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LOTR to Become a London Musical
PenguinRadio writes "Sky is reporting that Lord of the Rings will become 'the most expensive musical ever seen in London', sporting a price tag of 8 million pounds and a running time of nearly 3 and 1/2 hours."
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seriously, what? this is as dumb as 'Doonsbury on Ice'. All they need is a Rick Wakeman score to ensure that noone will want to remember this existed 5 years from now.
Rather surprisingly, they managed to turn the almost-as-complex His Dark Materials trilogy into what is, by all accounts, a fantastic stage show ... I'll certainly be getting tickets to see this...
Score:-1, Funny
Gollum crooning to the ring in his cave...
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
/Obvious
I can't imagine elves jumping around a stage singing about forest like or whatever...
---
Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
LOTR RINGS TO BE MUSICAL
Fresh from its runaway success at the Oscars, fantasy epic Lord of the Rings is set to hit the stage as a lavish musical, reports say.
Producers are planning to turn the book series into the most expensive musical ever seen in London, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
News of the musical version comes weeks after the final film installment of the trilogy, Return Of The King, won 11 Academy Awards.
The 8m production will see dozens of actors portray hobbits, elves, wizards and orcs in complex battle scenes.
"I have been in theatre for 25 years and I know the power of theatre in telling epic stories," said co-producer Kevin Wallace, a former collaborator of successful stage composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
"I believe that we will be able to make a version of The Lord of the Rings that will be a brilliant piece," he told the newspaper.
The show, to open next year, would last a mammoth three and a half hours, Wallace said.
"If Shakespeare can put all England on stage in Henry IV, I am confident that we can put on the whole of Middle Earth and tell the story of the entire trilogy over that time," he said.
The three books in the Lord of the Rings series, chronicling the struggle between good and evil in Middle Earth, were written by
British author JRR Tolkien from 1954-55 and have proved enduringly popular ever since.
Nope. April 1st isn't for another 18 days. Nice try though.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
i'm calling it already - they are going to ruin this. Wow, i am really amazed that something like this is allowed. i'm not trolling, but damn who's responsible for this?
"The Ballad of Shelob."
I'll pass, thank you.
How long before people start having a backlash against LOTRs?
4000 recent awards, the actors are plastered on every talk show, multiple console games, 3 recent highly pushed movies --shouldn't they just take a breather?
Wouldn't waiting a few years and then bringing the story back in a different format be refreshing for the story?
Davak
My vote for: Sarah Brightman as Arwen Nathan Lane as Sam Deborah Gibson as Galadriel Micheal Crawford as Gandalf Choosing Frodo would be difficult Are the actors going to have be on their kness the whole performance?
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
(Courtesy of Daily Telegraph)
I met him down in Mordor, he gave me the eye -
Da do Sauron-ron, da do Sauron,
And then he nearly slayed me, what a wicked guy!
Da do Sauron-ron, da do Sauron.
-CH
Now I'm no musical afficionado, having only been to one London musical - We Will Rock You - but there's a certain magic (no pun intended) I experienced that can not be acheived through film (that's not to say films are inferior, it's more of an apples and oranges comparison). With a big budget like that, I'm sure the stage props, effects and costumes will be fantastic and will portray the LOTR trilogy through yet another medium. Sure, the purists might complain that Bombadil's left foot was uncharacteristically two inches too far to the right, but for the fans that actually see natural light, then they'll be in for a treat.
What's next, a ten part HBO miniseries?
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
Adapting LotR to anything is a bold undertaking. Peter Jackson took the enormous risk to turn it into a movie trilogy, and succeeded, IMO, in the sense that apparently most avoid Tolkien fans seem to approve of his work, even though there are concerns about "streamlining" or "cutting corners" here and there. And I think Jackson deserves an enormous amount of credit for this.
Now, 10 hours of movies are yet quite different from 3 hours of musical. To bring this to the stage in a successful manner, a lot of streamlining and cutting will have to be done, with a tremendous risk of falling short of the original. I will admit that I was sceptical about the movies, and Jackson proved me wrong. I am even more sceptical here.
There are times where it's wise not to tempt fate, and pass on some challenges, instead of taking your shot at it and fail. Come up with your own original story and knockyourself out, no problem. But taint the work of Tolkien with a failed attempt of an adaptation, and people will remember you for a long time...
didn't the film come out? Won't the musical tell the same story?
Jonathanjk.com
I think I speak for everyone here when I say "That's the worst idea I've ever heard, and I don't want to play."
Hobbit's scampering about on the stage in a chorus line?
The deadly dance of the orcs?
Sam's love ballad to Frodo?
I can just envision Gandalf dancing, tossing away his hat and staff for a top hat and cane.
There are so many reasons this needs to NOT happen.
I've got a theory, that it's a Nazgul, A dancing Nazgul. No, something isn't right there.
(Frodo)
I've got a theory, that Bilbo is dreamin' And we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare.
(Aragorn)
I've got a theory we should work this out.
(The Fellowship except Gandalf)
It's getting eerie, what's this cheery singing all about?
(Gimli)
It could be Elves, some evil Elves. Which is ridiculous 'cause Elves they were persecuted wicked good and loved Middle Earth and fairie power and I'll be over here.
(Merry)
I've got a theory, it could be lunchtime...
[crickets chirping]
Dude, where's my packet?
Howard Shore is apparently touring the US with a 6-movement symphony version of his soundtrack.
One station will be Atlanta, where he will conduct the ASO (Hi Larry...).
how are they going to dance and sing for 9 hours, and who is going to sit through a play that long???
The best part will be when they are pretending to ride horses everywhere, should make any serious scene look totally absurd.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
I think I speak for everyone here when I say "That's the worst idea I've ever heard, and I don't want to play."
i hear you and agree. i mean, it was a large enough leap to turn such glorious stories loose with Peter Jackson (i'm not bashing him, hear me out) to make a movie. When i first heard about the movies being made, i was, honestly, afraid. Afraid of how bad they might fuck those wonderful stories up, ruining all the images i'd created of those worlds in my head.
All in all, i must say Peter Jackson did a great job, but this? Wow, i've got the same feelings again, but much, MUCH more so. i 've never liked this type of reproduction at all, but i just don't see LOTR working this way.
i'm afraid they are going to ruin it...and horribly so.
Why? To be politically correct? The reason they wanted to use full size actors is because hobbits were supposed to look like 'normal' people but with small stature. Most humans who suffer from dwarfism to not look like miniature normal human beings. The proportions, etc., wouldn't look right for most depictions I've seen of hobbits.
3.5h? Don't kid. The movies already suffered from six books (The Hobbit plus the five-books, usually three-volumes The Lord of The Rings) being too condensed.
Leandro Guimarães Faria Corcete DUTRA
DA, DBA, SysAdmin, Data Modeller
GNU Project, Debian GNU/Lin
...when the Fellowship sings "The Hills are Alive..." on the slopes of Carhadras?
Got mead?
"Shakespeare can put all England on stage in Henry IV, I am confident that we can put on the whole of Middle Earth..."
Oy veh...Note that putting the story of Henry IV on stage took Shakespeare two very long plays-- Henry IV parts one and two together are over seven hours, uncut. Even then, the scope of the plays is much smaller than the War of the Ring. Yes, the historical backdrop of Henry IV is a series of wars and rebellions that cover most of England as well as Brittany, but the realy story is much smaller. It's about the (contested) king, his son Hal, and a few other key court figures suh as Hotspur and Falstaff. The real plot is the search for honor by these characters, NOT the wars and the fate of the kingdom. Anyway, to cover the full scope of the war/political story, you have to include two more plays, Richard II and Henry V, which would bring the stage running time to over twelve hours.
So Shakespeare did NOT put "all England" on stage in Henry IV...he was much too smart to try that. Pity the West End producers can't learn from the Bard.
After all, Legolas's antics were not far off....
/. Where the truth
they do it every year at the Bayreuth festival, don't they.
Oh wait - that's Wagner's Ring cycle.
Skot Nelson music is my saviour / i was maimed by rock and roll
Mr. frodo Mr. frodo
*everyone*: MR. FRODO MR. FRODO
Gollum: Can you get the ring?
Sauron: you know, that little thing?
Frodo: Im not sure, but i know I can sing!
*everyone*: MR. FRODO MR. FRODO
and so on..
Note to self: get smarter troll to guard door.
If it doesn't have Leonard Nimoy singing the ballad of Bilbo Baggins, it will fail for sure.
The whole singing thing really wouldn't be my kind of thing to enjoy. But the orchestra I would definitely buy a ticket for.
You can actually find it out on a CD here and some Ogg and MP3 files in a another directory here
what's next? turning it into a book?
I think Mel Gibson ought to direct a musical of "The Silmarillion" done entirely in Elvish. Estimated running time: 13 hours!
That ought to cure the general public of their love for Tolkien's material in a big hurry!
"I hate every ape I see From Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z"
...Jackson is doing King Kong instead of "The Hobbit" or whatnot (apart from some legal issue as well)? You can't really go "wrong" with it, the story is known, people don't expect a deep story into the magic Middle Earth, and there's no need to change the plot that much, as it's already a movie and not a huge book.
It's basicly a breather - because no matter how it turns out, everybody will be concerned with what he has done and will be doing "Welcome to this press conference about King Kong" "When will we see 'The Hobbit' in cinemas??" "Um, this is about King Kong..." "Who cares, now tell us what do you plan to do next?"
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
to be recited by a middle earthsman with a British accent
There once was a hobbit named Smeegle
This Hobbit sure turned rather evil
He beheld that darned ring
Yes, that horrid thing
That made desparate humans to wheedle
We must destroy that curse
Nothing could be worse
Than a crazy wizzard
With eyes like a lizzard
For evil, he has a thirst
I'll take my axe and you your bow,
And on this mission we'll go
We'll cross distant lands
And lend one another a hand
So let's get on with the show!
I hear Time Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber are doing the music. A snippet of the script has already leaked to the net:
Setting: Stern of ship as it sails West into the sunset.
Scene MCLXXXVIII
(Frodo stands on stool so he can be seen over stern of ship.)
FRODO SINGS:
Mem'ry
All alone in the Shire
I can smile at the old days
Life was beautiful then
I remember
The time I knew what happiness was
Let the mem'ry live again
(Gandalf, stage left)
GANDALF SINGS:
Don't cry for me, Middle Earth
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
(Chorus of elves, dwarves and men start dancing a-la Can-Can, stage right.)
CHORUS SINGS:
Frodo Baggins, Superstar
How tall are you, what have you sacrificed?
Frodo Baggins, Superstar
Do you think you're gay as they say you are?
(Adapted from the opening of The Producers, with apologies to Mel Brooks.)
... that ... soon we'll be going ... ... ... WAR!
Middle-Earth was having trouble, what a sad sad story
Needed a new leader to restore its former glory
Where oh where was he
Where could that lord be?
We looked around, and then we found
The Maia for you and me
So, now its Springtime for Sauron, and Middle-Earth
Mordor is happy and gay,
We're marching to a faster pace
Look out here comes the Orcish race
Springtime for Sauron, and Middle-Earth
Winter for Gondor and Rohan
Springtime for Sauron, and Middle-Earth
Come up Ringwraiths, go into your dance.
Nazgul Lord: I did get a magic ring, and that is why I'm the Witch-King.
Nazgul: Don't be stupid, be a braino, don't throw the ring in the volcano.
Springtime for Sauron, and Middle-Earth
(Clash of iron on iron)
Goose-step's the new step today
(Oliphant bellows)
Fell Beasts in the skies again,
(Fell Beast cries shrilly)
Mordor is on the rise again
Springtime for Sauron, and Middle-Earth
Corsairs are sailing once more
Springtime for Sauron, and Middle-Earth
Means
We've got to be going
You know we'll be going to
Rankin-Bass did "The Hobbit" and "Return of the King". Remember the toe-tappers "Where there's a whip, there's a way" and "Frodo of the Nine Fingers"? And that Godawful warbling singer?
I actually think it could be decent if it's done right. Professional stage people know how to grab the audience. I've been to several Broadway shows that I just knew would be crap, and 30 minutes in, I was swinging my feet and humming along just like everybody else. Musicals have a different vocabulary than film, and they just might pull it off.
*Sarumon* (Sung to the tune of *Spiderman*)
Sarumon, Sarumon.
Does whatever Lord Sauron can.
Casts a spell, any size.
Breeding orcs, just like flies.
Hey there, there goes Lord Sarumon.
Is he strong? Listen, Dork,
He's got armies of super orcs.
Can he change Isengard?
All night long, plotting hard.
Look out! There goes Lord Sarumon.
[more later]
*Rohan* (Sung to the tune of *Roxanne*)
[Lyrics open with Worntongue]
Rohan
You don't have to have to put up a good fight.
Rohan
You don't have to sell out your horsely might.
Rohan
You don't have to have to put up a good fight.
Rohan
You don't have to mourn King Theoden's fading light.
[Gandalf and friends, after freeing Theoden]
Rohan! (Put up the good fight)
Rohan! (Put up the good fight)
Rohan! (Put up the good fight)
[Umm, more later] Solomon Kevin Chang
"Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
no, not Bangalore. But a place called Chennai (formerly Madras). One of India's foremost composers is doing the music
The problem is that, for the most part, really epic stories are simply not endemic to the musical theatre art form. How many have there been? And, of those, how many have truly been successful? Even theatre epics, like Show Boat or Les Miserables are still pretty small in scope when compared to something The Lord of the Rings because they focus pretty pointedly on people, whereas LOTR is about big events, big stakes, and even larger plot points.
Shrinking the story down to where it would it would on the musical stage, and still leave room for the things every play needs (exposition, characterization, and, probably most importantly, songs) would be almost impossible under the best circumstances, and most of the people involved simply aren't of the proven calibre necessary to pull all this off. Sure, A.R. Rahman had some kind of a success with Bombay Dreams, but what in Matthew Warchus's resume suggests he's even remotely qualified to handle something on this scale? He's talented, yes, but not with material of this size. His solution to staging one of Broadway's most traditionally opulent musicals--Follies--on Broadway in 2001 was to strip away everything that made it so oversized and, in its original production, so thrilling. If you do that with The Lord of the Rings, what's left?
So, while I wish them the best of luck, they're really facing a difficult struggle, and I'm not sure they will be able to pull it off. Under most circumstances, I would suggest that they rework the idea as an opera, or perhaps a series of operas, but of course, Richard Wagner already did that with Der Ring des Nibeluengen, and the less comparison The Lord of the Rings has with that, the better, I think. It will be unavoidable in any case, but critics (and audiences) will have their knives sharpened going into this, and it will have to be even that much better to win them over. I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy the challenges facing the creators of this musical.
--Matthew
"If the lights of Broadway blind me, I won't mind..."
There is an official website: www.thelordoftheringsmusical.com
That info aside, I know some of the people working on this and they are truly passionate fans of the book. I know nothing about the musical itself, but I'm more than willing to remain open-minded about it's quality until I learn more.
ObDisclosure: I work on Tolkien licensed products.
a running time of nearly 3 and 1/2 hours.
Only 3 1/2 hours?
They're going to cut Tom Bombadil again!
May we never see th
And they have pointy hobbit ears!
And look at the clothes flying in the air behind Leonard Nimoy; it looks like they're stripping off, too.
Why, it's obvious they are man-starved bisexual hobbit girls, and nancy-boy Nimoy is giving them no satisfaction...
All in all, the stuff of a very perverted fantasy. Too bad Leonard Nimoy ruins it for me, although I am sure there are those for whom he makes it even better....
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.