# Lord Of The Rings musical



## GuardianRanger (Apr 16, 2006)

I looked, and I didn't see this posted. I hope I didn't miss it.

The March 27th issue of Time magazine had a two page article on The Lord Of The Rings musical that is opening in Toronto.

What I found interesting about hte article is that some of the costumes seem to be right out of Jackson's films. In one picture, you see Frodo, and he's wearing a shirt with the white tree of Gondor on it. I thought the tree exactly like the warriors of Gondor wore. Yes, there are many interpretations, I just thougth it a little coincidence. In another picture, you see Gandalf singing. Gandalf is clothed almost EXACTLY as Gandalf the Grey from the movies.

Has anyone seen the musical yet?


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## Noldor_returned (Apr 17, 2006)

Nope. But I sure hope it gets out to Australia, so I _can_ see it.

As for the costumes, I have a copy of ROTK which shows the same image. It wasn't all just PJ's work.


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## Alcuin (Apr 17, 2006)

I’m sorry. “Lord of the Rings Musical”. I have this vision of the Nine Nazgûl standing in a row across stage, dressed in deepest sable, faces obscured, arms across one another’s shoulders, iron-crowned Witch-king in the middle, high-kicking to a jazzy tune that begins, _It’s great to be a Ringwraith_…

Story from the CBC. Coverage from _Playbill_, the professional thespians’ magazine. The official site; _be aware that you cannot back-arrow out of the official site_: it has been set up as one of those abusive websites that doesn’t easily let you leave. (Nice drums, though.)


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## Noldor_returned (Apr 18, 2006)

Sure there's a lot of songs in LOTR, but I can't quite picture the musical version, however good it might be. A vision of an opera song with a battle of orcs and men just isn't Tolkienish.


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## Eledhwen (Jun 12, 2007)

*Now at the Theatre Royal, London*

This musical is now showing in London. Here's a video trailer of the production; it's refreshingly informative: 

VIDEO LINK

looks exciting!


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jun 12, 2007)

*Re: Now at the Theatre Royal, London*



Eledhwen said:


> This musical is now showing in London. Here's a video trailer of the production; it's refreshingly informative:
> 
> VIDEO LINK
> 
> looks exciting!



Couldn't get it to play — some sort of incompatibility between American and British servers, no doubt... **grumble grumble they can't even drive on the correct side of the street mumble grump**

Barley


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## Eledhwen (Jun 14, 2007)

*Re: Now at the Theatre Royal, London*



Barliman Butterbur said:


> Couldn't get it to play — some sort of incompatibility between American and British servers, no doubt... **grumble grumble they can't even drive on the correct side of the street mumble grump**
> 
> Barley


I just checked; It looks like none of the londontheatredirect.com videolinks are working at the moment, so maybe it'll come back.- they use Windows Media Player 11. 

So as not to disappoint, here's a clip of the London show from YouTube. There are plenty of other clips from the Canadian production too (and some parodies).


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jun 14, 2007)

*Re: Now at the Theatre Royal, London*



Eledhwen said:


> I just checked; It looks like none of the londontheatredirect.com videolinks are working at the moment, so maybe it'll come back.- they use Windows Media Player 11.
> 
> So as not to disappoint, here's a clip of the London show from YouTube. There are plenty of other clips from the Canadian production too (and some parodies).



All is forgiven! Damned clever, impressive and powerful! Just that snippet gave me goose bumps! Impressive music as well! Wow!

Barley


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## Eledhwen (Jun 15, 2007)

*Re: Now at the Theatre Royal, London*



Barliman Butterbur said:


> All is forgiven! Damned clever, impressive and powerful! Just that snippet gave me goose bumps! Impressive music as well! Wow!
> 
> Barley


Isn't it just! I hope it doesn't disappear before I have the time/money to go and see it. They're always much harder to catch when they go on regional tours (and this might not, with such an elaborate stage). I'll keep trying to get the original videoclip back, it was documentary in style and much longer. It was powered by Theatrevision, and they seem to be undergoing some sort of reorganisation at the moment.


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## Noldor_returned (Jun 15, 2007)

Is this musical just going to be in Britain/Europe, or is it going abroad? Perhaps somewhere close enough for an Australian to see?


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## Eledhwen (Jun 18, 2007)

It started life in Toronto, Canada; so there's every chance it will go elsewhere - at least in the English speaking world.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jun 18, 2007)

Eledhwen said:


> It started life in Toronto, Canada; so there's every chance it will go elsewhere - at least in the English speaking world.



Here's hoping it gets to L.A.!

Barley


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## Starflower (Aug 31, 2007)

going to shamelessly promote this: The music in the LoTR musical has been created by a Finnish folk music ensemble called Varttina. Which I think is strangely appropriate considering the connection between Tolkien and Finnish mythology


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## Starflower (Oct 3, 2007)

Well - I went to see this.

still mixed opinion about this... on one hand it was incredibly impressive - they have obviously spent a lot of time and effort with the casting and the set, the music was excellent too.

But was it Tolkien? In some parts yes - surprisingly faithful. In other parts, especially towards the end, it felt like Tolkien was out the window completely. 
Of course, being a 3-hour musical, you have to compress things to make it work. They had left Rohan out completely, but then somehow fused Denethor and Theoden together to make a steward-character. 

The score was very impressive and the cast were accomplished singers, and as a musical, I thought it worked very well. 

If you didn't like the films, you may not like this either. On the other hand, if you are new to all things Tolkien, this may be the thing to stir your imagination.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 4, 2007)

Starflower said:


> Well - I went to see this.
> 
> still mixed opinion about this... on one hand it was incredibly impressive - they have obviously spent a lot of time and effort with the casting and the set, the music was excellent too.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the review! 

There are indeed a large troop of poor shriveled fundamentalist souls who can't stand _anything_ that is not _echt_ Tolkien, and for such faintly effluvious individuals I've nothing but pity.

On the other hand there are those who enjoy _variations on a theme_ such as myself, and, as I said in my last post, I hope it gets to L.A. especially now that I've read your review! 

Barley

EDIT: I just went back to look at the rest of the UTube videos on this musical that have piled up since the last time I was there. This is one fine musical! The scenes and songs between Frodo and Sam are utterly charming and touching; the music is superbly conceived and orchestrated. I say to all: THIS IS A MUST-SEE!


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## Starflower (Oct 4, 2007)

I took my husband to see it for his birthday and he absolutely and utterly loved it. He likes all things Tolkien, and many variations too, whereas I tend to be a little more cautious and don't like things that are _too_ different. Some of the cast in the London show were in the original Toronto one, and it showed. Those were the ones who really shone, they were the magical performances. 
In the particular showing that we went to see, the part of Sam was played by an understudy, but he was brilliant - so much so that I find it hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

There were many children in the audience too, and parts of the show were interactive, so it seems to go down well with the approx 8-12 year olds.

So, I think it is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you will not see another spectacle like it. 
But just don't go in expecting a faithful rendition of Tolkien cause it isnt.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 4, 2007)

Starflower said:


> I took my husband to see it for his birthday and he absolutely and utterly loved it. He likes all things Tolkien, and many variations too, whereas I tend to be a little more cautious and don't like things that are _too_ different. Some of the cast in the London show were in the original Toronto one, and it showed. Those were the ones who really shone, they were the magical performances.
> In the particular showing that we went to see, the part of Sam was played by an understudy, but he was brilliant - so much so that I find it hard to imagine anyone else in the role.
> 
> There were many children in the audience too, and parts of the show were interactive, so it seems to go down well with the approx 8-12 year olds.
> ...



Now I want to see it all the more! 

Barley


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## Noldor_returned (Oct 7, 2007)

The way people are talking I want to go if it gets to Australia, but as it not being Tolkien I don't mind. Tolkien was an author, and this won't exactly be the same so as long as the storyline is followed, I'm happy.


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## Josephine (Oct 26, 2007)

Like I said at another place in this forum, I saw the musical last month in London and enjoyed it. It's a good show, with some touching songs and really cool special effects. Of course a lot of things are missing, but that just can't be avoided (unless you want to have something like those performances of Wagner's "Ring", when people come in the afternoon and stay all night). If you're in London and want to spend a nice evening, I recommend watching the show. It's also nice for people who haven't seen that many musicals yet, for there isn't all that much singing, but a lot of action.


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