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. [More]
Day: February 5, 2006
Since The Lord of the Rings Symphony had its first performance in New Zealand in 2003, there has been no stopping this orchestral hit. When the Cleveland Orchestra, its Chorus and Children’s Chorus perform it this week, the number of performances will top 90 — a number that would make any contemporary classical composer envious. Seats for the three concerts, Friday through next Sunday at Severance Hall, are sold out. At press time, standing room tickets were still available for $15. Some $18 tickets remained for the open dress rehearsal on Thursday. [More]
TORONTO (CP) – Adelene and Tyana Mohamed are bonded by more than just bloodlines: their intense shared passion for the Lord of the Rings took them to the ends of the Earth to pay a visit to Middle-earth. The Mississauga, Ont., sisters headed to Queenstown, New Zealand, last September to visit the shooting sites used in the popular film versions of the epic mythical trilogy. “Our family thinks we’re a little weird, but the friends think it’s cool – they’re almost as bad as us,” said Adelene of their Lord of the Rings fixation. Their journey brought them full circle to Toronto’s Princess of Wales of Theatre for the opening night preview of the musical production of the Lord of the Rings. [More]
Vincent writes: Well I just saw the premiere THE LORD OF THE RING musical in Toronto. I must say it was quite the project to undertake given the amount of material and story depth. Overall I must say I was quite impressed with the way that it was portrayed. Most of the actors did an admirable job especially those of the Hobbits. [More]
Vincent writes: Well I just saw the premiere THE LORD OF THE RING musical in Toronto. I must say it was quite the project to undertake given the amount of material and story depth. Overall I must say I was quite impressed with the way that it was portrayed. Most of the actors did an admirable job especially those of the Hobbits. However gandalf, being an immensely important character did not posses enough presence needed to pull the whole thing together. The voice was just to soft and weak, and delivery of lines were rushed and unemotional. It is in my opinion that this was the weakest part of the production.
There were a few technical glitches that I am sure they will overcome with time. the stage itself was a round turntable like with many moving pieces which allowed to raise different parts to various levels creating a dynamically changing terrain and allowed quick set changes. the music was incredible and memorable and sure to become a classic indeed.
I highly recommend any and every tolkien fan to watch this production….it was unlike reading or watching middle earth it was like being there!!!