 Hobbits Spotted in ValenciaMorgan writes: Please let our Ringers in So. California know about this Hobbit play at the Performing Arts Center in Valencia , Ca. It should be very interesting to see what this production company does with it. It runs from May 1-3. Hobbits Spotted in Valencia More about Hobbit: Book, Stage Productions, The Hobbit LOTR Musical Ends London RunThe Musical Spectacular “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” will complete its run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London on 19 July, 2008 after 492 performances. The show has already played to an audience of over 446,000 in London since previews began on 9 May 2007. Due to the popularity of the London Production among international visitors, discussions are under way for the production to re-open in Germany in November 2009 with a German-speaking cast. “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” creative team is also developing a touring version to launch in New Zealand in 2009 before being presented in cities across Australia and the Far East. This new production will bring the show’s ground-breaking musical score and J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved story to a global audience. Producer Kevin Wallace said today, “The show’s creative team has proven just how enchanting, exhilarating and powerfully entertaining The Lord of the Rings can be live on stage. We will continue to bring this incredible theatrical event to audiences in London until 19 July, and we look forward to presenting the show to new audiences abroad from 2009.” Read the rest of this entry » More about Events, LotR: Stage, Stage Productions LOTR Musical & Ian McKellen Nab Olivier NodsThe JRR Tolkien adaptation - one of the most expensive West End shows in history - received four nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards. The stage version of The Lord Of The Rings is also a best new musical contender, despite mixed reviews. Other nominations include best lighting, set design, costume and sound. Sir Ian McKellen also received a ‘best actor’ nomination for his portrayal as King Lear. The 32nd annual Laurence Olivier Awards ceremony will be held on 9 March at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, hosted by actor Richard E Grant. [More] More about Events, Ian McKellen, Stage Productions LOTR Theatre Soundtrack Coming Soon
More about Lord of the Rings, Merchandise, Music, Stage Productions Vote for The Lord of the Rings Musical
More about Events, Lord of the Rings, Stage Productions Jet Airways pays 15 million rupees for The Lord of the Rings(PRWEB) November 15, 2007 — India’s premier airline Jet Airways have announced their sponsorship worth 15 million rupees for the London original cast album of the Lord of the Rings that is currently being recorded. The stage version of Lord of the Rings, which is now booking three months in advance, opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in June 2007, and has proved to be a huge hit with reviewers and audiences alike. The first major stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic, the Lord of the Rings (http://www.lotr.com/), has now been seen by over 300,000 people in London. Read the rest of this entry » More about LotR: Stage, Stage Productions More LOTR Stage Reviews from the British PressAnonymous writes: Here are some reviews from the British press which I don’t think you have yet, First off from the New Statesman, some of the Sunday papers put their reviews on the web, other didn’t. This is from the Independent and the Guardian, and finally here is a roundup from The Times. More about Events, LotR: Stage, Old Main News, Stage Productions Lord of the Rings London Musical ReviewA fan’s review of the London Lord of the Rings musical You can’t squeeze a book the size of the Lord of the Rings into a 3 hour musical and satisfy either the hard core fans or those new to the story. But, I think they did a great job regardless. The pace is breath taking, but the core of the story comes through. The music suited the mood well enough and the staging and the solutions to bring much loved characters to life worked brilliantly. The hobbits came on stage while the audience was still coming in, and performed a little skit about catching fireflies, which was very endearing, and morphed into a song which without further fuss opened the musical. Spoilers ahead! The toughest characters to portray well were fantastic. Gollum was a writhing, menacing, wretched little creature. The dark riders were a marvel, scary and imposing. They were created by an actor on stilts, with the body and head of the horse supported by a pole that the actor manipulated, which was at square angles to the stilts. The ents you can’t really do on stage, but the solution to put the actors on stilts resulted in dignified beings with booming voices. Shelob was truly terrifying and the audience’s reaction was a pleasure to behold. The effect was created by several actors in dark outfits who worked the legs and the body – in much the same was as the Treebeard puppet was made to move in Peter Jackson’s movie. With the dark stage, all you initially saw were the long legs, advancing on poor Frodo. Which brings me to the parts that didn’t work so well. With little time to develop character or portray favorite scenes from the book, many characters were pale shadows of themselves, or wholly missing. For me the main disappointments were Aragorn and Gimli. Aragorn was too theatrical, with too little heart. However, his scene with dying Boromir was very moving, and the scene in front of the gates of Mordor where he gives a passionate speech to his fellow men in arms was thrilling. Gimli was cast based on his short stature and the actor’s voice had too high a pitch – but John Rhys Davis is a tough act to follow. Gandalf, Sam, the other hobbits and Galadriel all moved me well enough. For a musical there wasn’t actually that much music, beyond the music that set the mood in the background – no doubt the result of cutting 40 minutes of the length. Even then, I slightly resented the moments when characters burst out into song, unless it was appropriate to the story (e.g. singing at the Prancing Pony). Musicals aren’t really my thing, though, so others may feel wholly different on this. Also, the three different types of music didn’t always interact harmoniously. Varttina’s music was mostly used for ominous parts and the evil characters. The hobbit-y music and elvish music were very different from each other and from Varttina’s, which in itself was fine, but the transition from one to the other was sometimes jarring. So what was in and what was out? Highlight to read on! Tom Bombadil was out, which is no surprise. Rohan and the characters of the Golden Hall, along with the battle of Helm’s Deep and the love story between Eowyn and Faramir were completely cut. However, Boromir looked more like Eomer, complete with long, blond hair, and Denethor’s failing health and subsequent resurrection by Gandalf reflected more Theoden than the Denethor of the books. Wormtongue and Theodred weren’t included either. Pippin and Merry’s journeys are very much pruned: Pippin doesn’t look into the Palantir (in fact Palantirs are not even mentioned), neither pledges alliegence their chosen kings, and their role in the destruction of Orthanc is hardly mentioned. Scouring of the Shire was gone, although the Shire had been badly spoiled by Saruman’s passing by and Sam got to use his gift from Galadriel. And, Saruman lives! There’s a confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman earlier, after which Saruman is allowed to leave. Later, on the hobbit’s return to the Shire, there are two lines about Saruman having passed that way and being of no further harm to anyone. Passing mention is made of the evolution of Gimli and Legolas’s relationship from antagonism to friendship. Faramir is a minor side character (blink and you’ll miss him), which means that the meeting of Frodo, Sam and Faramir never takes place. Celeborn I either missed completely or wasn’t there. Also, Gimli’s love of Galadriel gets a short nod. Frodo is stabbed in the Prancing Pony, not Weathertop. We do have the long awaited party, Gandalf and Saruman scene in Orthanc where Saruman’s treachery is revealed, and a few times where Bilbo and Frodo disappear when they put on the ring (the first time, when Bilbo uses the ring at his party was so well done, that I don’t know to this day how they did it!). Moria and Balrog’s battle with Gandalf were well done, except that the face of the Balrog creature looks silly. Arwen and Aragorn’s story is fairly well developed, which is why the fact that Arwen wasn’t part of Aragorn’s coronation was so shocking. They do share a moment and a kiss earlier on, and also during the end when the actors come to bow to the audience. All in all, I was delighted with the musical, cuts and all. If you do have a chance to see it, I can highly recommend it! More about Events, LotR: Stage, Old Special Reports, Stage Productions LOTR Musical in Germany?
More about Events, LotR: Stage, Old Main News, Stage Productions ‘Lord of the Rings’ on London’s West EndLONDON, June 19 (UPI) — The Theatre Royal in London’s West End launched the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” The show, which cost $24.9 million and features 17 pneumatic lifts beneath the stage, began previews in May, the BBC reported Tuesday. The production debuted in Toronto last year but was cut by about 35 minutes for the West End opening after it wasn’t well-received by critics. [More] More about Events, LotR: Stage, Old Main News, Stage Productions |
 
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Boris writes: I just wanted to tell you that there is a new Tolkien Musical being done in Hamburg. It is called a “world premiere” apparently scheduled for February 2008 in a big theatre (3000 seats), with a big symphony orchestra (90 piece), three choirs and over 100 actors. And the photos look nice! The website is