Beruthiel’s Review of

Lord of the Rings

(The Musical)

10/10/07

London

When I initially heard LotR was being made into a musical I was bemused. It begged the question “why would you?” After all, could a musical version enhance such a well loved tale or even be an improvement on PJ’s films? The answer must clearly be, “because I can.”

After all, what isn’t a musical these days? For better or worse they are the dominant form of theatre across the world. Now, I’m not a big fan of that genre: it always seems contrived and just plain silly to have folks breaking into song when they could be spouting meaningful dialogue. Then I remembered that Tolkien’s work is full of songs and poems and characters do seem to do a lot of reciting and singing. But as for dancing – well, I could visualise Hobbits prancing across the stage, but Men and Elves and Dwarves? Seems undignified somehow.

My trepidation had also been increased by the critic’s reviews. In Toronto it debuted in 2006 after 3 years of pre-production amid much fanfare, but closed after six months due to poor ticket sales. Critics pretty much savaged the production. Positive reviews were few and far between. As a result there was a re-write of the script, the running time was shortened to three hours and there was considerable fine tuning of the stage effects. But despite the revamp Lord of the Rings didn’t fare much better in London.

One newspaper said: "British adults will find it hard to suppress open laughter at this show's Portentous Moments. Corny is hardly the word. There's more corn here than in Kansas. Quite the funniest show in the West End!" Another wrote: "As the show boomed along, there were moments when I thought this was a union of a Sixties hippy craft fair and scenes from Doctor Who." "Overblown, over-orchestrated and now over here," was another comment.

Also, “the product here is more reminiscent of TV's Xena Warrior Princess. Far bigger credits go to the "special effects designer", the "set and costume designer" and the bloke who taught the cast their acrobatics. It's that type of a night.” Ouch!

But I’m a fan, I had 65 pounds to spare and I was going to London – so how could I resist the call of such a production? Especially when they throw statistics like this at you. At 27 million pounds this is the most expensive musical ever staged in the UK. There are 55 members of the cast and 73 folk work behind the scenes on each performance. 808 shoes are worn by hobbits, orcs, elves and ents. There are 504 costumes, 387 costume changes and 500 pieces of armour in the show. Not to mention the 400 individual sequins on Elrond’s costume!

Once seated it’s hard not to admire the forest in front of you with it’s roots and branches stretching out from the centre of the stage itself. They creep over the hard edges of the stage to engulf the ceiling and boxes, effectively drawing the audience into a verdant, natural world. As the audience takes their seats they soon find the stage and aisles overrun by Hobbits. They skip around the theatre, some looking for a good picnic spot, climbing on seats trying to get the attention of each other. Some have butterfly nets and are busy in ridiculous attempts to catch glowing fire-flies which flit around the theatre’s interior. Initially unsuccessful in their capture, the Hobbit’s large nets on short poles give way to a very long pole with a tiny net till all the bugs are gathered and then released in a flurry.

I particularly enjoyed the way the Hobbits were portrayed. They wear rustic colours and their home-spun clothes are baggy and fulsome. Seats of pants are padded out for extra roundness and instead of bare feet they wear flesh coloured shoes with hair on them. When they dance their cavorting is exactly as I imagined a vigorous springle-ring would be, with fierce foot stomping, arm waving and hanky flourishing. They pretty much looked like Morris dancers on speed, not graceful; but energetic and full of the love of life. They all speak with a West Country burr, including Frodo (played by unknown James Loye). This makes him sound a little less tutored than I imagine him, especially as he is deferential to the wizard, calling him “Mister Galdalf, sir” all the time. Sam (Peter Howe) is as Sam should be, loyal and trustworthy. To set things straight, his love for Rosie is established early on, as they hold hands and shyly rub their hairy toes together, but he is willing to follow Mr Frodo on his great adventure. Poor Pippin seems doomed to be comic relief again; he received the most laughs for mildly amusing jokes and for the fact that when entering Fangorn forest he confesses he is afraid of trees! Merry has a bit more sense; he is bold and brave for a mere Hobbit. But overall they display typical sentimental homeliness; punctuated by references to Mrs Bracegirdle’s plum cake and nifty sayings such as “may the hair on your feet never fall out.”

While the Hobbits were well defined other characters did not impress. Gimli and Legolas, for instance, have very little to do. Boromir is killed off early on to have any character development. Roles for Faramir, Eowyn don’t exist at all. Gandalf didn’t really convey the power and strength you’d associate with a mighty wizard; his acting wasn’t impressive and he seemed determined only to get through his lines as quickly as possible.

However, credit has to go to Michael Therriault for his Gollum. He received praise from critics in both Canada and the UK for this role. He certainly looked the part , all reptilian grey and slimy with rags hanging off his skinny body. The actor’s athleticism was astounding; he makes his first appearance slithering down the stage curtain head-first, managing to sing and mutter menacingly at the same time. He crept around the stage on all fours, arching his back and performing painful looking contortions. When Gollum falls into the Crack of Doom he tumbles in slow motion from the top of the stage clutching his Precious. As in the film version, you find yourself feeling sorry for the tortured creature. But there was no worry that you would be comparing his performance to Andy Serkis – he was successful in making this role his own.

And as for the well loved tale itself being compressed on stage? PJ had over nine hours to compress a 1000 page novel and he still had to leave out essential scenes and some characters. The length of the show was three hours, and that was after having about thirty minutes cut off the original production in Toronto. A lot of the dialogue was needed, particularly in the first act, to get the back-story set up. Then the scenes pour on top of each other in quick succession. To help the audience the program contained a wordy, two page synopsis of the plot, which is far longer than any opera synopsis I’ve ever read. Even so, I wouldn’t have be surprised if non aficionados had only a superficial idea of what was going on. With almost every major scene represented (including the Scouring of the Shire) there was a lot of plot to tell.

Even if the story may be too much to follow at times it’s the relationship between Frodo and Sam is always evident. Their friendship is a theme which runs through the entire three hours (only briefly interrupted when the Ring takes it’s toll on Frodo who turns on Sam, calling him “just a stupid gardener”. Not too nasty an insult, is it?). Their duet “Now and For Always”, a simple folk song, perfectly encapsulates their bond. In fact, it’s one of the show’s few musical highlights

The rest of the music – collaboration by Indian composer AR Rahman and the Finnish folk group Varttina with Christopher Nightingale, never really gets of the ground. It can’t compare to what Howard Shore accomplished in the films. With few exceptions there are no tunes or songs which you can hum on the way home. In fact, there aren’t really that many songs, and the lyrics are mostly bland or don’t really convey much. Galadriel’s big number “Lothlorien” proves she is certainly the best singer of the cast. Especially impressive as she sings while being suspended about the stage in a harness and while on the stage her gown is hiding ten inch heels.

While the songs or characters lack emotional power the theatrics certainly will impress you. There was a lot of hype about the stage itself and it’s associated technical wonders. The stage has also been called a hero of the production. The show features an 45 foot, one million pound stage which boast 17 hydraulic lifts which raise and lower sections of the stage to dizzying heights. Apparently there were problems with it initially; one unfortunate actor got his leg caught in the machinery during a preview performance. His cries were mistaken by the audience as being part of the show! The stage is made a feature of practically every scene. Battles take place on it’s ever moving and ever spinning surfaces. Sometimes portions come up to became a mountain slope or flatten to become a plain or valley.

Furthermore there’s no shortage of weird and wonderful creatures to grace the stage. Snarling orcs outfitted with curves stilts on their arms and legs bounced around the stage. These rubberised foot stilts allowed them to perform amazing somersaults and flips. And they were not just the stage – during the second interval they crept amongst the audience causing much shrieking and screams from the patrons. The pyrotechnic Balrog scene at the end of the first act was impressive and frightening. Huge fans generated enough wind in the auditorium to blow your hat off and send heaps of black ash (well, bits of confetti) everywhere. Ents on huge stilts loomed high above the audience. A menacing troupe of Black Riders were men on stilts with skeleton-like mounts, tall enough for the Hobbits to run underneath them. Arachnophobes beware – when Shelob creeps up behind Frodo a gasp is inevitable, even though it is merely a huge puppet with stagehands manipulating it’s legs.

There is a lot of movement on stage with this parade of bad guys and a lot of finely choreographed foot stomping and sword waving to depict the battles, but this doesn’t always engage you. I kept thinking of most of the show as a tribute to Cirque du Soliel. Despite the spectacular visual effects, monsters and aerial acrobatics the show lacked in narrative and characterisation. But I am sure the show will do better in London than it did previously – after all, they have a built in fan base. And yes, I’d go again!

Beruthiel

Oct 2007

Frodo and Sam’s Duet

(Sam sings)

Sing me a story of Frodo and the Ring:

Fearless and bold! Tired and cold.
Sword at his side; an elf-blade called Sting.
Crossing a miserable land.
Wouldn't retreat, or meet defeat.
Now and for always!

(Both sing)

Sit by the firelights glow,
Tell us an old tale we know.
Tell of adventure strange and rare;
Never to change, ever to share.
Stories we tell will cast their spell
Now and for always.

(Sam falls asleep. Frodo sings)

Sing me a tale of the bravest of them all,
Comrade and guide, at my side.
Stout hearted Sam, wouldn't let me fall.
Holding my life in his hands.
True to the end, no finer friend,
Now and for always.

Sit by the firelights glow,
Tell us an old tale we know.
Tell of adventure strange and rare;
Never to change, ever to share.
Stories we tell will cast their spell
Now and for always.

(Frodo falls asleep in Sam’s lap)