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The Official LotR Musical Thread - Review Added

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Posted: Tue 17 May , 2005 11:06 am
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From Toronto Star

Christopher Nightingale is the orchestrator and musical supervisor of the $27-million stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings currently holding auditions in Toronto, and there's one thing he wants to make perfectly clear.

"I definitely wouldn't describe it as a musical."

That's despite the fact this epic production is going to require two composers, 18 musicians, a singing company of 51 and — in Nightingale's own words — "there are very few moments in the show when music isn't playing."

"Tolkien's original book is packed with music," he continues. "The question isn't how do you do the story with music, but how do you do it without?"

But it won't be a conventional piece of musical theatre by any stretch of imagination, a fact Nightingale is eager to convey with the comforting news that "Frodo won't be singing a big ballad about how heavy the ring is and he can't go on."

As he describes things we're not going to find in the show, there's an impish grin on the 39-year-old's face that would make him good casting for Samwise, but don't be deceived.

This Cambridge-educated veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company has the same intellectual rigour that executive producer Kevin Wallace seems to have insisted on as a job requirement for anyone working on this project.

Nightingale admits that both he and director Matthew Warchus shared a certain amount of trepidation about signing on for the seemingly impossible task of bringing one of the most beloved works of modern literature to the musical stage.

"Initially, we were all a little bit doubtful about whether or not this could be done," he confides. We asked each other if there was a way of doing the story, musically, that wasn't embarrassing, but honest to the book and its emotion."

So they began by deciding what the music for this project wouldn't be like.

"Not a relative of Les Misérables," announces Nightingale confidently. "Certainly not Rodgers & Hammerstein or even Stephen Sondheim."

But having eliminated all those options, they discovered that "we had to go to an extreme the other way before we could find a way in."

And then, strange as it may seem, they found it in a relatively obscure piece of music theatre written by Tom Waits.

Although it has nothing to do with The Lord of the Rings, it bore the eerily appropriate title of The Black Rider.

Waits wrote the work for avant-garde director Robert Wilson in collaboration with beat novelist William Burroughs and it premiered in Hamburg in 1990.

Nightingale and Warchus found it "very experimental and very creepy."

That appealed to the duo because their biggest concern in coming up with a musical concept was how to define the dark side.

"That's the big elephant trap because you don't want any of that scary movie dum-de-dum-dum sort of stuff."

What they found in Waits was "an Eastern European quality, strange and seemingly beautiful but also slightly off-centre. We heard it and we said, `That's the way, that's the door.'"

Although Waits had pointed the way, they felt they needed something with a more primal quality to deal with Tolkien's mythic world.

And their search led them to the Finnish contemporary folk-roots music group Värttinä.

Nightingale recalls hearing one of their songs about a woman slowly going crazy in a forest after being bitten by a snake.

"It was extraordinary. Demonic and abrasive but fascinating." Although Värttinä's sound is perfect for certain elements of The Lord of the Rings, Nightingale sensed that an additional quality was needed and he found it at his fingertips.

Nightingale was working as musical supervisor for the London production of Bombay Dreams and he became drawn to the music of the show's composer, A.R. Rahman.

"With Värttinä, we had a brittle, Nordic sort of feel, but Rahman allows us to tap into the East, with an exoticism full of long lines and a luxuriant atmosphere about it."

When asked to pinpoint the most engaging quality of Rahman's music, Nightingale says: "There's a passion about it. It comes absolutely from his soul. Rahman won't write anything unless he feels spiritually right about it. Speaking in elemental terms, he's the air.

"Värttinä has different motivating urges. They're the earth." And almost as if anticipating the next question, Nightingale volunteers, "They both do the fire."

The logical assumption might be that each composer provides material for different types of characters — Värttinä for the hobbits, Rahman for the elves — and Nightingale agrees that has happened, but "purely by accident. It wasn't a conventional choice."

In fact, on some material, the two wildly different composers wound up working together.

"There's one piece early in the show," explains Nightingale, "called `The Journey Song.' It had to reflect the wide-eyed naiveté of the hobbits, but yet offer us an other-worldly feeling as well. We took a melody that Rahman had written and Värttinä applied their own particular take on it. The result is magical."

When asked how two such disparate styles can be married in one song, Nightingale grins self-effacingly. "I guess you could say that I'm the glue."

It sounds like he's providing a fair bit of adhesive action on the project, because he describes the team's goal as "wanting to create some kind of common ethnicity so that the hugeness of the world could be described. There's nothing you will hear that's out of place, but yet you can't put your finger precisely on any point of origin."

Obviously actors don't audition for a work like this with conventional Broadway songs, and Nightingale shares that "we've been hearing a lot of Newfoundland-based tunes. When we want to hear what people sound like we try them out on Finnish folk pieces or even some gypsy chants."

And just like Frodo and Sam, the show's music goes on a considerable journey as well. "It starts out very small, very primitive, but as it progresses, it grows much more complex. By the time you get to the final battle, the apocalypse, it should be absolutely awe-inspiring and frightening, using everything available to us."

For a moment, Nightingale seems overwhelmed by the task, but remembers a thought that centres him.

"The music is already all there in the book. Our job is to translate it onto the stage. It's Tolkien's cues but our interpretation."

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Posted: Tue 17 May , 2005 12:07 pm
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Sounding good so far. The fox better be in it.

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Posted: Wed 18 May , 2005 1:37 pm
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From Playbill.com

Go, Go, Go, Frodo! Lord of the Rings Musical Takes $1 Million in First Day of Sales
By Kenneth Jones
17 May 2005

Tickets to the new lavish stage musical, The Lord of the Rings, went on sale May 15 — nine months before its premiere — and rang up $1 million within 24 hours, according to The Star in Toronto.

The figure is in Canadian dollars, but is still impressive, especially when added to the reported $3 million in group sales so far. A spokesperson for the show confirmed to Playbill.com that these initial figures are accurate. Interest from U.S. theatregoers was reported by the Star as intense.

The $27 million (Canadian) production condenses the three fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien — "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King" — into one 3-1/2-hour event, premiering at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre Feb. 2, 2006, toward an opening night of March 23, 2006.

The burst of sales (an exclusive internet offer starting 9 AM May 15 resulted in the $1 million) is an early suggestion that there will be a healthy crossover of the many fans who cherish the trilogy of fantasy novels and its motion picture spinoffs.

Mavens who can recite passages of the best-selling books have been heartened by the news that the show will seek to musically create the otherworldly quality of the quest tale rather than serve up Jerry Herman-esque numbers.

One might cringe imagining a quirky show tune of sweet admonition from Frodo called "Oh, Sam!," about hobbit pal Sam's dogged faithfulness. Don't expect it: Traditional musical theatre is not what India's most popular composer, A.R. Rahman, and the Finnish group Värttinä, collaborating with Christopher Nightingale, write.

What would the elves sing? What is the sound a hobbit dances to? Can an orc carry a tune?

Expect varied Asian- and European-influenced sounds to suggest the many tribes of the story. The book and lyrics are by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus.

The international creative team is led by acclaimed director Matthew Warchus (Broadway's recent True West, Life x 3, Follies and Art) and includes award-winning designer Rob Howell (set and costumes) and choreographer Peter Darling.

Casting has been ongoing. International performers are being sought, as long as they can work legally in Canada. Auditions continue throughout the summer, with rehearsals scheduled to begin in October 2005.

The show will boast an ensemble of 65 actors, singers and musicians, and condenses the three "Rings" novels into one 3-1/2-hour event.

"Teams of engineers, carpenters, painters, welders, prop-makers, armorers, cutters and seamstresses are focusing their efforts on realizing the design for the stage," according to production notes. "After an eight-month build, Rob Howell's inventive and spectacular stage floor, weighing 30 tons and costing $1.2 million (Canadian), is nearing completion in the U.K., ready for shipping to Toronto."

The Lord of the Rings is a Kevin Wallace Limited Production, presented by Kevin Wallace and Saul Zaentz, in association with David and Ed Mirvish and Michael Cohl.

In production notes, director Warchus said, "To read the novel is to experience the events of Middle-earth in the mind's eye; to watch the films is to view Middle-earth as though through a giant window. Only in the theatre are we actually plunged into the events as they happen. The environment surrounds us. We participate. We are in Middle-earth."

Of the casting, which began in recent weeks, producer Kevin Wallace said in a statement, "The ensemble of actors we engage for The Lord of the Rings will come from different backgrounds. The text requires classical actors; the songs demand a unique vocal style from the company. Many of the acting company will be multi-skilled with acting, vocal and/or physical theatre skills. As all the species of Tolkien's Middle -earth — hobbits, elves, orcs, men, etc, will appear on stage, the actors have to be sufficiently physically adept to take on the diverse characteristics of each…

"In addition there are some spectacular sequences that require members of the ensemble to have specialist circus and/or stage-combat skills. Therefore, we are also looking for a core group of these specialist performers to join the company."

As the Hobbits of the tale are child-sized creatures, men who are 5-foot-7-inches or shorter are being sought. To play the warrior folk, men must be 5-foot-11-inches or taller.

"Only Canadian citizens or those eligible to work in Canada need apply," according to a casting notice.

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Posted: Sat 04 Jun , 2005 12:16 am
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Alatar, are you thinking of coming to the Gathering? If you can bear to wait a little longer, i think the majority of people going are looking at the Gold Package, which includes tickets to the Convention, Banquet and the stage musical. Would mean you m77t, see the musical, and be surrounded by Tolkien fans for several days. :D

http://www.tolkiengathering.com

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Posted: Sat 04 Jun , 2005 7:34 am
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Ah Leafy, you have no idea how much I would like to. Unfortunately, with a wife and three kids it really is impossible for me to justify spending over €1000 on a weekend away just for me. Besides, I'd feel guilty knowing I could have taken the kids to Disneyland Paris with that money.

I think it's far more likely that I'll make a London M77t when it hits there in late 2006.

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Posted: Tue 26 Jul , 2005 3:34 pm
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From Pulse24.com

The Cast

Some names you know and some you don’t. But if the publicists and the stars have their way, it won’t stay that way for long.

Mirvish Productions unveiled the cast of its much vaunted and tremendously complicated upcoming play “The Lord of the Rings” on Monday.

The show will incorporate not only singers, dancers and actors, but acrobats and magicians as well, all trying to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s work to the stage.

Those who’ve been lucky enough to make the grade are sure they can make you a true believer.

“It is all based on faith and trust and hard work, and the love of the story, and the possibilities,” suggests Brent Carver, who’ll play Gandolf.

“And I think that Tolkien obviously wrote in this about the endless possibilities of imagination. And I think that it is about the imagination of this creative team that is going to just surprise and, I think, bring a lot of joy to people.”

Carver may be the best known among the cast and he has the credentials to prove it. He won a Tony Award for his Broadway role in "Kiss of the Spider Woman".

But British acting vet James Loye has an equally tough task ahead of him. He plays the lead Hobbit, Frodo, and knows he’s up against not only the legendary book, but what’s quickly become an equally legendary set of movies.

But he vows this will be something entirely different. “We’re not in any way basing this on the films,” he points out. “This is theatre. We’re basing it on the novel, sort of what Tolkien wants, really, so I think it would be silly not to.”

Also in the ensemble: Michael Therriault, late of “The Producers” and currently starring in the New York production of “Fiddler on the Roof”, as that ‘precious’ Gollum.

He’s still working on the character. “I just know we don’t want to look like the movie,” he laughs. “You don’t want to see me naked!” Now that would be truly evil.

Also on board: Richard McMillan, who local audiences might remember as Scar in the “Lion King”. Here, he lands the role of Saruman.

Middle Earth will have a distinctly Canadian flavour – 52 of the 55 people cast are from the Great White North.

But not only does the cast have a huge task ahead of them, they have a lot of reading to do. Many haven’t perused the trilogy in a long time – and a few confess they’ve never actually read the book.

If you want to find out if this play has a familiar Ring, you’ll have to wait for a while. It won’t premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre until next February 2nd.


July 25, 2005

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Posted: Wed 27 Jul , 2005 1:18 pm
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Thanks for the article :)

*quietly building anticipation*

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Posted: Wed 27 Jul , 2005 1:49 pm
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There's also a video here with some of the cast members:

http://www.pulse24.com/Showbiz/Top_Stor ... 3/page.asp

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Posted: Thu 28 Jul , 2005 4:23 pm
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1. The Black Rider is one of my favourite pieces of music ever.

2. Rahman! Iavas - if Bombay Dreams is the only thing you're heard by him...I actually think most of his Hindi movie soundtracks are far superior. Try to get the Dil Se soundtrack if you can. :)


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Posted: Thu 28 Jul , 2005 5:19 pm
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Melly, do you know of samples that I don't? Where can I get them? The only piece of music I've heard is on the flash site and that was unnamed.

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Posted: Thu 11 Aug , 2005 6:01 pm
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Of Rehman? No idea...I just own most of his music.

:love:

(Sorry, only just saw this)


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Posted: Wed 02 Nov , 2005 2:31 pm
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From Toronto Sun

'Lord Of The Rings' musical preview
By JOHN COULBOURN - Toronto Sun


A Lord Of The Rings acrobat demonstrates his high-flying skills. (Craig Robertson, SUN)

TORONTO - Things were hopping in Middle-Earth yesterday -- hopping, flying, jumping and stilt-walking, too.

As the first full week drew to a close of what will be many weeks of rehearsals for the upcoming stage production of Lord Of The Rings (opening in the Princess of Wales Theatre next March, after extensive previews), producers yesterday brought two of the show's key components together for a show-and-tell with Toronto media.

With the extensive acting cast seated at the back of the Eastern Ave. studios where the specifics of the gravity of Middle-Earth are being created, the show's acrobats took centre stage to strut their stuff -- stuff which, according to the show's Circus Skills Consultant Alex Frith, has been developed over three weeks of intensive physical exploration.

"It's been a great thing," Frith said, pointing out that more than 1,000 acrobat/performers were auditioned to create a field of 50, "so we've got the exceptional talent."

So exceptional, in fact, that the one-time dancer/circus performer claims the most difficult thing about the process so far has been "probably picking up and moving to Toronto (from London). Everything else is going well ."

At 54, actor Richard McMillan -- who plays evil wizard Saruman -- is one of the senior members of the acting company. Yesterday's high-flying demonstration left him more than a trifle breathless, despite the fact that he's a veteran of the theatrical production of The Lion King, in which he played Scar.

"I was terrified, at first," McMillan said after the demo, adding he's comforted by the fact that his character doesn't sing and dance.

"Gymnastics, no way," he added with a laugh.

That doesn't mean there won't be risk-taking ahead in what is certain to prove to be a challenging undertaking for the acting company, as they distill three books into a three hour-plus stage show.

"Mostly, the challenge is going to be to enhance the contraction of the characters," McMillan said.

In that, he thinks the entire company has a fine guide in director Matthew Warchus.

"You're lucky if you meet five directors in your life who have a profound influence on you," McMillan said. "Matthew is one of them."

Clearly, Toronto actor and funnyman Cliff Saunders, cast as part of the ensemble, concurs.

"I like this director," Saunders says. "I like where he's coming from in terms of human emotion and what makes people behave in certain ways."

As for the show itself, it's early days -- and Saunders is finding it a far cry from his work on Beauty And The Beast, which was already set when it came to Toronto.

"I like that I come in not knowing anything," he said. "I don't know how it will be. We'll find out. In Canadian theatre, we're used to working like that."

It's a style of work to which producer Kevin Wallace could obviously become happily accustomed.

"It's exhilarating," Wallace said enthusiastically of the process he's worked so hard to launch. "I think we've all become aware of the diversity of the talent in this room.

"Everybody is feeding off each other."

It appears the Fellowship of the Ring has indeed begun.

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Posted: Mon 21 Nov , 2005 12:43 pm
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First look at the new TV spot. I assume it's also a first hearing of some of the score. Sounds interesting.

http://82.112.100.50/hosting/lotr/index-flash.htm

This is a little old but worth a read:
Quote:
Interview with the Producer

How much will LOTR cost?
CAD $27,000,000.

How long have you been working on the show?
It is four years since an early draft of Shaun McKenna's stage adaptation was brought to my attention.

Does it cover all three books from the trilogy?
The stage version is an adaptation of all three books. When you focus on telling the story as a piece of theatre you can do justice to the books in one epic evening.

How long will the show be?
Three hours of stage time divided, as you would expect, into three acts.

Are there singing, dancing hobbits?
Not the kind you are probably thinking of! The director Matthew Warchus has said something helpful on this point…"We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard conventions of Musical Theatre, but rather to expand those conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien's material. As a result, we will be presenting a hybrid of Text, Physical Theatre, Music and Spectacle never previously seen on this scale".

There are songs in the show, and music virtually the whole way through, but there is also storytelling through action and the spoken word. Like in the books, the characters in the stage adaptation use songs that are already part of their culture to express themselves. They do not sing as in a traditional musical, (for example to the audience about their inner thoughts), but as in a culture with a strong singing tradition, they use music as part of their everyday life.

Will it be like the film and how will you do all the special effects and battles?
The set is amazing and the imaginative designs of the creatures, for example the Black Riders, Shelob, The Balrog and the Ents are going to really surprise, scare, delight and thrill the audience. For example, Shelob is a monstrous, very frightening spider that stretches over the 40 foot stage. The Black Riders are performers riding inside "horse-like creatures" so that the whole thing becomes one - part man part horse - and you really get the sense of menace the Black Riders have in the books.

Will all the characters from the book appear on stage?
All the major characters and many of the minor characters appear in the stage adaptation.

Fans of Tolkien really know their material. Is anybody advising you on your Tolkien references?
We have had the pleasure of working very closely with Laurie Battle who is the Head of Licensing at Tolkien Enterprises and our Tolkien Creative Consultant. Laurie has advised directly and also pointed us in the right direction to check our sources on particular points.

Will any of the actors from the films be in the show?
The actors in the films were great, but we are looking for our own group of actors who share the right stage chemistry to create these characters and establish the relationships between the characters.

What kind of actors will be in the show?
LOTR is a huge show with numerous great roles and we are looking for actors with some combination of skills drawn from classical acting or physical theatre; great singing voices and/or circus and stunt skills. The company will be very fit by the end of rehearsals in order to play their roles 8 times a week! The set is full of moving parts and the Fellowship really do journey from Rivendell to Mordor. It is a very physical show. The Battle of Helm's Deep will be one of the biggest stage sequences ever seen.

Will you cast stars in the lead roles?
We are auditioning across Canada and who knows who will end up in the cast. There are so many fantastic parts to play that I expect actors will be very eager to be in LOTR.

Will there be a cast album?
I expect we will record the show soon after it opens in March 2006. Audiences like to take home a recording of the actors they have just heard, and the music and songs are so great that we want to record the score as soon as possible.

How many songs are there?
There is non-stop music. The action sequences are like mini-symphonies, Helm's Deep is a fantastic number with some great percussion inspired by Indian and mid-European musical traditions, and The Last Battle will be extraordinary. Our Hobbits have a distinctive musical tradition that is very catchy and a lot of fun.

There are 14 landmark music numbers in the show as well as other wonderful action sequences that are instrumental musical sequences in their own right - such as the Flight to the Ford and Gandalf's confrontation with The Balrog.

Frodo and Sam have a beautiful song in Act Two, Gollum has a virtuoso solo number that is very unusual, Gimli sings a wonderful, haunting "ancient" lament. And Galadriel has a magnificent musical number in Lothlòrien. One of the really exciting aspects of the score is how voices are used as part of the orchestration. This has been inspired by the three Värttinä singers' Finnish vocal tradition.

Are the lyrics taken from the books?
Our lyrics are inspired by the themes and language of the books - and in some cases are inspired by particular songs or lines in the books. People who know the books intimately will enjoy the references.

Do the Elves speak or sing in Elvish?
Yes, interestingly Tolkien used Finnish as the basis for Elvish and the elves do sing in their own language as well as in English. The other "tongues" found in the books are also found in the stage adaptation.

Who is composing the music?
The Indian composer A.R. Rahman and the Finnish group Värttinä are writing the score with our Musical Supervisor, Christopher Nightingale. This has proved a phenomenally successful collaboration. The different musical traditions have inspired each other and the result is that everybody is writing material with a twist that really does give Middle-earth a unique sound. The overall collaborative nature of the project has also given the composers a firm basis from which to work and Matthew Warchus' overall brief has been inspirational.

What is the youngest age you recommend seeing the show?
I know that eight year olds enjoy the books and the films, and as each of our three acts is an hour or less I believe it is suitable for children from eight years. Of course, some body will come along and tell me they know a child of six who loves going to the theatre. I advise that people should use their own discretion and bring children who are old enough to enjoy the performance.

Will it play anywhere else besides Toronto?
Toronto will be the only place in the world where LOTR will play for at least nine months. We are expecting the London production to open in late 2006. Toronto will be the only North American production of LOTR for at least 18 months.


KEVIN WALLACE
15 MARCH 2005

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Playbill behind the scenes documentary. Some lovely touches here... well worth a look!

http://82.112.100.50/hosting/lotr/dvd-p ... -flash.htm

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Posted: Wed 30 Nov , 2005 4:58 pm
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From Toronto Star

[quote]Lord of the sets
Nov. 30, 2005. 10:33 AM
RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
THEATRE CRITIC

Ask Rob Howell about his schedule for the next while and he simply laughs.

“I’ve just drawn a line straight through my calendar from now until the evening of March 23rd.â€

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Continuing my conversation with myself....
Quote:

By JOHN MCKAY

Monday, December 12, 2005 Posted at 7:31 PM EST

Canadian Press

Like an orc invasion, the media descended on a stark east-end rehearsal studio Monday for what producers promised would be a "taste" of the massive theatrical production of Lord of the Rings, scheduled to open in February.

With no props, costumes, sets or lighting — just a bare stage and some recorded music — six excerpts from the three-hour, $27-million Mirvish production based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy trilogy were performed in front of an outsider audience for the very first time.

"The world is waiting for Toronto, for Ontario, for Canada to offer this great epic story to it for the first time ever," Irish-born producer Kevin Wallace declared to the gathered throng.

"Yes, it's a world premiere and it is yours!"

There were majestic, menacing stilt walkers depicting those dreaded ringwraiths, diminutive actors as Frodo Baggins and his Hobbit company, wooden swords, fair elf maidens and a simple gold ring in the centre of it all.

And less than eight weeks from now, when the whole thing is ready to be unveiled on the city's Princess of Wales stage, impressive special effects are promised too, the theatre's own unique equivalent of the kind of digital effects that made the Peter Jackson film trilogy such an impressive cinema experience.

But the Rings stage experience will be attracting fans from far and wide, fans who may not be regular theatregoers, who may be more used to the ready-made audio-visual stimuli provided by movies.

Wallace didn't see that as a problem.

"This is a scale the likes of which frankly nobody will have seen before," he promised. "You're standing within 15 feet of Frodo. You can see the sweat on his brow. You can see the emotion in his eyes. And you're breathing the same air. That's a unique experience in the theatre."

And he rejected the suggestion that theatre is somehow an elitist experience.

"The theatre's a popular art form. It's a terrible thing when people think 'Oh this is just for a certain section of society,' It's not. The theatre's for everybody."

Canadian actor Brent Carver, who plays Gandalf, said the films were beautiful and Sir Ian McKellen was fantastic as the grey-bearded wizard. But he agreed the stage can offer extraordinary things.

"A simplicity that I think only the theatre can really give to a live audience, you know?"

And then there's music. Lilting solos, symphonic crescendos and mournful, eerie choruses.

"Mr. Jackson did an extraordinary job but they didn't include any of the songs," stressed Carver. "The book is filled with people expressing themselves fundamentally with music. Absolutely fundamental to their existence. Middle Earth was sung into existence."

The score was assembled from diverse sources: A.R. Rahman from India, the Finnish folk music group Varttina and British composer Christopher Nightingale. And Carver said it all works.

"Tolkien was mad about Nordic myths and the Finnish language, actually, and languages period. So it's very interesting that the world of Finland and India and Britain and Canada is all coming together in a way. . .to speak an international language."

If all goes well, the production will, within a year's time, be headed for London's West End. And eventually to Broadway.

"Yeah, but no hurry, though," said Wallace, content that Canada will always be where it began.

"It's going to be the place that I think Tolkien fans will come on pilgrimage to, to see the original production in Toronto."

Both Wallace and Carver admitted being nervous about presenting such a barebones sneak preview at this time, but they agreed that it will be positive for the production.

"It's actually good for the actors to taste what it's like to play this in front of an audience," said Wallace. "So it's a bit of a shot in the arm halfway through the rehearsal process. It did feel good."

Carver admitted it was nerve-wracking but there was "a very good feel in the room."

Wallace was asked, after following in filmmaker Peter Jackson's footsteps, if King Kong might be next for a theatrical musical.

"What a good idea!" he exclaimed.

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MaidenOfTheShieldarm
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Posted: Tue 13 Dec , 2005 9:36 pm
Another bright red day
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The director sounds like he knows what he's doing. Everything I've seen and read gives me faith in him.

I, for one, will be one of those heading to Toronto to see the original production.

Thanks for posting all of these articles, Alatar! :)

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mrs_whatsit
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What Maiden said, Alatar. This looks wonderful. I will be pawning off my 1999 Saturn SL1 if necessary for the tickets.

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ToshoftheWuffingas
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Posted: Wed 14 Dec , 2005 5:07 pm
Filthy darwinian hobbit
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Quote:
"who wouldn't be excited about working on a 45-foot spider?"
Sounds more like a centipede to me.

Thanks for keeping us informed of this Alatar.

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Alatar
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Posted: Mon 19 Dec , 2005 9:15 am
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Thanks to Wilma for this one! It's a clip of some rehearsal with interviews with the actors playing Frodo and Sam and a very short snippet of one of Frodo's songs.

http://www.spacecast.com/hypaspace.aspx

Scroll down and click on "Lord of the Rings: The Musical"

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