 or 8 of those sung songs, and a lot of orchestra.

Tonite was the first preview, so there were indeed lots of glitches. The show began just a few minutes after the 7 pm start time with director Matthew Warchus explaining that we were about to be the first audience to experience the show, but also explaining that they had to cancel the first 2 previews and that there were glitches during the dress rehearsal earlier in the day, so we should not be surprised if the show had to be stopped. To appease the crowd and to celebrate the first show, he added that all drinks (beer, wine, water, pop) were complimentary during both intermissions!

The show proper started around 7:15, and the first act was a tidy hour. The first intermission however was about 25 minutes, so didn’t start again till 8:40. Then near the end of the second act during the Battle of Helms Deep, there were technical difficulties which meant that the show was stopped, then started, then stopped and then the stage manager announcing that they were unable to fix it and just telling us what happened, and then continuing from there. Shame, because it looked like it was going to be a spectacular battle. So the second act didn’t end till about 10:30, then the third act started around 11 and ended just before midnight! Pretty much a five hour extravaganza from curtain up to curtain down.

On to the show itself. There’s a really great 3 hour (or a bit less) show in there somewhere. Unfortunately, right now, even without the tech glitches, it’s probably running at 3-1/2 or more, plus the intermissions. The problem is trying to squeeze in the story held in 3 novels, which were already compressed into 3 movies running a total of 9 hours, into a 3 hour show. They’ve gotten off to a decent start, but right now, if you haven’t read the books or seen the movies, you would be totally lost, but if you have, there are lots of exposition moments that feel draggy because you already know what’s going on and what’s going to happen. This show is as faithful to the story as you can get in this time frame.

The visuals are spectacular - it’s certainly the most awe-inspiring live stage show I have ever seen on that level. It’s really not easy for me to describe – the set is quite amazing, with parts of the stage rotating and revolving, people flying up in the air, creatures like the Black Riders and the Army of Mordor being really scary, the Ents a bit lame on tall stilts, but most everything else was quite visually wonderful including all the costumes and the lighting. The music is mostly quite beautiful. It’s very symphonic and occasionally operatic, and not “musical theatre” at all. Most seems derived from European traditions, with sequences sounding Celtic, Finnish, Germanic, Indian, and others I couldn’t place. The orchestra and musical direction was fantastic. When the characters sang, for the most part they were definitely in strong voice. There is a fun Hobbit traveling song when they get to an Inn, there is a beautiful lullaby that Arwen sings to Frodo as he recovers, there is a beautiful number by Galdriel in Lothlórien, etc.

As for the individual performers, they are on the whole quite strong. Frodo and Sam certainly serve their characters well. Gandalf looks a bit too young and the wig looks a bit like a mop, but he sounds great. Pippin & Merry are properly hobbit-like. Saruman is chilling. The fellowship are all wonderful, Strider, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir. Gollum is fantastic! Really has to be seen to be believed, and I hope he’s getting lots of chiropractic help between shows, but Michael Therriault who was most recently Motel on Broadway, is really living the part. Both Arwen and Galadriel have beautiful musical numbers and carry themselves regally. Really, there’s nothing wrong with this cast who will just grow more comfortable in their parts as previews continue.

So bottom line right now… the elements are there to have a really spectacular show that could run for a long time, if there is an audience for people who want to see the Lord of the Rings that they have become familiar with in the movies, on stage. And if they manage to cut it down to a manageable time so that it never feels like its lagging and so the audience doesn’t feel like they’re just seeing the same old story they’ve already seen in the films. This will never be about the script or the “play”, but about the spectacle.

If you can come to Toronto after March 23 (the official press opening), and are looking for something that will impress the heck out of you visually and aurally, then this could be the ticket.

[Alatar]

Next Review:

LOTR Premiere Review *SPOILERS WITHIN*
Posted On: 2/5/06 at 01:33 AM

Ok, I said I was going to do this tomorrow, but I figure i may as well write this while it is all fresh in my mind.
Please keep in mind this was the first show ever, and a preview, so some things may change and others were not working properly. This also may be long as the show lasted five hours...and I may have to do it in parts. Also, forgive the few spelling errors (or many)...it is late.

Overall, as a fan of LOTR, I was pretty happy with this adaptation, though it was too long (but again, that will probably not always be the case) and I'm not sure people will want to pay to see it multiple times. It is neat for the first time, but it is a long show to sit through more than once, and tickets are so overpriced it is also too exensive to sit through more than once.

Walking into the theatre was a cool experience in itself. They have done their best to make the Princess of Wales into Middle earth. A giant ring surrounded by tree branches filles the stage. Branches jutted off the stage and over the boxes. The lights cast shadows over the whole orchestra section, making it look like all the seats were under trees.

The director, Matthew Warchus greeted us and welcomed us to the first performance. He warned us about possible tech problems and told us drinks and food were on them that night (alcohol included) to make up for any problems they may encounter.

ACT ONE:

The entire show remained pretty faithful to the LOTR novels, though it has been trimmed at quite a bit in order to fit into the show.
We began with a voice over and shadows showing us the story of Bilbo and Gollum.
Then we opened at the shire where Gandolf told us about the ring and Sam and Frodo began their quest.
Sam and Frodo sang a song about travelling. However, I must say this is not a musical. Most of the music is in the background, and the songs the characters sing are simple things like lullabies and bar songs. Sam and Frodo weren't singing because they were in a musical, they were singing to past the time on the road.
The stage itself was amazing (though also the reason for many of the tech problems). It not only turned, but it rose in various places, turned into steps, created obstacles, separate parts of it were able to move up and down alone or altogether. I have personally never seen that.
The black riders were also neat. Not sure how to describe them. They were people but were also sort of puppet type things.
I won't describe all of act one, other than to say it is the first novel and is pretty close to the book. (There were three acts, and each was devoted to one of the books).
The end of act one was really neat. (MAJOR SPOILER HERE)
When Gandolf encounters the creature in the pit, this thing rises out of the stage. all of sudden, I felt really cold and realized that the theatre had gotten windy and foggy. Leaves were being blown everywhere as Gandolf disappeared and the act ended. It was really cool, cause you actually felt like you were IN the show. During intermission, I noticed there were large fans all over the theatre hidden in the trees. I had not noticed that before.

Act 2:
My favorite thing in this act were the Orcs. They were on these stilt things that allowed them to jump and flip around on eachother.
Here is where we encountered problems. Towards the end of the act, something went wrong. All of a sudden, everything stopped and the stage director told all the actors to get off stage. They reset everything and went back to the last scene and started again. At the exact same spot everything stopped again and they told us there would be a five minute break.
After almost ten minutes they announced that they would not be doing that scene and the stage manager explained to us all what had happened in that scene.

ACT THREE:
By now, it was after 11pm and everyone was getting restless. Some people had left. Shelob, the giant spider was interesting to see. It was a giant puppet run by about 8 people. There was a neat fight between Sam and the Orcs.
Like I have felt about the books and the movies, this act went on too long. But that is more Tolkein's doing than anyone. They were just being faithful to the book.

Ok, breath and I will talk about the performances themselves.

PERFORMANCES:
I first have to say, the entire cast was amazing. There is really no one I can say who did badly, although at the start they seemed a little unsure of themselves, but quickly gained confidence as the show continued.
Well my favorites had to be Michael Therriault as Gollum and Brent Carver as Gandalf.
Therriault jsut astounded me with his Gollum. I saw him as Bloom in the Producers, and liked him in that, but was slighly unsure about whether or not he could pull off Gollum. But he was perfect. He had so much physicality and energy. He had the voiced and the dual personalities down. Although, he did remind me of the movie version. He was fantastic to watch, though.

Brent Carver was no suprise. Just a great fit as Gandolf. Likeable, wise, strong voice. He was great. The couple songs he sang (mostly songs to soothe others as they were being hunted) sounded beautiful from him.

James Loye's Frodo was also wonderful. He and Peter Howe's Sam made a great pair. Their voices meshed well when they sang together, and their friendship seemed genuine.

Carly Street as Arwen was also fantastic. She has a beautiful voice and seemed very much in love with Aragorn.

Rebecca Jackson Mendoza was a delight as Galdriel. She had such a beautiful and strong voice.

Richard McMillan's Saruman was delightfully evil. However, I had seen him as Scar in the Lion King and had complete faith he could pull off the part. (He also goes to my church.)

Gabriel Burrafato was a great Legolas. He had a very huanting voice.

Evan Buliung was perfect as Aragorn. Nothing else to say about that.

next up, the music.

THE MUSIC:

The music was very Celtic in style. If you know Enya, that is what pretty much the entire show sounded like. Most of the singing was background music in order to add to the feel of the show (kind of like a movie is done). I found it fairly interesting. Some of the songs were quite haunting, others fun. But if you are not a fan of that type of music, it could drive you crazy (just ask my boyfriend).
I still think it is weird that they are planning a cast recording. There is very little singing done one stage, and any that is done is not specifically about that scene, but just about the mood of it (in a bar, a song about drinking for example).

When there was choreography (the bar scene, for example), it was quite interesting and different. I can definately say it was staged very differently from most things I have seen. It was very impressive in terms of dance and movement. It was a culmination of actors, dancers, and acrobats.

I think I liked the show because I liked LOTR. My boyfriend, who had not seen any of the movies or read any of the books was thoroughly confused and board. I spent both intermissions trying to explain what was going on to him. So I'm not sure that people with no LOTR background would be able to get into it.
I also haven't decided if I liked it enough to see it again.

If there is any more people wanna know, just ask. I can't feel my wrists anymore, so I'll stop for now.

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Third Review:

re: LOTR Premiere Review *SPOILERS WITHIN*
Posted On: 2/5/06 at 02:41 AM

UNENDING SPOLIERS

Ok, I was there too and figured I'd review as well. I didn't read the above review yet since I tend to be easily swayed and want to put down my initail thoughts before reading someone elses, though I'll admit i'm not so good with putting stuff in words. Ok, so it was a very very intersting experience. First we had to wait in the lobby until about 5 to 7 because they were still rehearsing, but when we did get in the theatre it was nothing short of amazing. They took the twisted twig image in the logo and applied it to the whole stage, extending out covering the box seats and ceiling. So basically the entire front portion of the theatre was crawling with twisted branches with a giant circle in the center which resembled the ring. Before the show an array of mysterious white flying lights began to appear onstage, i think they were meant to be fireflies, and that was pretty cool. So then the director talked to us, explained about the open bar (that was great) and finally the show began. Now, in general I would say that show has great potential but it wsa obvious at parts that the two days they cancelled were cancelled with good reason. The opening was effectively portrayed through projection and shadows on the cylindrical scrim representing the one ring. The prologue gave insight into the backstory of The Hobbit and the formation of the rings and all the stuff you'd need to know. Now, the twisted twig image was quite prominent through the whole show. All of Bilbos house was made of a series of bent twigs, including the fire which I thought looked pretty good. I won't give a moment by moment play by play of the whole show because then we'd be here for 5 hours much the audience was. I'll talk about what stood out and such. Now, I think to enjoy this show you need to possess a bit of the following three qualities:
1) Be a LOTR fan
2) Be a theatre lover
3) Be patient

Although the show was amazing it was quite long, but enjoyable long for the most part. They make great use of puppetry and stiltwalking throughout. A series of puppets not unlike those in The Lion King are used, most notable the Dark Riders which are people on stilts controlling the horse heads with sticks (theres probably a better word I failed to know) and the spider. The spider was amazing, it was an enormous puppet that looked to be woven with sticks (effective, trust me) and each of its legs was controlled by a cast member. The cast members often acted as puppeteers or 'elements'. Near the beginning of the first act when Frodo and Sam are traveling they walk around the set a fair deal, weaving in between hooded men holding rather long sticks. I think they were supposed to be all the physical elements the hobbits overcame and in an odd way it worked. Yes, that reminds me. Alot of the show involved people walking in circles with the set moving up and down. Literally, almost 5 minutes at a time of people walking in circles. Ok, i have a lot of thoughts so I guess I'll catagorize them:

THE MUSIC
The music wasn't at all that of a musical, this truely was a play set to music. Few of the songs were in solid english and nearly all the songs flowed into dialogue leaving no room for applause. The best comparison I can think of for the basic style of the music is the survivor theme, it sorta reminded me of that. I personally really liked all the hobbit songs, espically the song I think is called 'There and Back Again' or maybe 'The Stories We Tell' not sure, but anyways its like the hobbit folk song. It has a place at the beginning, middle and end of the show and its peaceful but catchy at the same time. There was only one huge showstopping number which was astounding. It was in the Prancing Pony when they ask Frodo to sing, it was an upbeat folk song and had a great deal of perfectly syncronized dance moves that greatly incorperated the benchs. They all jumped on/off the benchs in unison, rode the benchs like a teeter-tooter...difficult to discribe but suffie it to say that the Prancing Pony song was extremely well done.

THE SET
Ok the set was amazing, no questions. It was like the turntable in Les Mis, only it was cut into pieces like a puzzle almost and each pience could rise above the stage or go below the stage allowing for nearly any setting imaginable. Projections were often used to show sunsets or water or other similar elements.

THE ILLUSIONS
I wasn't sure what else to call this. There was a great deal of stage illusion used throughout the show from little to large. First of all there were the stiltwalkers which I already mentioned. The Act I finale was amazing, they used large wind machines and a dragon made of what I think was once again woven twigs to show Gandalf's 'death'. In conjuction with bright red backlight and thoudans of piences of issue paper resembling leaves blowing violently in the wind this was a truely amazing sight. The scene with the Cate Blanchett elf whose name I can say but not spell (Galadrial.....you know who I mean) was beautiful. They had a rope ladder decend from the top of the stage and the actors climbed up it, and then the ladder descended to make it look like they'd reached the top. It looked good...during the scene when they have the council meeting and are about to form the fellowship, they went into the backstory of Gollum and there was a great sequence where a flying effect was used to show a hobbit swimming, it was unbelieveably realistic looking. They used flying afair bit in this show and the strings wern't all that noticable (I was in row GG and although I could see the strings they went unnoticed). There were great moments where simplicity reigned, using large pieces of fabric or material to shroud the stage for either a set or a transition or pivitol moment (such as the raising of the dead warriors at the end of act II. There were simple illusions like Frodo disappearing which were possibly the most effective in the show because of their unexpectedness and their simplicity. For most of the 'magic' moments they used light. A lot of light in this show used in con juction with the actors moving as though under a spell, it worked. Then there was this great sequence where Sam started attacking Orcs, he cut off their legs, arms and evben decapitated one and the body parts seperated IN FULL VIEW of the audience, it was amazing. That reminds me, I didn't mention the Orcs. The orcs were quite well done, they looked quite scary and really resembled the movie orcs from close up. They all had walking sticks attached to their arms like the animals in the lion king so that they could mov eand do fun jumping stuff. Ok, thats all i can remember for now. Moving on...

THE ACTORS
An intersting catagory. I need to say first that he ensamble was astounding all around, they were really into the show and you could tell. This show could not survive without the ensamble and their devotion and passion was quite evident. Now then about the leads, in my opinion only three of them stood out: REBECCA JACKSON MENDOZA, PETER HOWE and MICHAEL THERRIAULT (I copy/pasted the names from the lotr website in case you were wondering about the caps) who played Galadriel, Sam and Gollum respecitbly. They stole the show. Galadriel had an amazing voice and sang both the ethnic songs prominent in the score as well as a gentle lullaby. She managed to combine intensity with subtlety and her actions were all beautifully controlled. The use of her hands particularily stood out to me. SHe moved her hands with purose, and with grace. She was extremely graceful but was able to maintain the image of a strong grounding force. She took control of her scenes and handled the ring temptation bit quite well. She was beautifully mysterious and made her role seem effortless which is the furthest thing from the truth. Peter Howe who played Sam stood out to me from the beginning. I'm not sure what it was about his performance, but to me he was the most honest onstage. He beautifully captured the kindness of Sam but didn't turn him into a sentimental wimp by any means. In my opinion he had the most well rounded three dimensional character. He found the comedy where appropriate and maintained the caregiving quality that makes Sam the hobbit he is. It could have helped that he was quite short. And finally....MICHAEL TERRIAULT. Honestly, this guy is my hero and probably one of the best actors i've ever seen. I saw him in the Producers and was impressed to no end but his performance tonight left me speechless, my jaw actually fell at his greatness. His interpertation of Gollum took qualities similar to the movie Gollum but also and more importantly made the poor corrupted hobbit a fully developed person. His physicality was astounding, he moved in a way I didn't know was humanly possibly and can't be easily described...basically his legs were sorta turned in and his upperbody moved in a sort of sharp fluid way if that makes sense. He bolted accorss the stage almost like a lizard which was amazing. But what truuely made the performance was Gollum's battle with himself. This scene could easily make or break Gollum because its so dramatic and intense to the point that if performed by the wrong person it would be laughable. It wasn't. It was both heartbreaking and frightening. I can't put into words how brilliant he was, he stole the show, amazing, he should get an oscar. Yes, I know, wrong genre and country but I don't care he should get an oscar because he WAS THAT GOOD. Honestly, see the show just for him. Ok, I should go on with the rest of the cast.
Rosie- Yes, I'm starting with Rosie. I read a while back that she went to my highschool so I was quite interested to see her performance and she made what you'd expect a forgettable cameo role quite memorable and lovable.
Saramun- They took an intersting approach to the White Wizard, he looked, at least to me, like an ancienct chinese warrior guy. Shaved head, slight bead and everything and in an off way it worked really really well and contrasted with Gandalf wonderfully.
Gandalf- Heres the thing, he was alright in act I but then when he came back as Gandalf the White he took a new turn and delivered all his lines really slwly and I thought at times he was struggling to remember his lines. He also seemed quite bored at parts. I wasn't too impressed with Gandy, he seemed quite frail as though he could fall down at any moment. Not the best performance.
Legolas/Gimli/Boromir- They were all good at their roles in all respects but sorta forgettable. All great actors, particularily Boromir, but forgettable.
Arwen- Beautiful voice, great acting, good performance.
*Yes, I'm getting vague but it's almost 2 in the morning, I'll re-edit this with more detail later*
Strider- Good job.
Frodo- Unfortunately I must say that Frodo was not the best. Not to say he was bad, he was quite good at his role but in comparison to Sam who many of his scenes were with, Frodo took the backseat. Prehaps the novelty of the spectacle of the show distracted from Frodo's performance but...I'm not sure. Y'know when you're really familiar with a show and you see it and depending on the actor it can seem like they're either onstage more or onstage less depending on how their performance is? It was like that, Frodo was just there. Not bad in any way but not outstanding. I'll go into more detail after. (Edit: I just realized that a major component of my feelings towards Frodo is the fact that he payed the role sort of cold. He was quite serious and poker faced and failed to find the fun and happy moments for Frodo. Granted, there are few happy moments but they can and do exist. I feel Elijah Wood made a great Frodo since his portrayal of Frodo was that of a happy, content hobbit who was an optimist. The optimism was lost in Stage Frodo whos name I still can't remember, sorry bout that, and he just seemed really one dimensional to me. On top of that, I didn't like how he handled the 'i'm keeping the ring' part at the end. But that whole scene deserves a paragraph of its own)

Ok, thats it for now. I have so much mroe to say hut i'm tired of typing. Any questions, I'd be happy to answer. OH! Wait, we can't forget when the show stopped. That was fun. You see, I was all into act II, it was so good but then the moment died and people got restless....i'll later describe what I found humerous of that situation. Hope I reviewed well.

[vison]

I guess I'm gonna be sorry I'm not gonna see it.

Just can't afford Toronto.

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Here's a review from TORC.

Spoiler:

COmbining Weathertop and the Pony is a smart move, I never would have thought of that, but it makes sense dramatically.

Hi This is my first post on the one ring.
Just wanted to give a heads up on the new LOTR musical.

I am fortunate to be in Toronto on business for two weeks from my native England. Whilst I was here a colleague suggested trying to get tickets for the new musical. Lucky for me i'm on my own as I got the 4th from last seat in the house for what became the Premiere on Saturday night.

Thanks to the production team and actors for a great show and for the free drinks...

(SPOILERS)

The set is great - the balconies and stage canopy are covered with thick vines and branches - gives a very wooded feel. The stage itself is circular and split into a central core and three rings. The two inner rings are each split into 8 sections. Each section, and he core can be raised or lowered indipendently by +/- 10 feet and each ring can be rotated seperately - it is a very complex stage and allows for a dynamic and constantly changing terrain.

Like the movies, various scenes had to be cut, including the barrows and tom bombadil, however unlike the movies there was reference to tom bombadil toward the end, and they also covered 'Sharky' and the scouring of the shire (which is one of the most important parts of the book IMHO)

Various parts were reduced, such as the scene in the tower with the orcs, instead of fighting for the mithril, they were instead dispatched by sam. Also the prancing pony and weathertop scenes were merged.

There was no sign of Grima Wormtongue and the black gate.

Most of the battle scenes are played towards the audience with pretty good effect - the orcs are well represented and look good, bt bear in mind they have a cast of around 65, not 65000 so they have done well with what they have available.

Overall I was impressed with the show. The Prancing Pony dance routine stole the show. However I feel that the actor paying gandalf was a bit emotionless, the lines were delivered without any real thought as to their meaning. but i'll be charitable and put that down to first night nerves.

I feel that you really need to know the story to understand the relevance of many events in the show. a good example being where Éowyn kills the witch king, the relevance of the palantír and also 'The other way to mordor' - Other than what?
Many things are only referenced, such as the destruction of Isengard and there is little mention of Sauron (Pronounced Sore-on in the show!?!)

There were a couple of technical hitches - The battle of helms deep had to be abandoned after two attempts due to a stage malfunction, two headphone clad stage hands ran on to clear arrows from the stage, and there was a clash of microphones when frodo and merry hugged each other. (Oh and someone coughing having left their mike on backstage)
But other than that the preview went well.

To sum up - I enjoyed it, but at the same time felt a little disappointed for those who did not know the book. It could be a bit hit and miss and i'll be interested to see what the press have to say in march.

To attempt to cram the contents of a book that took me two weeks of solid reading, into a three and a half hour show is a brave undertaking. the key points were covered and it was good entertainment - would i pay another $125 to see it again - I'm not so sure. Maybe when its in London i'll reconsider...


If you're a fan - you'll enjoy it - If you don't know the story, you may get confused.

I'd give it 6 out of 10 (But it was a preview) Lets see what the masses make of it...

[sauronsfinger]

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you have indeed been busy... thanks for these

Sounds like they have a great deal of work ahead of them but have the makings of something great also.

[sauronsfinger]

ebay has 2 tickets for this thursday

opening bid is half price

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lord-of-the-Rings-M ... dZViewItem

[Padme]

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Quick, somebody tell Wilma or *E*!

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Well this just keeps getting better...

LOTR Musical Review - Xoanon @ 10:52 PST
Topaz writes: Well, I’m back – as Sam said. Or didn’t say, at least not on Sunday afternoon at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto where I saw the second ever performance of the new theatrical production of The Lord of the Rings.

Long ago when I had first heard of plans to make LOTR into a musical, it scared me. Howard Shore had just done such an amazing job with the film scores, and now someone was going to make it all sound like Broadway? Please don’t…. Then as time went on and the production was to be in Toronto (half an hour from where I live), there began to be articles in the papers, interviews with the director – I read them and I began to feel less afraid that someone was going to ruin my favourite story. I liked that they wanted it to be very different from the films (which I love but which are a different medium, and trying to copy them would NOT work) – a real theatre experience, focusing on the heart of the story. Also the ethnic flavour of the composers (A.R. Rahman from India and the group Varttina from Finland) seemed promising in that the result was unlikely to be typical Broadway OR a Shore derivative.

I knew I had to see and hear this for myself. So I got tickets as soon as they came on sale. They were saying then that it would open on February 2nd, and no one was calling the performances before March 23rd “previews” then. My two daughters and I got tickets for February 5th because we wanted to go to a Sunday matinee. Needless to say, when the Feb. 2nd and 3rd performances were “postponed”, we were grateful that ours wasn’t. After reading that yesterday’s first performance took 4 ½ hours because of some “technical difficulties”, we were ready to spend most of the day at the theatre. (Now -- did that include the two intermissions of about 20 minutes each?)

We settled into our red velvet seats at the back of the balcony (but with an excellent view, nonetheless) and looked out at the stage. There was a large golden “ring” suspended in the centre, a circular “window” (or should that be hobbit door?) through which we were about to see many things. The inside was in darkness. Raying out from it were interweaving branches, of the kind now so familiar from the advertising logo of this production. They continued out past the edges of the stage as if into the audience – at least past the first two pillars at the sides of the theatre. The branches were lit with green, orange, and brown lights -- you felt like you were part of Middle Earth.

The show began about 1:10 p.m. There were two intermissions, the first occurring after the Balrog from 2:30 to about 2:50, the second after the Paths of the Dead from 4:10 to about 4:30. The performance ended about 5:20 p.m.

It was wonderful. I loved it. And I was so HAPPY that it was wonderful. I had been hoping it would be wonderful! It was different from the beloved films. In some ways it was closer to the beloved books – and every time there was a detail or a phrase that WAS included from the books that had NOT been in the films, it was such a delight to see it and hear it. It was done with imagination, creativity, professionalism, flair, beauty, and most of all, love. You could tell. And that’s what made it wonderful.

SPOILER ALERT

(There will be some spoilers in what follows. I am assuming the story is not a secret, but if you don’t want to know ahead of time which parts of the book are included or how some of them are staged, don’t read on. I don’t want to give away everything, but I’d like to talk about some of it.)

At the beginning there was a narrator who gave some background about the history of the ring – and in the circular “frame” you could see silhouettes of Bilbo and Gollum at the end of their “riddles in the dark”. This moved on to a set of Bag End – open and airy and “branch-like”, adorned by a few roses, but having a very solid round green wooden door with the doorknob exactly in the middle.

A word about the stage. There was a revolving stage which had 17 independently movable segments. The central piece was circular, and around it the others were arranged in a double circle, with 8 segments in each circle, having irregular and often curved shapes. These could be easily moved up and down in various configurations, and the whole stage could also revolve. This was really effective and provided a lot of variety in the staging. (This same theatre had been used for the production of The Lion King in past years.)

The setting was often created by the use of light – quite often dappled light, in various colour combinations or shifting colours. Shadows were also used to great effect – for example Isengard had a stunning “black and white” look as white light cast the shadows of all the interweaving branches on the floor.

The lighting was marvelous – from lights streaming onto the stage to lights streaming FROM the stage into the audience. Spotlights were also used beautifully. As Saruman captured Gandalf, the spotlight on Gandalf became narrower and narrower. At the Council of Elrond, an orange light spread from the centre to become a large circle, almost giving the appearance of a round table, around which the participants gathered. And when Frodo placed the ring into the centre, there was a very tight spotlight right on it. At the same time, there were hooded elves standing around the council, holding burning torches – so the dancing firelight was added to the other lighting of the scene.

During Helm’s Deep, the Paths of the Dead, and the final battle, strobe lights were used. Yes, there was a warning about it on the doors into the theatre before you went in. Of course there were numerous opportunities for mist and fog and smoke – eerily blending with the light effects.

The “traveling scenery”, which was needed often as this story is so much about a journey, was often done with the changing stage levels and lighting. At other times it was done with people dressed in grey and holding long sticks or branches (again illuminated by coloured light), moving around in quite intricate choreography. The hobbits, or the Fellowship, then wove their way through this changing “landscape” – it was a great effect.

One of the most magical scenes to me was Lothlórien. After a golden ladder descended from above and the Fellowship (all authentically blindfolded in solidarity with Gimli) began to climb it, it also began to descend into what was now the circular opening in the middle of the stage – so you saw them continuously climbing and then arriving at the top of the Mallorn tree. The golden branches were at first hanging down as willow branches might, then expanded out to form a golden dome over the entire stage – a magnificent setting for Galadriel. At the end they again folded, almost like the gentle gesture of hands being folded in prayer. It was beautiful.

Large swathes of silk were used to depict the Misty Mountains, and silk was also very evocative during the flood at the Ford of Bruinen. The costumes were great – from Arwen’s shining silver gown when she appears in a vision to King Elessar’s golden armour at his coronation. It took me a while to sort out that Merry had the red vest (and the impressively strong voice) while Pippin had the green vest… Frodo’s and Sam’s were brown, as far as I remember. Strider wore a long brown leather coat. Very Striderish. (Aragorn also wore this coat at Helm’s Deep, which may not have been quite as safe, but he survived. He wore it until his coronation.)

There was a strong dance element in the production, for example a dance with many folk elements at the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. It was a lot of fun, and had good acrobatics in it as well – dive rolls, roundoff-back saltos, front saltos, aerial cartwheels (as well as cartwheels done over the inn’s benches)….

As with many of the animals in the Lion King production, stilts were used in amazing ways – not only for the Ents and the fiery red bird-like Witch King, but especially for the ringwraiths riding horses (the stilts became the front legs of the horse, and the movement was very lifelike). Shelob also moved in an absolutely convincing way, and I had no problem suspending my disbelief even though there were people on stage moving her various legs – but in such an oh, so spidery fashion! At times the orcs also had short “arm” stilts or even skate - type “springy” contraptions (sorry I don’t know what they’re called) attached to their feet which allowed them to bounce as if on a springboard when they were tumbling.

I was delighted with how much Elvish was spoken in this story. When Galadriel first greeted the Fellowship, she spoke to Aragorn in Elvish (and called him “Elessar” – the rest of my Elvish wasn’t up to translating any more!) Then she said that they needed to continue “in the common tongue” so that his friends could also understand. And when Aragorn was given Anduril, he sang mostly in Elvish.

As I said, I loved the inclusion of things from the book which didn’t make it into the movies. Yes, it IS possible for Gimli to be given a golden hair, and Sam a box of earth “from Galadriel’s orchard”. It’s even possible to have the Scouring of the Shire (yeah!!!) And Treebeard does at least mention that he is going to visit Tom Bombadill, even if we don’t get to see him.

I loved Arwen saying to Elrond, “Death once was called the GIFT of men – not to be bound forever to the circles of this world.” And right after the Rivendell scene it was the hobbits as they walked who were discussing what Arwen’s choice of giving up immortality meant. Sam’s temptation when he had the ring in Mordor was there, as were the comments about the lone star in the sky, and the light behind the darkness – some very beautiful dialogue. Also Gandalf saying to Frodo just before Frodo returns to the Shire – “You don’t need me now. You are grown, indeed, very high.”

Putting 1000 pages of writing into one afternoon’s production does require that some things be left out, obviously. And that some things be telescoped. Bree turned seamlessly into Weathertop, the Battle of Pelennor Fields into the Battle at the Black Gate, and the Witch King kind of into the Mouth of Sauron….
There were some other changes (and forgive me if I’ve forgotten exactly what happens in the book in these moments – my film experience is much clearer in my mind than my reading experience). Aragorn told Boromir about his identity during Boromir’s death scene. It worked for me. Aragorn also told Théoden about his identity, and showed him Narsil, during the scene at Edoras which in the film became the casting out of Saruman. This also worked well. Gandalf was not there during this scene. Gandalf the White didn’t appear until there was dire need for him to do so at Helm’s Deep!

The goodbyes at the Grey Havens seemed less sad than in the films, except for the one with Sam. “I thought we’d be doing it together,” Sam said. “So did I, once,” replied Frodo… And then the travelers walked into the pale blue light at the back of the stage, and the narrator talked about the white shores and the far green country.

Now a word about the characters. Legolas (played by Gabriel Burrafato) was somewhat older than Orlando Bloom (sorry girls). He also had dark hair. But he could shoot those arrows well, and otherwise he was what we might expect.

Arwen was lovely, just what I had imagined from the books. She had very long dark hair, which in the coronation/wedding scene was partly braided. Her wedding dress was white as she said to Aragorn, “I will live and die by your side.” She was played by Carly Street who has done a lot of Shakespeare.

Gandalf (played by Brent Carver) was a gentler Gandalf than I expected. Except for scenes like the fight with the Balrog – there he could certainly hold his own. I think I would have liked a fuller beard, covering more of his face.

Richard McMillan as Saruman was strong and nasty. He played Scar in The Lion King.

James Loye was very good as Frodo. Just the right mixture of seriousness and humour, much like Elijah Wood. The other hobbits were also good.

Michael Therrieault as Gollum was great. He MOVED with such convincing gestures, intensity, and pain. He SPOKE with emotion as well as distortion in his voice. His Gollum was clearly informed by, but NOT a copy of, Andy Serkis’s Gollum. It was nice to see his own interpretation of this tortured character, including the argument between his two personalities.

I was somewhat surprised at the deep mezzo-soprano voices of both Galadriel (Rebecca Jackson Mendoza) and Éowyn (Ayrin Mackie). I think I was expecting more of a soprano quality, probably imagining the speaking voices of Cate Blanchett and Miranda Otto. Éowyn didn’t really have a very big role here. She was there at some key moments, she did want to fight and was told by Théoden she shouldn’t, she did kill the Witch King and mourn Théoden. She did have the speech about fearing a cage (effectively paraphrased to say she feared to be “a woman behind bars…”) But there was no Faramir in this story, and we actually didn’t find out that she loved Aragorn….

I was concerned about Aragorn, because for me Aragorn is Viggo Mortensen. The actor here was Evan Buliung, who has played many roles at the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival (and who apparently started by playing Dwalin the Dwarf in a highschool production of the Hobbit!) He brought an intensity and an authentic nobility to the role. The hair looked right, the voice was somewhat husky and very intense, the sword fighting was convincing, and the gestures and acting were sincere.

Now something about the music. Some of it is very simple, but simple in a good way. Often it’s the hobbits who come up with the folk-like, “hummable” tunes. Some of the other solo singing is very florid, with long sinuous lines – Galadriel singing about Lothlórien, or a lullaby to the sleeping Fellowship – Arwen singing to Frodo in Rivendell (in Elvish and then English), or to Aragorn (both in real life and in a vision), Éowyn’s lament at Théoden’s death (somewhat reminiscent of Miranda Otto’s chant at Theodred’s funeral). Often there is background singing, and often women’s voices, while something else is going on onstage. When Frodo offers at the Council of Elrond to take the ring to Mordor, the background voice is very intense, almost wailing. Gimli later sings about the glories of the past in Moria (ok, one of my very favourite bits of Howard Shore comes from that scene, but this was pretty nice too!) Gollum’s “song” has good dissonance in it.

Sam’s speech about the old stories, and about finding themselves in one, is a song. “Sing me a story of heroes of the Shire”, I believe it says. When they come to verse 2, Sam sings “Sing me a story of Frodo and the Ring”. They sing in very nice two-voice harmony, and they keep giggling because actually being IN the story seems so funny to them. It’s really sweet. Then Sam falls asleep, and Frodo sings about Samwise the Brave… a very touching way of structuring the song. The songs later returns after the “Mouth of Sauron” scene, and this time the accompaniment is in a different key from the melody – an evocative distortion of Frodo’s heroic actions, and a yearning for him.

One of my favourite musical passages was after Gandalf tells Aragorn to take the Paths of the Dead. Gandalf then sings briefly to Aragorn, and then you hear Arwen singing to Aragorn, and then she comes to him and they sing together. He is given Anduril, to the sound of an appropriately triumphant harmonic progression, and Arwen sings to him something about “find the hidden paths, alone and unafraid” , finishing with “return, my love – return, my heart – return”. (I hope I have the words right – one day I’ll know for sure.) The music leading up to the coronation had a fine quality of triumph and celebration – orchestra, with lots of brass. At the Grey Havens the voices singing in the background had chords interspersed with rests, which was very evocative.

There was nearly continuous music much of the time, expressive atmospheric music which often built up greatly in intensity and supported the action well. I found myself wondering which of it came from A.R. Rahman, which from Varttina, and which from Christopher Nightingale, who integrated it all together. But as he said in his program note, that’s probably not the best way to look at it. “In the finished score, I hope there will be no song you can point to and say, ‘that’s by A.R. Rahman,’ or ‘that’s by Varttina’. You may hear a melody originally written by Rahman, but to which Varttina has applied its own, unique interpretation, and vice-versa…. Everything has grown together, building a whole and complete new world”.

Altogether it was a wonderful experience to see and hear this, and I hope it won’t be the last time. For any of you who have an opportunity to go and see this, go. You won’t be disappointed.

[Primula Baggins]

Now that review makes me hope very I much that I have a chance to see this someday. The reviewer reported on just the things I most wanted to know about. And they all sound wonderful, especially the music.

[Pearly Di]

No Faramir?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Apart from that , this sounds pretty good.

Of course there would be lots of telesocoping of the story for a musical production, makes perfect sense to me. Mushing the battles into one - yes, of course. A theatre audience really can't sit through multiple battles ...

I like the sound of how they've handled the Arwen/Aragorn story.

I like the sound of Frodo and Sam. I really do hope for a stronger Frodo than Elijah's (much as I adore him.)

And I can well believe that the musical production might be more faithful to the story than the films (much as I love them) ...

Yes, this sounds pretty good

The set and costumes and effects sound VERY good.

I shall be very interested to see what the professional critics think. So much hinges on that, and whether a newbie audience - who have grown up with the films, of course - will be able to appreciate this particular take on LOTR ...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Hi, Di, err, I mean Pearl.