Dylan writes: I am a bookstore manager for one of the largest East Coast bookstores and today we were shipped quite a treat from Houghton Mifflin. Along with their Two Towers Visual Companion (Release Date is Nov. 6) they sent us a pillar, such as something out of Moria. J.R.R. Tolkien’s runes decorate the top border of the grey pillar which stands approx. 2 feet tall. But what was to set on top almost brought me to giggling, bookends from Sideshow Weta which depicted the scene of Gandalf knocking on the door to Bilbo’s hobbit hole. One bookend is Gandalf with his staff against the door, and the other is Bilbo about to open the door. Extremely well crafted, I cannot wait to own my own copy. I don’t know if we will be selling these in the future, or if it is only to help promote the books and movie, but my name is there to reserve it, so I’ll be happy either way.
Month: October 2002
Illusia writes: Not sure if your aware (in that I haven’t seen it in your news) but Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) graces the cover of the latest version of Homme Arene magazine (well, he does in the UK anyway). Inside, there is an interview with Viggo and loads of unusual pics as well.
London Celtic Harper, Jennifer White, to perform at the launch of The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers Exhibit. [More]
(Xoanon here, I attended this event last night and will have a full report up soon!)
If you are celebrating Peter Jackson’s birthday or Halloween, don’t forget to dress up like your favorite Tolkien related character and submit your photo! You can be entered to win some great prizes from Sideshow/Weta Collectibles and Houghton Mifflin. [More]
From Knockgrafton Productions , October 29, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
Lord of the Rings meets Lady of the Strings
London Celtic Harper, Jennifer White, to perform at the launch of The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers Exhibit
LONDON / MIDDLE-EARTH–Even before the long awaited Part Two of THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy THE TWO TOWERS hits movie screens this coming December, Tolkien fans from around the world will be converging on the Royal Ontario Museum’s McLaughlin Planetarium for an experiential journey through Tolkien’s Middle-Earth as Alliance Atlantic Motion Pictures Distribution presents THE LORD OF THE RINGS TWO TOWERS EXHIBIT, an experiential exhibition containing artefacts from New Line Cinema’s theatrical production of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, which will launch in Toronto November 1, 2002 for a four-week period at the Royal Ontario Museum’s McLaughlin Planetarium building.
This news is enough to make any true fan of the Tolkien / Peter Jackson movie trilogy set out on their own quest for tickets, as did Celtic harper, Jennifer White, and her percussionist partner, Robert McMaster.
“We missed the first exhibit last year at Toronto’s Casa Loma that displayed props and costumes from Part One, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, and we weren’t going to miss this one. When we heard the news of this year’s exhibit, you can imagine we quickly joined the line for tickets for this exciting event,” says White.
Like the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, White has drawn on many ancient Nordic and Celtic myths and legends for themes and inspiration for her musical compositions for harp. But who would have thought that she would be playing these compositions to a crowd of 1000 invited guests at the Launch Party of THE TWO TOWERS EXHIBIT in Toronto this coming Wednesday evening.
Jennifer’s partner, percussionist Robert McMaster saw an ad in a Toronto paper for THE TWO TOWERS EXHIBIT in the form of a full page poster.
Being a collector of all things Tolkien, McMaster sent out a few on-line inquiries to see if he could find one of the full colour event posters to add to his collection. One such e-mail, which also contained the web-site and e-mail address of White’s music production company, Knockgrafton Productions, came to the attention of Julia Caslin, Director of Publicity and Promotions for Alliance Atlantis Motion Pictures. Back came an inquiry: would the duo be available to play the Two Towers Exhibit Launch Party on October 30? Two days of anxious anticipation later, their performance booking was confirmed for the Launch.
So, bright and early Wednesday morning White and McMaster will be packing up harp and drums and heading east on the 401 for a gig in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.
Liz writes: I’ve been checking the Butler Ballet’s _Silmaril_ page off and on to keep current with the status of the project, and was dismayed to read there today that “[d]ue to copyright issues the Butler Ballet will not be presenting the announced ballet _The Silmaril_ in April 2003.”