The Lord of the Rings Musical

[Alatar]

I believe Quenya was based on Finnish. The Show is runnong from March for at least 9 months to a year before moving to London. Previews start in February.

[vison]

I believe Quenya was based on Finnish. The Show is runnong from March for at least 9 months to a year before moving to London. Previews start in February.

It is? Wowza. Then my chum was wrong. Because when I said I was planning to attend The Gathering, and to see the show, she said I couldn't cuz the show was leaving Toronto before July.

I hope she's wrong and you're right!

[JewelSong]

Because when I said I was planning to attend The Gathering, and to see the show, she said I couldn't cuz the show was leaving Toronto before July.

Well, since the Gathering includes tix to the show as part of one of the packages, I would say your chum is wrong!

http://gatheringofthefellowship.org/con ... index.html

[vison]

*blushes furiously*

I can't believe I didn't know that..........

[yovargas]

Saw a couple of the links. I was disappointed that the style of the singing is the very typical musical theater singing style as, besides not sounding any different than every other musical (to my ears, at least), that style of singing grates on me a bit. Nonetheless, I would loooove to be able to go to this.

[Rowanberry]

Well, if it comes to London at some point, it will be so much closer to home that I might even be able to arrange to see it, although I won't go to the Gathering after all...

[Primula Baggins]

Entertainment Weekly's Web site has a short article:

http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1148025_9_0_,00.html

[Alatar]

Thanks Prim! Every snippet adds a little more

[Alatar]

Getting closer now!!!!

LOTR musical set to begin previews
By STEVE TILLEY -- Toronto Sun




Peter Howe (Sam), James Loye (Frodo), Evan Buliung (Aragorn), Dylan Roberts (Merry) and Owen Sharpe (Pippin) will soon be done with rehearsals as the musical version of The Lord Of The Rings previews for the first time Thursday night.

Two days from now, the 50-odd cast members of The Lord Of The Rings stage production will don their Hobbit feet, elf ears and Orc armour for the first full-length dress rehearsal of the $27-million epic.

A scant two days after that, the curtain will rise at Toronto's packed-to-the-rafters Princess of Wales Theatre, and 2,000 paying audience members will be the first in the world to behold the three-hour melding of theatre, music and special effects.

Two days from the first full dress rehearsal of a monstrously complex show to the first public performance of same? And you thought dodging evil wizards and Black Riders to chuck a magic ring into a volcano sounded scarier than hell.

Though the March 23 gala opening is still more than seven weeks away, the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved trilogy kicks off preview performances Thursday night, a process that producer Kevin Wallace says is like adding fine brush strokes to a nearly complete painting.

"We expect the audiences to be thrilled by the physical production, which is fantastic and extraordinary and big," said Wallace. (He's not kidding -- the giant spider, Shelob, will stretch across the entire 40-foot stage.)

"But ultimately, do they actually care about Sam and Frodo and Arwen and Aragorn and Gandalf? Are they interested in the story? Do they laugh and cry and do they go through the whole process with them?"

The seven weeks of sold-out preview performances will include two three-day breaks, one in the third week and one in the fifth week, for tuning and tweaking.

But the show's creative team expect to know even before then whether the show is resonating with early audiences exactly the way they want it to.

"In the first 10 days of the previews, we will know if there is indeed the chemistry we expect there to be between what's happening on the stage and the audience," Wallace said.

And while this week's three full-length dress rehearsals leading up to Thursday's first public performance may not sound like much preparation time, they come on the heels of four rigorous months of rehearsing individual scenes and sequences, from stirring song solos to giant battles.

Wallace said there are unlikely to be any major changes between Thursday night's initial performance and the gala opening night show on March 23.

"The subtleties of change have to do with the fine-tuning of the suspension of disbelief," he said.

The downside is that those seven weeks will also give diehard Tolkien fans a chance to spill the show's secrets all over the Internet before opening night even arrives.

Wallace said the creative team, cast and crew are aware that some people will "immediately go out and report to the Tolkien fan base what our Hobbits look like, what Gandalf looks like, what version of the Balrog have we done, how true have we been to the books."

Wallace's advice to those who don't want the surprises ruined is to simply avoid reading any of the inevitable Internet spoilers.

And while theatre critics won't review the show until the March 23 opening, everyone behind the production is prepared for their work to be judged from the moment the curtain goes up Thursday night."We're up for that," Wallace said. "There's no hiding The Lord Of The Rings."

[JewelSong]

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

My friend Connie Marie and I will be there (along with Allison from the filk group "Urban Tapestry") at the matinee on Saturday, February 11!

I will post a full report upon my return!

[Alatar]

I expect a virtual novel! I am so envious!

Please, even if you hate, hate, hate it, try to give a full review. I fully expect major alterations and contractions, so all I'm looking for is that the spirit of the novel remains.

[JewelSong]

I don't expect to hate it. In fact, after seeing that brief clip of the rehearsal, I am positively drooling with anticipation.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I expect spoilers of Marty-like proportions.

[Athrabeth]

I am absolutely staggered!

After sneering (yes, I admit it!) at the news of a LOTR musical well over a year ago, I have to say that this looks like it has the makings of something very special.

Thanks so much for this thread, Alatar!

I am SO looking forward to Jewel's review.

[Rowanberry]

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

My friend Connie Marie and I will be there (along with Allison from the filk group "Urban Tapestry") at the matinee on Saturday, February 11!

I will post a full report upon my return!

Say hello to Allison (Shaal) from the TORC Walking Group - we've missed her.

[Alatar]

From TORN

LOTR Musical Premiere Pushed Back?

1/30/06, 8:42 pm EST - Xoanon
Greg writes: I often check out TheOneRing.net, yet I don't know how to contribute to your news flashes. I have one from Toronto. I just received a call from TicketKing (ticket manager for Mirvish events) and I was told that the World Premiere Performance scheduled for this Thursday February 2nd has been cancelled as well as the performance for Friday. The new Premiere will be this Saturday February 4th at 7:00 PM. For those fans like myself that jumped on tickets when they first went on sale this is obviously a huge disappointment. Some Single tickets still are available for this Saturday's performance.

[JewelSong]

Well, I have tix for the next weekend (Feb 11th) and they damn well better not cancel.

[Alatar]

More on this:

Massive Lord of the Rings Delays First Preview By Two Days; Starts Feb. 4 in Toronto

By Kenneth Jones
31 Jan 2006

The Lord of the Rings, the theatrical event premiering at Toronto's Princess of Wales, will start Feb. 4, two days later than originally announced.

"After four years of planning we are so close to delivering, to its first audience, a show we will all be extremely proud of," producer Kevin Wallace said in a statement. "We had every expectation of putting this together in 17 weeks of rehearsal, including five full weeks of on-stage rehearsals. However, the process is going to take an additional 48 hours, and regrettably that means the first two scheduled preview performances will be moved and the first performance will now be on Saturday Feb. 4."

Although the first two originally scheduled performances will not take place, the schedule for all other performances will be unaffected, except for an additional performance on Thursday March 2 at 7 PM. The gala opening night will take place on Thursday March 23 at 6:30 PM.

The enterprise of the $27 million (Canadian) musical is so complex that one would be surprised if a delay didn't happen.

Producers Kevin Wallace and Saul Zaentz, in association with David & Ed Mirvish and Michael Kohl are behind a show expected to run 3 hours, employ hundreds of artists and technicians and condense the three large novels of the famed fantasy trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The work (not billed as a musical, technically, but certainly fueled by the music of A.R. Rahman and the group Värttinä, with Christopher Nightingale) has book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus, set and costume design by Ron Howell, lighting design by Paul Pyant, sound design by Simon Baker for Autograph, music supervision by Christopher Nightingale, moving image design by The Gray Circle, "Tolkien creative consultation" by Laurie Battle, special effects design by Gregory Meeh, illusions and magic effects by Paul Kieve, musical direction by Rick Fox (yes, the music will be live), orchestrations by Christopher Nightingale, Rahman and Värttinä, choreography by Peter Darling, direction by Matthew Warchus.

For more information, visit www.lotr.com.

For ticket-holders of Feb. 2-3, the performance of Feb. 2 has been rescheduled to March 2 at 7 PM. Feb. 2 patrons can use their original tickets on the new date. If they cannot make that date, they can contact TicketKing at (416) 872-1212 or (800) 461-3333 to rebook by Feb. 17.

Ticket-holders to the Feb. 3 performance will be offered comparable seats to any other available performance. Patrons should contact TicketKing at (416) 872-1212 or (800) 461-3333 to make the ticket exchange.

[Alatar]

Gambling on Gollum

By MICHAEL POSNER

Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Posted at 3:28 AM EST

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

According to the calendar, opening night for the most ambitious theatre project in history -- the $27-million production of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings -- is still seven weeks away.

But for the show's producers, cast and creative team, the March 23 world premiere at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre is only a distant focus of attention.

The date that looms much larger in significance is actually much closer: on Saturday -- the night of the first preview, the first public performance of the three-hour-and-30-minute (with two intermissions) adaptation.

By the sheer cost, scope and audacity of the production -- its unprecedented budget, its epic scale -- producers Kevin Wallace, David Mirvish and Michael Cohl will enshrine their names in the history of commercial theatre, win or lose.

But the reaction of the audience to Saturday's show -- and to 42 other previews scheduled before opening night -- will go a long way toward determining whether the historic citation comes with accolades or demerits.

"I'm really curious to see first the 10 days of previews, and the chemistry of the stage and the audience," says Wallace. "Do they embrace the story and the actors and all the special effects? I want to see how they respond to the totality. If it doesn't work, we will tweak and fine-tune and address moments of weakness. If anything, that's the area we will be in."

Insiders say the preview period, while not decisive, will be a critical indicator of whether the show is a major hit, a middling curiosity or an outright flop. But the early buzz from those few who have penetrated the security cordon set up around rehearsals is positive.

Major theatre names from London and New York have been phoning for tickets. The advance sale has now eclipsed $15-million.

In many ways, the stakes appended to The Lord of the Rings could not be higher.

Financially, dozens of investors and backers, including the province of Ontario and Tourism Toronto, have rolled the dice, with wagers ranging from $10,000 to millions.

Professionally, Wallace and his entire creative team -- director and co-writer Matthew Warchus, co-writer Shaun McKenna, choreographer Peter Darling, designer Rob Howell and composers A. R. Rahman and the Finnish folk ensemble Varttina -- have committed at least two years of their lives and laid their reputations on the line.

For the city of Toronto, battling to regain its status as a major theatre mecca, The Lord of the Rings holds enormous promise. If it succeeds, it will finally erase the stigma left by SARS and the collapse of Garth Drabinsky's Livent empire, and inject millions of dollars in tourism revenues. If it fails, it may be a long time before outside producers decide to build a new show here.

LOTR is a gamble, too, for David Mirvish, the country's leading theatrical producer. He has $1-million of his own money invested and another million through Mirvish Productions. Beyond that, the impresario is testing his "credibility and judgment and what I've chosen to bring" to the marketplace.

It was one thing, he noted in an interview, to persuade the producers of Mamma Mia! to mount a Toronto production of their hit show before taking it to Broadway. "Now," Mirvish said, "we're raising the bar. So what's at stake is changing people's thoughts about where theatre can originate. Usually, it's only done in London or New York. Other cities have tried, but no one has succeeded at what were trying to do. Nothing of this magnitude, certainly. So this could change the equation of how we think about the city and ourselves and what we can do."

As for the creative team, Mirvish says they've been given "an enormous trust" by the Tolkien estate to do justice to the work. Vast resources have been put behind them, "in the belief they will do something extra. It will change all of their lives if they succeed, and they know it. Personally, Kevin Wallace has bet the house on this show. It's everything, his whole life. He has no other interests."

Wallace denies it. He's still as crazy about soccer as he was as a kid growing up in Limerick, Ireland. But "yes," he says, "I have absolutely everything tied up in this and I'm proud of it. I had to put everything in to keep it going because otherwise it would have gone down and I did not want to play safe. We're all sticking our necks out. We want the eyes of the world on us. And we will be remembered as the people who brought Lord of the Rings to the stage, and be judged by audiences and critics accordingly."

And if it fails? Wallace refuses to entertain the idea. "Out of superstition, we just don't go there. Going into battle, you do not entertain defeat. Everything is marshalled for success. You are expecting to be victorious."

But other observers say the stakes may not be as high as they appear. "I actually think it is such a difficult thing to pull off that a failure would not reflect badly on anyone," says Dory Vanderhoof, a Toronto-based cultural consultant. "At worst it will be called a noble effort, a noble failure."

Nor, maintains Vanderhoof, is there any appreciable downside for the city. "If it fails, it won't be Toronto's fault. This is a great theatrical market. It has great audiences and the community has really gotten behind this show."

The Ontario government, others note, has probably already made back in income and sales taxes the $3-million it lent to the production. At a minimum, even if the Princess of Wales is only 70 per cent occupied, the show will run for a year, and generate millions in hotel, restaurant and cab revenues.

And if it works, The Lord of the Rings, may revolutionize the art of stagecraft. "On the Twentieth Century was not great theatre," Vanderhoof says, "but technically it was the most amazing show anyone had ever seen. It changed the way we look at musicals. This show may do that."

Of its $27-million capital cost, about $20-million comes from Canada, the rest from Britain. In a best-case scenario, insiders say, the show could recoup its original investment within 37 weeks. More likely, it will take a year or slightly more. Running costs are expected to run about $1-million a week.

Last week, both Mirvish and Wallace made presentations at a dinner meeting of the Toronto Board of Trade. "I talked about why we came here and not New York," Wallace says, "to remind them of the level of excellence that exists here, but you don't see because it's under your nose. The talent is here. You need to celebrate it."

Mirvish lauded the recent wave of cultural spending on museums, art galleries and opera houses, but noted that the buildings mean nothing until there's something inside them. "Soon, we will have to turn our minds to content."

Mirvish says he is cautiously optimistic that The Lord of the Rings provides the kind of content to which audiences will respond. "I don't want to create too great an expectation. I want people to have their own experience. But it all comes down to the show. For all the toys and special effects, we're still depending on a group of people in their late teens and 20s to whom we've effectively entrusted millions of dollars."

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

For all the toys and special effects, we're still depending on a group of people in their late teens and 20s to whom we've effectively entrusted millions of dollars."

So no pressure there then.

One of the cast is my namesake and my father's elder brothers did go to Canada before the Great War. I must research lost family links. Are you sleeping much at the moment Alatar?