Vanessa “Saffron” Price, Online Community Representative for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, writes: Learn more about the noble and respected Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod, one of the eldest of the Elves yet remaining in Middle-earth. [More]
Month: June 2007
Andrew writes: Please let the readers of TORN know that PBS is currently running a great documentary on the life of Vincent Van Gogh with Andy Serkis in the staring role. Please check the listings for your local PBS stations and do try to see this show. Serkis makes Van Gogh come back to life with equal measures of genius and sensitivity and deals with the artist’s illness that is real and sympathetic. It is the quality of performance that you rarely see these days in such pieces.
LONDON–Michael Therriault has learned a new definition of “precious.” True, he’s spending his days swooping around the giant stage of the Drury Lane Theatre in search of the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings, opening here tonight. But ask him what he really cares about and Therriault, who is here recreating his award-winning Toronto performance of Gollum, answers without hesitation: “My family and friends back home. I wish I could be with all of them.” But there’s only going to be one person in the Therriault cheering section tonight, his girlfriend, actor Tracy Michailidis, and that’s the way he wants it. [More]
LONDON, 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]
From Michael Billington (at Guardian Unlimited): I suppose there are two ways to approach this mega-musical: either as a paid-up Tolkien aficionado or as a wide-eyed newcomer. Having dipped only briefly into the original trilogy and the Peter Jackson movies, I entered Drury Lane as innocent as any hairy-toed hobbit. But I emerged three-and-a-quarter hours later sceptical as to the main matter but hugely impressed by the manner of Matthew Warchus’s production. Obviously Shaun McKenna and Warchus, as co-authors, face a huge task in boiling down a 1000-page fantasy into a theatrical narrative. But, although bits of the backstory remain obscure, the main thrust is clear. Frodo Baggins, a junior hobbit, and his chums are deputed by the wizard, Gandalf, to undertake an epic journey to Mount Doom to dispose of the evil Ring. In the course of their quest they acquire the company of elves, dwarves and rangers. They encounter sinister black riders and orcs, pass through Rivendell and the Golden Wood and ultimately do battle with the forces of the Dark Lord, Sauron. Finally, however, they get rid of the damned Ring. [More]
‘Figwit’, the female fan phenomenon from the LOTR trilogy will be on ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ tonight. He will be there with his ban Flight of the Concords, who have a new HBO show set to debut soon. ‘Late Night’ airs on NBC at 12:35AM. Set those VCRs!