The folks from grsymphony.org write: We just opened up the front row of our balcony– Prime Viewing Seats!! This is the perfect time to purchase tickets to see The Two Towers in Grand Rapids if you don’t have them already. Don’t miss Maestro Wicki, Kaitlyn Lusk and the Grand Rapids Symphony and Chorus. Tickets moving fast, we hope you join us! More..

Anna writes: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will celebrate its 75th year of residency at its summer home, the Ravinia Festival, next year with a wide range of special programming.

From July 7 to Aug. 19, 2011, the 17-concert series will feature an all-star cast of guest artists, a pair of “Lord of the Rings” movie nights, a complete performance of Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” and a celebration of the 200th birthday of Hungarian composer-pianist Franz Liszt, along with the usual wide selection of classical orchestral favorites. Continue reading “Chicago Symphony Orchestra Does LOTR Night”

Shaky Isles Theatre presents MY INNER ORC by Allen O’Leary – A play about actors, Lord of the Rings and the fans who love them. Set in Croydon. Following sell-out performances at the Riverside Studios and the Camden Fringe, Shaky Isles Theatre return to the Pleasance for a limited two week run of Allen O’Leary’s My Inner Orc. In an affectionately satirical new play, two actors find themselves pitted against Lord of the Rings fans with plans of magic and mayhem. Model-turned-actor Karl must grow up fast and find his ‘inner orc’ to help the star and organiser of the Convention escape two over-zealous fans threatening seduction, extortion and black-mail.

O’Leary’s play took its starting point from the actors he knew who worked on Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films and came to London to capitalise on their experience at Conventions. In Rings fans he found a world of people with a sense of camaraderie, nobility and a higher purpose, attracted to the simplicity of an epic life. Continue reading “Stage: My Inner Orc”

Story developing: A studio that helped make some of Wellington’s most famous films is on fire in Wellington. A huge fire at Portsmouth Miniatures Studio broke out at 3.10pm. A pall of smoke can be seen all over the eastern suburbs, rising from the building, near Wellington Airport.

The studio’s manager said she was on her way to the scene. No-one was hurt, she said. ”And that’s the main thing.” Crews from all around the Wellington region have gone to fight the blaze. Portsmouth Miniatures Studio has had a hand in many Wellington films. Its facilities were used during the making of Peter Jackson movies including King Kong and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Update from tvnz.co.nz: It is believed to be the Rongotai studio where he films miniatures, located behind the Kilbirnie Fire Station.


Fire burns a Wellington studio owned by Sir Peter Jackson. – Source: Picture supplied by Matt Kovesdi

There and Back AgainTo celebrate the addition of ‘There and Back Again – The Map of Tolkien’s The Hobbit’ by Brian Sibley to the Official Tolkien Online Bookstore, TheOneRing.net and HarperCollinsPublishers teamed up to giveaway 3 copies. And without further delay, the winners are:

Jason F – USA
Izzy C – UK
Stephen W – USA

Winners will be contacted via email shortly to arrange for delivery. (We know there could be a lot of you out there that match the winners names, but please wait for the email before contacting us.) A special thanks to HarperCollinsPublishers for sponsoring this giveaway. If you did not win, please pick up your copy today! [Harper Collins UK]

While in Seattle earlier this month I had the chance to attend the ‘Second Breakfast’ event held by the folks at Warner Bros and Snowbling Studios. They played another demo of their new game ‘The War in the North’, displayed some amazing concept art and had a large number of the developer team available for interviews. Here is my chat with one of the designers.