Lord of the WHA
May 28, 2003 8:48 PM Subscribe
Lord of the Rings...THE MUSICAL. You heard it here first, folks.
Actually, I heard it first from BroadwayStars, which is an excellent professional theatre news headline aggregator site I recommend for any theatre fan. And it was also there that I found a detail left out of the Broadway.com reportage: the Lord of the Rings musical's preview site, with a few words from the producers, an e-mail announcement list to track the show's progress, downloadable desktop wallpaper, and more.
Although I'm very, very skeptical about "epic" musicals in general, my immediate reaction to this project was "Well, at least it can't be any worse that Lord of the Dance."
posted by bradlands at 9:16 PM on May 28, 2003
Although I'm very, very skeptical about "epic" musicals in general, my immediate reaction to this project was "Well, at least it can't be any worse that Lord of the Dance."
posted by bradlands at 9:16 PM on May 28, 2003
Gandalf's Theme:
Hobbiton, Hobbit town
Every time I come around
Smoke some weed and party down
In Hobbiton, Hobbit town
Hobbiton, Hobbit town
Middle earth is in grave danger
I am subtle, quick to anger
(Like Willy Nelson in The Red-Headed Stranger)
Aragorn is a surly Ranger
Who always wears a frown
In Hobbiton, Hobbit Town
posted by Hildago at 9:22 PM on May 28, 2003
Hobbiton, Hobbit town
Every time I come around
Smoke some weed and party down
In Hobbiton, Hobbit town
Hobbiton, Hobbit town
Middle earth is in grave danger
I am subtle, quick to anger
(Like Willy Nelson in The Red-Headed Stranger)
Aragorn is a surly Ranger
Who always wears a frown
In Hobbiton, Hobbit Town
posted by Hildago at 9:22 PM on May 28, 2003
Will they have the show-stopping ballad The Legend of Bilbo Baggins Preferably sung by Leonard Nimoy? (now with video.)
posted by hipnerd at 9:26 PM on May 28, 2003
posted by hipnerd at 9:26 PM on May 28, 2003
maybe they'll use my favorite, "Where There's a Whip -- There's a Way" from the Bakshi version of Two Towers
ah, I can see the orc chorus now
posted by badzen at 9:50 PM on May 28, 2003
ah, I can see the orc chorus now
posted by badzen at 9:50 PM on May 28, 2003
Hmm, so is that where all the inane songs in the book went?
posted by piper28 at 11:24 PM on May 28, 2003
posted by piper28 at 11:24 PM on May 28, 2003
I request -- nay, I demand -- that the The Lords Of The Rhymes have a major role.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:42 AM on May 29, 2003
posted by Katemonkey at 1:42 AM on May 29, 2003
The Ovation Theater in Cincinnati was working with a local actor, Blake Bowden, who has scripted each of the three books to a musical version. Fellowship of the Ring opened in Sept '01. And The Two Towers opened November '02. Blake has since left Ovation Theatre but plans to stage the third in the series somewhere else. I'm sure that this is also not the first time this has been done, but it's the first that I know of.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 5:38 AM on May 29, 2003
posted by TuxHeDoh at 5:38 AM on May 29, 2003
Wow. That's just going to cause... I can't think of a word that describes what the screeching is going to be like when these (relative) newcomers without even a moderate hit to their credit attempt to cram some 1,700 pages of material into a two-and-a-half hour show. With dancing Elves...
Presumably, they're serious. Presumably, they've no clue what they're getting themselves into - either that, or they are colossally stupid. I can hear the sharpening of poisoned pencils in every newspaper in London...
(TuxHeDoh: There are at least two musicals of The Hobbit that I know of, along with half a dozen or so "play" adaptations, most intended for children, but none of the full Lord of the Rings, which has been - to put it mildly - fiercely protected by Saentz. At least Ovation knew enough what they were about to make it three nights, although it does seem odd that Saentz would have allowed them to do it at all, unless he had planned to musicalize it all along and wanted someone else to take the risk of trying it first.)
posted by JollyWanker at 6:18 AM on May 29, 2003
Presumably, they're serious. Presumably, they've no clue what they're getting themselves into - either that, or they are colossally stupid. I can hear the sharpening of poisoned pencils in every newspaper in London...
(TuxHeDoh: There are at least two musicals of The Hobbit that I know of, along with half a dozen or so "play" adaptations, most intended for children, but none of the full Lord of the Rings, which has been - to put it mildly - fiercely protected by Saentz. At least Ovation knew enough what they were about to make it three nights, although it does seem odd that Saentz would have allowed them to do it at all, unless he had planned to musicalize it all along and wanted someone else to take the risk of trying it first.)
posted by JollyWanker at 6:18 AM on May 29, 2003
Badzen, you have me wishing I chose "Orc Chorus" as my band name.
posted by Foosnark at 9:43 AM on May 29, 2003
posted by Foosnark at 9:43 AM on May 29, 2003
Oh dear me. How awful.
I can't wait to hear the song that accompanies "One ring to bring them all and in the darkness, bind them."
Lordy, at least now I guess all those bad songs in the books will be used. Cue..... Tom Bombadil!
posted by aacheson at 10:19 AM on May 30, 2003
I can't wait to hear the song that accompanies "One ring to bring them all and in the darkness, bind them."
Lordy, at least now I guess all those bad songs in the books will be used. Cue..... Tom Bombadil!
posted by aacheson at 10:19 AM on May 30, 2003
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