[arr] LOTR Musical review posted on AICN
Below is the review on the Aint It Cool News website (www.aintitcool.com) Quick Music Review: Okay, all of the Hobbit's songs are wonderful. They give a happiness and joy to their lives that are completely in character. Everything else just seems tacked on, however. The Elves' songs sound far too Scandanavian rather than otherworldly, and any other songs are just embarassing, save for Rebecca Jackson Mendoza as Galadriel. The lyrics to her song Lothlorien are cringeworthy, but she sells it like it was the greatest song ever written. Full Review (Points for Gollum again): Hey Harry, 433 from Minneapolis here in Toronto, Ontario with a review of the $28 Million stage production of The Lord of the Rings. Note I didn't say Lord of the Rings: The Musical as it's been called through its preproduction and advertising. The producers are trying to shy away from the musical label, and I can see why -- when I first heard about this, my immediate thought was the 1966 production of It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, a transparent attempt for Broadway to jump on the superheroes as camp bandwagon given the success of the BATMAN television series. I thought that it would be some small off-Broadway-type production, cutely cringeworthy. This past December at Butt-Numb-a-Thon, my lovely ex-girlfriend Hippolyta invited my girlfriend and I to Toronto in March for the premiere. She had procured good seats due to her membership in Toronto's Downtown Business Alliance or something along those lines. We had been itching to visit for a while now, and this gave us the final push to lay down a firm date for our vacation. The Toronto daily papers have been giving The Lord of the Rings mediocre to poor reviews, my favorite being headlined Middling Earth. We went in expecting very little, and it was somewhat enjoyable. Michael Therriault has been getting the lion's share of praise in the press for his portrayal of Gollum, and indeed got by far the loudest applause and cheers in the curtain call. However, his performance seemed to be channeling both Andy Serkis and Vyvyan from THE YOUNG ONES. I half-expected him to walk around with a cricket bat yelling Bored bored bored bored... His movements were overemphasised, even for a 2000-seat theater, as if trying to remind the audience that he was still there during portions when he was onstage but not speaking. Brent Carver plays Gandalf in the manner of the old Jon Lovitz Master Thespian SNL sketches, with pauses for no particular reason, falling in and out of his accent, and generally chewing the (albeit impressive) scenery. Easily the poorest performance of the evening, yet he is the last to come out and bow at the end, apparently because he at one point won a Tony Award for Kiss of the Spider Woman. It has become a running joke amongst Toronto theater afficianados that Carver acts like he's trying to get fired, yet strangely never does. The hobbits are all great, especially Owen Sharpe and Dylan Roberts as Pippin and Merry, respectively. They master their roles of both comic relief and wide-eyed wonder at the world outside Hobbiton. The real star of the show, though, is the stage. Not only the much talked about 40-foot segmented rotating and segmented rising main stage, but also the tree branches that cover the proscenium and winds its way up to the boxes. Clever lighting gives it the ability to the theater through all four seasons, as well as the Dead Marshes and Mordor. The gigantic Shelob puppet drew an amazed gasp from the audience, and really freaked out a woman to my left. Even seeing the puppeteers doesn't detract from just how well-done it is. The Balrog scene at the end of Act One used a mediocre puppet, but the total immersive environment, including light, sound, fog jets, warm fans, and black strips of tissue paper (looking like ash) being blown right at you turned it into something quite impressive. The battle scenes used the segmented stage quite imaginatively to create steps, towers, and ramparts, and the majority of stage combat was okay. However, the interpretive dance by the human soldiers during the battle at the White City and/or Pellenor Fields (they combine the two, also getting rid of Faramir, Denethor, and the Black Gates) was awful. Audience members were laughing, and afterwards made several Sharks vs. Jets comparisons. Also, the dead warriors that Aragorn makes such a big production about going to get at the end of Act Two show up during his final speech before the battle, but then are never seen again. Having such an amazing climax at Act One really makes the fact that the final scene with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum at Mount Doom lasted less than a minute just awful. They seem to forget all the amazing things they could do with lights and make it look like Gollum and the ring just slowly fall down a hole screaming. It would be completely confusing to someone with no knowledge of the books or movies, and there seemed to be quite a bit of those folks
[arr] LOTR Musical review
Well, I'm happy to report there are Ents and they're satisfyingly Entish and not at all short. Many things are handled very well in this production. Some of my favourite moments were Gandalf's return (very dramatic and exciting), and Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead. Now, that was a fantastic scene it might be my second favourite moment of night. Here is where I really felt A.R. Rahman's music. As an Indian film fan it's something I'd been eager for since the start. It's very dramatic and disturbing in this scene. Excellent! The music was composed by A.R. Rahman and Värttinä and is hauntingly inspiring. Rahman is a veteran of the Indian film industry and he isn't afraid to take chances with his music. He is a perfect choice in this context as well as he blends together different types of world music to create the unique and echoing melodies of Middle- earth. Värttinä is a distinguished folk music group from Finland. Together with Rahman they have created harmonies and a vocal quality in the singing that will continue to resonate long after you leave the theatre. http://www.warofthering.net/articles/article_10827.php -- -- Review of the LOTR Musical in Toronto By Eledhwen Feb 27, 2006, 06:00 GMT printer friendly page email this article Well Wow. I let a day go by before writing this review because last night I was awed, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of what the cast, crew and producers of this musical were doing. Skip everything else for just a moment. The stage revolves 360º with many different sections that raise and lower to create ramps, ramparts, cliffs and gullies. The set reaches out into the audience with foliage, branches and lights extending from the stage. They make use of effects like running water, echoes, wind, and strobe lights. The cast is large yet the stage never feels crowded. The costumes are rustic, majestic, creepy, warlike; each in perfect measure. It's incredible to watch (even if your imagination isn't captured) for the logistics of it all. But my imagination and my heart were indeed captured. And so I search for a word, a phrase, something catchy to sum it all up. I can't. I'm down to `Wow.' I went to see this musical in the same way that I went to that first showing of Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring. I wasn't sure what would happen and I wasn't really expecting to like the end result. Just like that first showing of FotR, I love this production more than I can express. I've seen many plays and musicals over the years and this one outshines them all. From the start, getting seated in the lush Princess of Wales theatre, the audience was enthralled. Many were examining the branches that extend from the stage out into the seating area, craning their necks upward and to each side to take it all in. Then Hobbits appeared onstage. It wasn't time for the play to start and we all wondered what it was about. There were some Hobbit-lads fishing and reaching for fireflies hovering just out reach. We felt like we were really watching a little bit of the Shire right in front of us. I won't tell you more and spoil the delight, but it is a marvellously entertaining way to lead up to a play. Get there early to enjoy it. I also won't go through the story in detail; it should be experienced. Yes, of course it's truncated and many things have to be left out or changed. However, the spirit of Tolkien's story remains true and the flow of events is not interrupted. We'll all wish for different things, but I think that overall it satisfies. The books, the movies and this musical are as different and alike as Aman, Rivendell and Lothlórien. Aman and the books are the truth of the matter, the heart of the myth. The movies, like Rivendell, are both what you expect and what you don't, what you love most and what you miss most, a place where you feel at once so familiar with everything and yet at times like a stranger. The musical is like Lórien. It's somehow less the content of the story, but purer at its heart, less detailed beauty, but more poignant and truthful. You might spend less time here but your heart is refreshed, your faith in many things restored. Am I being overly dramatic? Maybe to someone who doesn't see the lure or value of Tolkien's incredible work I am. However to you, for whom I am writing this, I don't think so. What brings us together is how much we love this story and the musical is true to the essence of the story. One of my favourite scenes is when the Hobbits are being pursued by the Ringwraiths. One thing I really appreciate is the way they have used light and shadow to create spooky and frightening environments. The scenes with the Nazgûl are wonderful because of this. You see them imperfectly and they are huge. They have created props that allow them to flow across the stage in all their spooky,
[arr] LOTR Musical review - 2
Now something about the music. Some of it is very simple, but simple in a good way. Often it's the hobbits who come up with the folk- like, hummable tunes. Some of the other solo singing is very florid, with long sinuous lines Galadriel singing about Lothlorien, or a lullaby to the sleeping Fellowship Arwen singing to Frodo in Rivendell (in Elvish and then English), or to Aragorn (both in real life and in a vision), Eowyn's lament at Theoden's death (somewhat reminiscent of Miranda Otto's chant at Theodred's funeral). Often there is background singing, and often women's voices, while something else is going on onstage. When Frodo offers at the Council of Elrond to take the ring to Mordor, the background voice is very intense, almost wailing. Gimli later sings about the glories of the past in Moria (ok, one of my very favourite bits of Howard Shore comes from that scene, but this was pretty nice too!) Gollum's song has good dissonance in it. Sam's speech about the old stories, and about finding themselves in one, is a song. Sing me a story of heroes of the Shire, I believe it says. When they come to verse 2, Sam sings Sing me a story of Frodo and the Ring. They sing in very nice two-voice harmony, and they keep giggling because actually being IN the story seems so funny to them. It's really sweet. Then Sam falls asleep, and Frodo sings about Samwise the Brave a very touching way of structuring the song. The songs later returns after the Mouth of Sauron scene, and this time the accompaniment is in a different key from the melody an evocative distortion of Frodo's heroic actions, and a yearning for him. One of my favourite musical passages was after Gandalf tells Aragorn to take the Paths of the Dead. Gandalf then sings briefly to Aragorn, and then you hear Arwen singing to Aragorn, and then she comes to him and they sing together. He is given Anduril, to the sound of an appropriately triumphant harmonic progression, and Arwen sings to him something about find the hidden paths, alone and unafraid , finishing with return, my love return, my heart return. (I hope I have the words right one day I'll know for sure.) The music leading up to the coronation had a fine quality of triumph and celebration orchestra, with lots of brass. At the Grey Havens the voices singing in the background had chords interspersed with rests, which was very evocative. There was nearly continuous music much of the time, expressive atmospheric music which often built up greatly in intensity and supported the action well. I found myself wondering which of it came from A.R. Rahman, which from Varttina, and which from Christopher Nightingale, who integrated it all together. But as he said in his program note, that's probably not the best way to look at it. In the finished score, I hope there will be no song you can point to and say, `that's by A.R. Rahman,' or `that's by Varttina'. You may hear a melody originally written by Rahman, but to which Varttina has applied its own, unique interpretation, and vice-versa . Everything has grown together, building a whole and complete new world. Altogether it was a wonderful experience to see and hear this, and I hope it won't be the last time. For any of you who have an opportunity to go and see this, go. You won't be disappointed. cheers Krish http://fan.theonering.net/index.shtml Tuesday, February 07, 2006 LOTR Musical Review - Xoanon @ 10:52 PST Topaz writes: Well, I'm back as Sam said. Or didn't say, at least not on Sunday afternoon at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto where I saw the second ever performance of the new theatrical production of The Lord of the Rings. Long ago when I had first heard of plans to make LOTR into a musical, it scared me. Howard Shore had just done such an amazing job with the film scores, and now someone was going to make it all sound like Broadway? Please don't . Then as time went on and the production was to be in Toronto (half an hour from where I live), there began to be articles in the papers, interviews with the director I read them and I began to feel less afraid that someone was going to ruin my favourite story. I liked that they wanted it to be very different from the films (which I love but which are a different medium, and trying to copy them would NOT work) a real theatre experience, focusing on the heart of the story. Also the ethnic flavour of the composers (A.R. Rahman from India and the group Varttina from Finland) seemed promising in that the result was unlikely to be typical Broadway OR a Shore derivative. I knew I had to see and hear this for myself. So I got tickets as soon as they came on sale. They were saying then that it would open on February 2nd, and no one was calling the performances before March 23rd previews then. My two daughters and I got tickets for February 5th because we wanted to go to a Sunday matinee. Needless to say, when
[arr] LOTR Musical review - 3
Overall, the play was incredible. I was afraid that by having the addition of dance and song, that they would make JRR Tolkien's classic become tacky, but it was far from it. Each of the songs blended in beautifully. From Galadriel's (Rebecca Jackson Mendoza) awe-inspiring Lothlorien to the group dance sequence at the Prancing Pony, I didn't find myself once asking myself why is that song now or what was up with the dancing. You're taken in by the sets, the music, the power, the drama that you barely notice that Frodo is taller than Gimli and that Gandalf looks like he's been starved half to death. cheers Krish http://musicals.net/forums/viewtopic.php? t=46089postdays=0postorder=ascstart=15 The night started off upon entering the theatre. As soon as you walk through the doors, you are greeted with a massively impressive set, and a dozen hobbits playing on the stage. The stage itself had a giant gold ring that had knotted roots coming out from it, spreading on the walls and out into the theatre. The hobbits, who were doing various things, seemed to mostly be hunting for fireflies. Pippin and Merry (it seemed) were trying to get one that was too high up for their net, and too far out for Sam to get a hold of. So one left the stage and came back with a larger net, which still didn't work. The second went and got a very long pole with a very small net on the end, but it got the job done. As each hobbit caught various fireflies that flew around the set (the were lights on wires that shut off when caught and a light in the hobbits hand would turn on) they would then pass it onto an older hobbit that would carefully place them in a jar. Once the stage cleared and the hobbits settled, the older Hobbit stood next to the giant ring and on the count of three, threw open the jar, letting the fireflies out behind the ring. Thus started the play. It started with plenty of narration accompanied by a silhouette performane by Bilbo Baggins (Cliff Saunder) and Gollum (Michael Therriault). It quickly went through their story as it was in The Hobbit. Once the set lifted, Bilbo's party began where they also quickly went through the party and his dissapearance. The actual play did not begin until the floor of the set turned and you were suddenly pulled into Frodo's (James Loye) home. From there, you met Sam (Peter Howe) and Gandalf (Brent Carver) who put a smile on your face just to see them. Howe had a perfect Cockney accent for Sam and was just as endearing and you would expect him to be. Carver, on the other hand, was a big dissapointment. For a big-time seasoned Canadian actor, you have this kind of standard for him, especially since he was taking on a very important role in this story. His physical acting wasn't my issue; it was his voice. The whole time he spoke in this monotone that really began to irritate me. His sentances ran together and it lost all emotion and wisdom that he should be portraying with a character like Gandalf. I understand that he has a lot to say in a short amount of time, but at least put some feeling into it! I want to know that you're a wise old wizard, not a crotchty old man on a mission. To save from revealing too much of the story for you, let me hit some higlights and some lowlights. Overall, the play was incredible. I was afraid that by having the addition of dance and song, that they would make JRR Tolkien's classic become tacky, but it was far from it. Each of the songs blended in beautifully. From Galadriel's (Rebecca Jackson Mendoza) awe-inspiring Lothlorien to the group dance sequence at the Prancing Pony, I didn't find myself once asking myself why is that song now or what was up with the dancing. Even the fights were worth dropping your jaw at. You may wonder how they were going to make a massive crowd of orc or men appear, but they did it! Using some carefully timed tricks, you got the feeling that many hundreds of orcs were running around the steps of the tower or men who died appearing at another part of the stage ready to fight again, you really felt that the cast was bigger than it actually was. Everything in this play was big. Treebeard and the Ents were big. Albiet, a little dissapointing when you see a man on 20 foot stilts and he only has a farmers cap on his head. The Balrog was big. His silhouette came through the chaos of smoke and ash (black confetti) being blown into the audience and a powerful orange light shining in your face. Even the sets and costumes were big, in the grande sense of the word, not the physical size. This made it all the more easy to become captured into. For a while in the first act I was completely taken in by their world, only pausing for a moment when something not quite right happened. A torch didn't stay lit, and since when was Gandlaf okay with touching the ring? You're taken in by the sets, the music, the power, the drama that you barely notice that
[arr] LOTR Musical review - 4
In my humble opinion, the music, especially the hobbits', was very good. The play opens with a jaunty hobbit dance. A version of The Road Goes Ever On propels the hobbits on their journey through the Old Forest. Frodo's song at Bree was fun too. I especially liked Frodo and Sam's song about the old stories as they approach Mount Doom. http://www.council-of-elrond.com/forums/printthread.php?t=9236 I saw the Lord of the Rings play in Toronto on Saturday the 11th (1:00 matinee). Admittedly, I had many misgivings about this, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The play lasted 4 hours, and might have gone longer had it not been for a glitch in the Helm's Deep set. After two failed attempts, the scene finally had to be scratched. Then we heard a quick synopsis of what we'd missed before the play picked up with the next scene. It is my understanding that the play is still in the process of working out some bugs before its official opening. That's OK with me, I'm glad I got to see this early version so I can compare it to the next production I see. (Yes, I would definitely see it again!) OK, I will be writing some spoilers from this point on, so continue at your own peril. The lighting and stage effects were fabulous. The first act ends with the Balrog at the bridgeit will blow you away! ;) The ringwraiths were very well done, as were the effects used to portray them being swept away at the ford. The paths of the dead effects were pretty darn good, too! Lothlorien was beautifully staged, although I did kind of wonder about Galadriel's headgearit took a little getting- used tobut she gave Sam the box of dust instead of a rope, so I forgave her her hat! There were so many more really cool effects, I just can't think of all of them right now. In my humble opinion, the music, especially the hobbits', was very good. The play opens with a jaunty hobbit dance. A version of The Road Goes Ever On propels the hobbits on their journey through the Old Forest. Frodo's song at Bree was fun too. I especially liked Frodo and Sam's song about the old stories as they approach Mount Doom. The play also included a few iconic moments that Jackson ignored. Frodo's You shall have neither the ring nor me! is spoken at the ford. Bilbo participates in the Council of Elrond, and assumes he should take the ring and end the business he started. Also Verily, I come to you and Take off the ring is in at Amon Hen. Near the end of the play Arwen gives Frodo the Evenstar jewel. And, yes! the Scouring of the Shire is in! All in all, the hobbits in the play were more like the hobbits we all know and lovenot the helpless bumblers of the film version. This play is a very ambitious undertaking and one must keep in mind that it is THEATRE, not literature or film. So it should not come as a surprise that some characters are out, and some are combined. For example, Faramir and Eomer are nowhere to be seen, and Eowyn's part is very truncated (in fact, if you didn't know the story, you might miss her significance in the final battle). There were no eagles. Grima Wormtongue was out, but Bill Ferny is Sharky's henchman in the Shire. The Lord of the Nazgul speaks the lines of the Mouth of Sauron at the Black Gates. Much of the drama from the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, such as Theoden's and the Lord of the Nazgul's deaths, occurs at the Black Gates. I thought this to be an understandable combination, but I'm still a little grumpy about Eowyn's lack of lines here. (I really, really wanted her to say Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion. Leave the dead in peace!) Oh, yes! The man who played Gollum was marvelous! I think if Andy Serkis were to see him, he'd agree with me. And, Legolas was dark-haired! Now, as long as everybody understands that I really liked this play, and will see it again if I ever get the chance, I am going to do a little grumbling. I don't think Brent Carver played Gandalf in the matinee performance I sawat least, I hope not because this actor was the weakest performer in the play. He kept hesitating in the middle of his lines as if he was trying to remember them. Very distracting. If he was Brent Carver, he doesn't deserve any of the above praise written about him. Speaking of Gandalf, he doesn't come back when he's supposed to. Aragorn inspires Theoden to rise up and fight. Gandalf apparently doesn't come back until the Battle of Helm's Deep which, as I said before, we didn't get to see. Also, Sauron was consistently pronounced sore on, which drove me crazy, too. I was disappointed with the Shelob staging. It was OK, but I thought it could have been better. I felt the same way about Mount DoomI expected more flash and spectacle there. The Bridge of Khazad Dum scene was much better, and I guess I expected Mount Doom to outshine it. And one final, picky little thing: Sam did not say Well, I'm back. I will come back and write more if I think
