Tickets are now on sale for the highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which will be presented live to film at Radio City Music Hall for two performances only, on Friday, October 8th and Saturday, October 9th, 2010. Following the success of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’s concert last October, the Academy Award®-nominated film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers gets the same treatment at the world-famous Radio City Music Hall. Beneath an immense 60-foot screen, Howard Shore’s Grammy®-winning complete original score will be performed live to Peter Jackson’s award-winning epic. Click here for high resolution images.

The music of Middle-earth will be brought to life by more than 300 musicians: Switzerland’s 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, The Grammy Award®-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and renowned soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, all under the direction of celebrated Maestro Ludwig Wicki.

Last fall, over 10,000 people filled Radio City for The Fellowship of the Ring shows. The New York Times said “the music of Middle-earth soared at Radio City Music Hall,” while Entertainment Weekly said “it was a terrific night at the theater.”

For tickets, please visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 1-866-858-0008. Tickets range from $59.00 – $150.00.

ABOUT THE FILM

Released on December 18, 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the second installment in Peter Jackson’s fantasy adventure film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Set in Middle-earth, the story picks up with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) search for the orc-captured Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd). All along, nefarious wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard. Highly acclaimed by critics and fans alike, the film earned over $925 million worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing films of the year in the U.S. and worldwide. The film remains one of the top-10 highest-grossing worldwide films of all time. It won two Academy Awards®, a Grammy® Award and three BAFTAs, and was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars®, Golden Globes®, and BAFTA Awards.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Howard Shore (Composer) is among today’s most respected, honored, and active composers and music conductors. His work with Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, earning him three Academy Awards®. He has also been awarded four Grammys® and three Golden Globes. Shore was one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live where he served as the music director from 1975 to 1980. At the same time, he began collaborating with David Cronenberg, and has scored 12 of the director’s films, including The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, Naked Lunch and Eastern Promises for which he was honored with a Genie Award. Shore continues to distinguish himself with a wide range of projects, from Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, The Aviator, and Gangs of New York, to Ed Wood, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Shore’s music has been performed in concerts throughout the world. In 2003, Shore conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the work has had over 140 performances by the world’s most prestigious orchestras. In 2008, Howard Shore’s opera of The Fly premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and at The Los Angeles Opera. Other recent works include Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia and a piano concerto in 2010 for Lang Lang. He is currently working on his second opera and looks forward to a return to Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Shore received the Career Achievement for Music Composition Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and New York Chapter’s Recording Academy Honors, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award and the Frederick Loewe Award. He holds honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and York University and he is an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Ludwig Wicki (Conductor) began his career as a member of the Lucerne Symphony and Opera Orchestra and founder of the San Marco Brass and the Philharmonic Brass Quintet. After studying choral conducting with the music director of the world-renowned Dresdner Kreuzchores in Germany, Wicki became a permanent member of the Schola Romanum Luzernsis under the direction of Pater Roman Bannwart. Wicki then went on to become the music director at the Palace Chapel of Lucerne where he led the choir in Georgian chants and performances of Bach, Handel, Monteverdi and Palestrina, as well as the orchestra in works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and more. He inaugurated a Renaissance ensemble, Il Dolcimelo, and created the concert series Treffpunkt Haydn. In 1999, he founded the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, which has collaborated with internationally-renowned composers including Howard Shore, Randy Newman and Martin Böttcher. In 2007, the city of Lucerne presented Maestro Wicki with a Special Achievement Award for his contribution to the city’s cultural life.
Film music is the credo and passion of the Lucerne-based 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, led by Artistic Director Ludwig Wicki. The group has garnered wide acclaim for projects such as James Bond in Concert, Italian Film Music: An Hommage to Ennio Morricone and Maurice Jarre and An Evening with Randy Newman. In 2007, the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra entered into a partnership with Academy Award®-winner Howard Shore and has performed his complete score for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. live to the epic motion picture. The project continues with the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King in 2010.

The Grammy® Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus, now in its 17th season, is one of the country’s leading children’s choruses. Led by founder and artistic director Dianne Berkun, BYC choristers study and perform a range of music in classical and non-classical genres. The Chorus has toured Austria, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany; performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden and the White House; sung with major artists such as Elton John, Barbara Cook, Lou Reed, John Legend, Natasha Bedingfield, Fantasia Barrino, Ray Davies, Judy Collins, Andrea Bocelli, and Mark Morris Dance Group.
Kaitlyn Lusk made her major orchestral singing debut with the Baltimore Symphony in 2003 at the age of 14 and has since been sought after for solo appearances with many of the nation’s leading orchestras. Since the fall of 2004, Kaitlyn has been the featured vocal soloist in Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony. She has performed this role with over 25 orchestras in the United States and Canada from the Philadelphia Orchestra to the San Francisco Symphony, and from the Houston Symphony to the Minnesota Orchestra. She has performed with conductors including Keith Lockhart, Alexander Mickelthwate, Allaistar Willis, Stuart Malina, Nicolas Palmer, Markus Huber. In January 2007, Kaitlyn made her European debut with Maestro John Mauceri and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. In the summer of 2007, as part of an encore performance of The Lord of the Rings Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra, she once again performed with Howard Shore, who in 2005 invited Kaitlyn to perform the Academy Award®-winning song as part of the Grammy® Honors of Howard Shore in New York City. In addition to her live performances, Kaitlyn’s first studio album, No Looking Back, features some of the top musicians and songwriters in the industry today and was produced by the award-winning composer and arranger, Kim Scharnberg.

This event is presented by CAMI Music and New York Comic Con in association with TheOneRing.Net. Swiss International Air Lines is the official sponsor.

WWW.THERADIOCITYLOTRCONCERT.COM

If you are planning to costume or think you can send in a spy report, please e-mail SpyMaster@TheOneRing.net with “Edinburgh Fringe” in the subject line.

Valerie wrote in about the event:
ONE MAN LORD OF THE RINGS

EDINBURGH FRINGE – E4 UDDERBELLY, 6-16TH AUGUST

100,000 characters. Nine companions. Three masterworks. One Man to do it all.

Canadian actor Charles Ross first made an impact on the Edinburgh Fringe when his debut show, One Man Star Wars Trilogy, was a surprise sell-out hit of the 2006 event. Now he returns with his equally hilarious follow-up – One Man Lord Of The Rings – in which he recreates the enchanting world of Middle-earth, armed with nothing more than a pair of elbow pads and his outrageous imagination, at the E4 Udderbelly, Bristo Square, from 6-16th August 2009.

No props or costumes are required as Ross hurtles through the Tolkien trilogy – The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and The Return Of The King – in just 3,600 seconds of unbelievable kinetic entertainment.

Since his first Edinburgh Fringe appearance, Charles Ross has toured the world, performing his Star Wars show over 1,200 times in more than 180 cities across four continents – and his One Man Lord Of The Rings looks set to follow suit.

Directed by TJ Dawe and with lighting design by Mike Schaldmose, One Man Lord Of The Rings was selected as ‘Patron’s Choice’ for Best Play at the Toronto Fringe Festival and ‘#1 Best Of Fringe’ at this year’s Saskatoon Fringe Festival. It’s even been given a wizard’s seal of approval by Gandalf himself, after Sir Ian McKellen caught a performance in Canada!

So if you’ve seen the films, read the books and named your first-born Frodo, don’t miss Ross’ zany take on the ever-popular epic saga.

www.onemanlotr.com

‘If you liked The Lord of the Rings trilogy, you’ll love Charlie Ross’ version – and if you didn’t, well, at least his is shorter’ – Sir Ian McKellen

E4 UDDERBELLY (venue 300), Bristo Square, 6-16th August, 20.35 (60 mins),

6-7th (Previews) £7, 8th & 11-13th £12.50/£10.00, 9-10th & 10-16th £14.50/£13.00

Box Office: 0844 545 8252 / www.underbelly.co.uk.

“THE LORD OF THE RINGS” has earned high praise from fans of Tolkien’s wonderful books and the general theatre-going public alike,” said Laurie Battle of the Saul Zaentz Company. “The enchanted environment at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to step into the fantastic world of Middle-earth. The telling of this epic story on stage is a brilliant example of how magical the live theatrical experience can be. With a stunning score, powerful performances and perhaps the most beautiful and spectacular design the West End has ever seen, this show is not to be missed.”

The producers today thanked the public for making “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” one of the three top-selling shows during the Society of London Theatre’s 2007 Kids Week and Get Into London Theatre campaigns, as well as those ticket agents who have supported the show, taking “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” to top-selling positions in their monthly West End sales charts.

A Kevin Wallace Limited Production, “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” is presented by Kevin Wallace and Saul Zaentz.

Tickets for “THE LORD OF THE RINGS”, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane are available in person from the theatre box office; by phone on 0844 412 4660, online at www.lotr.com and from all reputable theatre ticket agents. Ticket prices start at £15.00.

Performance times: Monday 7:00pm; Tuesday – Saturday 7:30pm; Thursday and Saturday 2:00pm

“A Hugely Impressive Production” The Guardian

Astonishing… Ingenious…Not to be missed! The Hollywood Reporter

Here’s to a 2008 that’s just as exciting! Stay tuned!

1) The Children of Hurin – published April 17

To the delight of Tolkien fans everywhere, The Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien became the first book of Tolkien’s works published in 30 years. The Children of Hurin tells the story of one of Tolkien’s most tragic heroes: Turin Turambar. The story was compiled by Christopher from various sources written by his father over the course of decades. To the added delight of fans, the book includes new works of art by Alan Lee, the book’s illustrator. The book debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and remains on the list today at #24.

Order ‘The Children of Hurin’ on Amazon.com today.

2) The Lord of the Rings musical – re-opened in London June 19

After playing for a time in Toronto, the new and improved The Lord of the Rings musical moved across the pond and re-opened at the Theater Royal Drury Lane. The Lord of the Rings captures the magic of Tolkien’s Middle-earth using lighting effects, beautifully designed costumes and sets and elaborately choreographed battles. The production is currently set to run through September of 2008. So, if you’ve always wanted to see Hobbits actually do the ‘springle-ring,’ a trip to London may be in your future.

3) 70th Anniversary Edition of The Hobbit – published September 21, 2007

The publication of The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition gave fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and Bilbo Baggins plenty of reason to celebrate this year. Complete with a new introduction by Christopher Tolkien, this edition also features a reproduction of the original watercolor painting done by Tolkien himself for the cover, as well as and Tolkien’s own illustrations and drawings throughout. For those of us who already own several editions of The Hobbit, the cover and illustrations alone make this a worthwhile addition to our collections.

Order ‘The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition’ on Amazon.com today.

4) The History of the Hobbit – published September 21, 2007

John D. Rateliff’s two volume work is the culmination of years of research including the study of various Tolkien manuscripts at Marquette University. It features the complete unpublished draft of J.R.R. Tolkien’s original version of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, as well as text notes and essays by the author, illustrations and maps. Part I, Mr. Baggins, covers the story up to Bilbo’s arrival in Laketown and the story continues in Part II, Return to Bag End. Another ‘must have’ for lovers of Tolkien and his stories, both volumes of The History of the Hobbit are also available as a boxed set along with The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition.

Order ‘The History of the Hobbit ‘ on Amazon.com today.

5) “The Lord of the Rings, The Return of The King (The Complete Recordings)”- released November 20.

If you still had any spending money left by the end of the year, “The Lord of the Rings, The Return of The King (The Complete Recordings)” was another irresistible buy. Together with the complete recordings from the first two movies, this 5 disc set provides hours and hours of geeky enjoyment for lovers of The Lord of The Rings movies and Howard Shore’s stunning soundtrack. Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the release has been getting rave reviews by our readers. Although there were some problems with initial shipments, we have it on good advice from our readers that the problems have been fixed and the recordings are again in stock and available at Amazon.com (but is still unavailable at amazon.co.uk). Thanks to everyone for your input on this!

Order ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (The Complete Recordings) ‘ on Amazon.com today.

6) Tolkien Fans get a chance to buy into Ent statue to be erected in the U.K. – from October 1, 2007

You may never have the chance to drink ent-draught from the pools of Treebeard’s Wellinghall, but thanks to The Moseley Statue Group and sculptor Tim Tolkien (great nephew of J.R.R. Tolkien) you can now be part of an Entish tribute to Tolkien being planned in Moseley Village, U.K.. From The group’s website: “The giant statue will be fabricated in recycled stainless steel with bronze and copper coatings. The individually wrought leaves will be embedded into a paving of resin bonded, crushed green glass at the base of the Ent. Tim will engrave each unique leaf with wording of the sponsor’s choosing.” Leaves are now up for bid on Ebay. If you can’t afford one of your own, you may be interested in joining with some of our message board members to purchase a leaf on behalf of readers and members of TORn.

7) Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema join with MGM to produce “The Hobbit” movie. – December 18.

What better way to end the year for fans of Tolkien’s books and the Lord of the Rings movies alike than with the extraordinary news that The Hobbit movie is going to happen!! Who will direct? Who will be cast as Gandalf, Thorin and, of course, as Bilbo? And just what will that second movie include? 2008 will be filled with speculation, spy reports and exciting new developments surrounding these and many other topics, so stay tuned to TORn for all the latest.

The newspaper reviews have said, “This show is a wonder. Go with an open heart, wide-open eyes, and prepare for enchantment” (The Times); “You’ve never seen spectacle like it” (The Sun); “Theatrical magic – astonishing” (Sunday Times); “A hugely impressive production” (The Guardian). Audiences have proved to be equally spellbound by the production.

As India’s premier airline, Jet Airways found a synergy between themselves and the high quality production of the Lord of the Rings, which takes theatregoers on a musical, mysterious and adventurous journey.

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!

I’m trying to get the word out to as many LOTR/theatre fans as possible and I was wondering if you guys knew of any Toronto-based LOTR organizations/communities that might be interested, or if you had any ideas for sending the message out to Toronto’s LOTR fans. I also understand that your staff is located all around the continent, so if any of you happen to be in Toronto in July we would of course love to have you come to the show.

If you want more information about our show, check out www.lotrtmtm.com.