Earlier this week, TORn staffer greendragon had the chance to sit down with composer Bear McCreary. Greendragon was fortunate to be invited to attend a recording session for the Rings of Power soundtrack in London last April; it was an incredible experience, watching skilled musicians bring McCreary’s score to life. So she was thrilled to have the chance to catch up with the composer, and see how he’s feeling about Season One – and what might be in store for Season Two of The Rings of Power.
McCreary is a huge Tolkien fan himself, and he shared how Peter Jackson’s movies – and in particular, Howard Shore’s score – were important influences in his growth to become the composer he is today. He discussed the luxury of time which Amazon’s big budgets provide, and the importance of music to enhance and communicate emotion and drama. He also revealed that he has already started work for Season Two!
Witches and werewolves and vampires, oh, my! J.R.R. Tolkien was not one to shy away from creatures of the night. Just the opposite–he seemed to relish writing horror stories.
When we think of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”, Elves, Wizards, Hobbits, and quests come first to mind. But the Professor’s long quest to create an encompassing mythology for Britain led him to conjure stories within stories. Middle-earth feels real because Tolkien fleshed out its history in-depth. Though they are often only hinted at in the main stories, Tolkien wrote many of these historical references in detail.
In honor of the best holiday of the year (subjectively), let’s explore a few tales of terror written by Tolkien fit for All Hallows’ Eve. These are by no means the only ones. The Silmarillion is filled with stories that invoke a sense of horror in us, such as the story of Húrin and his family. Just thinking about Frodo and Sam’s encounter with Shelob in her lair is enough to make skin crawl. Dig deep, and you’ll find bones aplenty in Tolkien’s work.
BATS Theatre in Wellington, NZ is well-known to our Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie family. Many of the New Zealand actors from the films have performed there, and back in 2011, to save the theatre from eviction, Peter Jackson bought the building in which they are housed. It’s a local theatre which particularly supports new and emerging talent.
Now BATS Theatre are having a fundraiser, supported by Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop. Part of the fundraising effort includes a chance to win epic prizes, including having prosthetic make-up done by Taylor himself! You can read all about it here; there are only a couple more days to enter, so don’t delay, if you’d like to support a worthy cause and maybe win something incredible.
Over the last four weeks, our friends at Weta Workshop have had one of their most stunning pieces up for pre-order. It’s the one piece that fans, like myself, have been asking to have made for the last 20 years. It also works nicely with this character having such a large part in Tolkien’s written lore, as well as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power tv series.
Fans can finally place their orders in, but for only for the next 24 hours, for Elendil. This fantastic piece depicts how we saw Elendil in The Battle of the Last Alliance during Peter Jackson’s prologue sequence in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Elendil is priced at $549 and will be shipping in the second quarter of next year.
As with any open window pre-order, his edition size will be set by the number of orders placed as of tomorrow at 2 pm PDT. So get your order for Elendil in now!
From Middle-earth to Mother Goose… Ian McKellen has often spoken of his love of pantomime – a passion he shares with fellow actor Adam Brown (Ori in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy). McKellen debuted as a Dame at the Old Vic back in 2004; and last year Brown wrote and directed a pantomime at the Newbury Corn Exchange. (He’s part of a team who write and direct – and who will be at it again at the Corn Exchange this coming Christmas!)
Now they will appear in pantomime together, in a production of Mother Goose. The show will run in London (at the Duke of York’s theatre) Dec 15 2022 to Jan 23 2023. Before that, Mother Goose starts out in Brighton; and in the early part of 2023 it will play in Liverpool and Oxford.
Brown got in touch with TORn to let us know how excited he and McKellen are to be reunited on stage. We’re excited too; and for our fellow panto fans, tickets can be purchased here.
Back in the earlier days of TORn – probably roughly during our Second Age – there were all kinds of exciting events which happened, both when Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies were originally in cinemas, and in the years which followed. There was much excitement when the live performances of Howard Shore’s incredible score started; and then they started presenting the movies with live orchestra accompaniment. Those were heady days!
And now – they’re back!
Next February, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring, the movie will screen with live orchestra at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Here below are the details from the press release:
21st Anniversary Concert: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Fellowship of the Ring In Concert
Academy Award-Winning Score By HOWARD SHORE, performed Live to the Epic Motion Picture with SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, CHORUS, SOLOISTS
Ludwig Wicki, Conductor
238 MUSICIANS ONSTAGE BENEATH A 60-FOOT SCREEN
Radio City Music Hall, New York FEBRUARY 6-7, 2023
Celebrating the 21st anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Howard Shore’s Academy award-winning score will be presented live, in concert. Experience the epic motion picture and its legendary score at the historic Radio City Music Hall, beneath a 60-foot screen accompanied by 238 musicians, including symphony orchestra, chorus and soloists, this coming February 6 & 7, 2023.
“The world is changed.” This very first line of The Fellowship of the Ring has new meaning for a fan community waiting for a return to live events. The 2023 concerts will mark the return of The Lord of the Rings, In Concert, to NYC for the first time since 2015. These returning concert events of The Fellowship of the Ring will bring 6,000 fans a night to see, hear, and feel Howard Shore’s epic score from the opening title through the end credits, in person once again.
The Fellowship of the Ring, In Concert, is represented by CAMI Music, who is partnering with Fifth Season and Bowery Presents to bring these performances to life at Radio City Music Hall.
The Fellowship of the Ring, In Concert, will be conducted by Ludwig Wicki, who was the inaugural conductor of The Fellowship of the Ring, In Concert, and specializes in bringing films and their scores to life. Orchestra, soloists, and chorus for the 2023 performances at Radio City Music Hall will be announced at a later date.
Howard Shore commented on the return of The Fellowship of the Ring, In Concert to New York City: “The concerts on February 6th and 7th, 2023 will bring Maestro Ludwig Wicki back to NYC’s historic Radio City Music Hall leading a symphony orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Based in the city of Lucerne, Switzerland, where we first performed the complete score to the theatrical version of the film in 2008, Maestro Wicki is the foremost conductor of this score-to-film concert. Over the years he has worked to perfect this music and his precision, detail and supreme musicianship will be on display at Radio City. I am so very happy to have The Fellowship of the Ring return to New York.”
Tickets are available now – and are selling fast! You can buy them here. We hope to host a post show party – probably on the Tuesday evening after the concert, but maybe we’ll manage both evenings! Stay tuned for more on that! Meanwhile if you want to find out more about these happenings, you can find LOTRConcerts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Hope to see you there!
