LORD OF THE RINGS opens

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 2:50am

All eyes will be on Toronto tonight for the official unveiling of the $27 million production of LORD OF THE RINGS.

The show began previews Feb 4th and has built a steady buzz. All three Toronto newspapers (The Star, The Globe & Male, The Post) and the tabloid (The Sun) have done profiles on the show and the Mirvishes have taken a series of colour full-page ads in the weekend broadsheets. They did a little television advertising at first but with many performances already sold out they have been tending to stick with print ads.

Reviewers have been spread over several performances this week and next though no reviews are allowed to be published until after Thursday night's invitation-only gala.

I will be seeing the show this weekend and will have a review posted soon afterwards.

Updated On: 3/24/06 at 02:50 AM

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 2:59am

"and the tabloid (The Sun)"

hah...so true.

Akiva

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 3:47am

Can't wait to hear how it goes. =)

[Tigger]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 6:18am

I am in fact going to tonight's gala opening and will attempt a review provided I get home at a decent hour from the after show party that is being held at The Royal York Hotel.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 7:06am

BBC News also has a feature on the show:
BBC News Online

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 8:31am

yay! There was an story about it in TIME this week, but not a review per say. I can't wait to hear the news!

[JRTO]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 9:57am

Here's the profile from the star:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Page&cid=1007643938417

(picture of gollum- haven't seen that before!)

I'm going tomorrow night and won't read any reviews before I see it. I may write my own...

[firescape]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 10:09am

Having seen a preview performance I am very interested in hearing a review to know the changes made.
As excitement builds for this production visit this thread for constant updates on all the latest production photos out there.

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=890584&dt=36

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:34am

I'm excited, but at the same time its a lot of money on the line...i hope it does well.

[anfwesternboy]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 2:01pm

The rest of the LOTR photos are posted on Onstagetoronto.ca's blog...


Click here for the pics

[Colle]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 3:09pm

I love the pictures, Galadriel has an interesting hat(or whatever). I hope everything goes well tonight, best wishes and sucess to the cast and crew. Also, I am looking forward to the cast recording.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 5:34pm

I especially love the first two pictures. =)

I'm really bummed that Arwen looks like she did in the films. Everything looks so similar to the films. Why couldn't they have gone in a completely different direction with the costumes?

Galadriel looks fantastic though!

[Chitty]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 5:44pm

so not excited about this

[today4u:proofpositiv]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 8:04pm

I saw one of the previews afew weeks ago, and I'm excited to see soem of the reviews tomorrow. Hope it goes well!

[Tag]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:26pm

Horrible horrible first review:



Why we’re left bored of the Rings
Mar. 23, 2006. 11:16 PM
RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
THEATRE CRITIC


There’s a moment late in the first act of The Lord of the Rings, when it looks as though all the hopes and dreams Toronto had pinned on this show were going to come true.
The members of the Fellowship have finally come together and set out on their quest for the ring. As a stirring choral anthem swells behind them, designer Rob Howell’s triple-turntable set starts revolving and its 17 elevators begin to lift the cast into the air.

It’s a stirring sequence, the kind that gives you goosebumps and makes you think, “That’s it, they’ve got it!” All too sadly, that feeling never happens again and when the 361/27-hour, $28 million behemoth finally comes to an end, you may find yourself fighting back tears, but they’ll be ones of disappointment.

From the morning last March when this city first heard that a stage version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic trilogy would be having its world premiere here, some people hoped it would be magnificent, others feared it might be foolish.

But no one ever thought it would wind up being dull. Yet somehow that’s the most fitting word to describe what director Matthew Warchus and his colleagues have laboured so long and hard to do.

They offer non-stop music to engage our ears, endless visuals to hold our eyes prisoner and special effects to raise our pulse.

But except in fleeting moments, they haven’t given us anyone or anything to care about. Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Gollum - they’re all there, but they rattle around the cavernous stage like jelly beans in an oil drum. They’re not people, they’re pawns in a giant rapid-fire chess game that nobody winds up winning.

The problems with this version of The Lord of the Rings are so basic that you wonder how those involved with it could watch it coming together and still not see what was wrong.

To begin with, it looks like no one ever decided what kind of show it was meant to be. “It’s not a musical,” the creators kept insisting, but Warchus gives us enough trappings of the form to make us think that it is.

There’s a saccharine ballad between Arwen and Aragorn that’s repeated endlessly, a lengthy dance number at the Prancing Pony Inn which stops the action dead in every sense of the word and a meandering new-age anthem for Galadriel to warble while dressed in disco finery.

But when push comes to shove and the big emotional moments arrive, no one ever actually gets to sing. The music swells behind the cast and they often have to shout to be heard over it, but it doesn’t help them soar.

It took the combined forces of Värttinä, A.R. RahmanÖ and Christopher Nightingale to write the score, but no matter how energetically Rick FoxÖ conducts his orchestra, it all starts to sound the same.

The script by Shaun McKenna and Warchus is also problematic. In its desire to compress three books into one evening, it sacrifices any kind of depth in the name of forward motion. And because we never get a sense of who anyone really is and what they truly believe in, sentiments that are meant to sound lofty somehow wind up on the far side of cheesy.

Howell’s design has its spectacular moments, but the much-heralded turntable soon wears out its welcome. And ultimately most of the special effects are things we have all seen done before, and better, in The Lion King or at Cirque du Soleil.

Paul Pyant’s lighting is dramatically striking, but it usually fails to illuminate the actors’ faces and it’s often difficult to tell who’s speaking at any given time.

And a climactic moment such as Gollum’s final struggle with Frodo for the ring is so poorly staged and lit that I defy anyone who doesn’t already know the plot to guess what is happening.

With so much to work against, the cast are more to be pitied than censured. A few of them make vivid impressions, most notably Michael Therriault’s twisted Gollum, ÖPeter Howe’s sweet Sam and ÖEvan Buliung’s sturdy Aragorn.

The rest either get lost, such as ÖJames Loye’s underpowered Frodo, or make a mess of things, such as Brent Carver’s overly mannered Gandalf.

Interestingly enough, at the critics’ preview I attended, the audience only broke into spontaneous applause twice and that was at the conclusion of two of Gollum’s scenes: intense, intimate moments that were free from any spectacle.

Because, for all the creators’ talk about wanting to emphasize the human element in Tolkien’s story, that’s what’s almost totally missing from the version they’ve presented us.

It’s like giving a child an elaborate electronic toy, when all he really wanted was for you to tell him a good bedtime story.
Review

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:33pm

Sad. Sounds they relied too much on the spectacle instead of the actual story. :cough: Lion King :cough:

[AnotherDay46]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 11:34pm

Ouch... We'll see how the other reviews are I guess...

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:14am

NY Times.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/theater/reviews/24ring.html

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:22am

another bad one.

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:29am

Okay, RICHARD OUZOUNIAN is officially a neurotic, two-faced crack-head. This is the guy who was hired by the LOTR staff to report on the show and early articles had him saying things like the show was going to be the best thing that ever came out of Toronto; How inspiring the early performances were. Was he BS-ing then or is he copping out, hearing the early negative buzz and thrashing it to bits. This is so typical of him. I'm sick and tired of this man. I wish he'd get fired from the Star and just die.

That being said, too bad about the bad reviews. Apparently the opening night crowd LOVED the show.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:43am

Honestly though, I really dont think this will affect sales at all. Toronto audiences aren't as influenced by critics as New York or London audiences. This might affect chances of a transfer though...which in itself may be an even BETTER sign for Toronto.

Akiva

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 2:21am

And so far they are not encouraging.

Richard ouzounian's review has already been posted here tin full (Thanks, Tag!0 and he gave it * * out of four.

The Globe and Mail also gave it * * and here are few choice excerpts:

"...what's missing from this adaptation is the essence of theatre itself as that divine place for sharing stories and forging emotional connections between the audience and the performers.....

Warchus and his book and lyrics co-writer, Shaun McKenna, have been blessed with source material that has two magic theatrical words written all over it: journey and friendship. They waste both.....

Their adaptation acquires the irritating drone of a speed-typing contest to see how many storylines can be crammed into three one-hour acts. Few, if any, moments are allowed to breathe onstage or hit their philosophical message.....

A typical example of the production's muddled thinking about music is a show-stopping (in the literal sense) song in Act 2 by Rebecca Jackson Mendoza as Galadriel. It sounds like any other power ballad in any Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. The rest of the score, by Indian composer A.R. Rahman and Finland's folk group Varttina, plays like someone has raided the world-music section at Indigo, picking up universal sounds and siren songs and hoping for the best.....

Once again, the show is the set. Yet the triumphs of visual representation and conceptual design come at an exacting price since they eat up valuable stage time. They also raise expectations that routinely get dashed in the narrative portions. In a hybrid, each part is supposed to pull its weight, not drag the other down."


The tabloid The Sun, which is a trashy rag, happens to have a very good theatre reviewer in John Colborn. He was gaurded but more enthusiastic writing...

"Despite all its limitations, much is impressive in The Lord Of The Rings.....

By and large, the power of Tolkien's tale of a magical ring and the fellowship that forms around it to prevent it from destroying the world is undiminished in this theatrical distillation.....

So while it all comes together to tell Tolkien's story, it never reaches that magical point where, as always happens in the best theatre, audience members are lifted out of their seats and carried into the story.

Weighed down by sheer narrative volume, an incredibly talented cast rarely fully inhabits their characters in such a way as to make us care about them in any meaningful way.

There is a brief frisson of romantic tension between Strider and Arwen, and a further intimation of the deep ties of friendship that bind Frodo and Sam — but they are quickly brushed aside by the necessity of keeping this massive story moving ever forward.

Musically, the score composed by A.R.Rahman and Varttina with Christopher Nightingale, under the direction of Rick Fox, is a mixed bag. When used as a bed on which to float elements of the story, the score often is effective although, frankly, not even Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture could save some of the lame battle scenes.

But when it comes to aiding character development, the music rarely rises above the purely forgettable.

This is not a score many will be humming as they leave the theatre.

Sadly, this production — finally, far more a lavish pageant than a moving play — offers scant proof that it was ever there.

(* * * 1/2 out of 5)



There will be more and the show will be much discussed over the next few days. (I will be seeing it this weekend an my official BWW review will appear in the Toronto area of this board.)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 2:41am

The New York Times sent Ben Brantley to cover it....

"Everyone and everything winds up lost in this $25 million adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's cult-inspiring trilogy of fantasy novels. That includes plot, character and the patience of most ordinary theatergoers....

The show's mantra could be, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." A lot of the book and lyrics (by Shaun McKenna and Mr. Warchus) are sacrificed to the distortions of electronic amplification and booming background music. The dialogue that can be heard often sounds as if it comes from a Hollywood medieval sword-banger of 50 or 60 years ago....

As for the songs — well, do not be so foolish, mortals, as to think they are mere show tunes. Created by the polyglot team of A. R. Rahman (of "Bombay Dreams" and Bollywood), Varttina (a Finnish folk group) and Christopher Nightingale, the musical numbers are often solemn, incantatory affairs, suggesting Enya at an ashram. Many of them are performed at least partly in Elvish. (If you think that means a lisping Presley imitator, this is definitely not the show for you.) Others recall the folky parody tunes from the spoof documentary "A Mighty Wind."

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 4:07am

From the National Post...

Clocking in at a hefty 3 1/2 hours (with two brief intermissions), the epic fantasy is full of energy and wonder. Yes, plot and character development are compressed, but the production's sensory-stimulating sound and light show is easily the match of those digital effects that set the Peter Jackson motion picture versions apart......

Fascinating, too, are the design innovations that create and move the dark riders, orcs, ents and especially Shelob, the giant cave-dwelling spider. Surround-sound and lighting effects break down the stage-audience barrier, immersing even ticket-buyers in the cheap seats. Still, it all hinges on the cast.

Michael Therriault plays Gollum as an appropriately repulsive, tortured creature who pops up in all corners of the stage, and even once from a side balcony.

Brent Carver is suitably noble as Gandalf, and Evan Buliung is a hunky, heroic Strider/Aragorn. Equally impressive are James Loye as the quietly courageous Frodo and Peter Howe as loyal sidekick Samwise. Providing the required comic interludes are Dylan Roberts and Owen Sharpe as both puckish and plucky Shire companions Merry and Pippin respectively.

On the villainous side of things, Richard McMillan is perfectly inscrutable as the bald-pated wizard Saruman.

The sum of the parts creates a suitably fevered dream.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 4:40am

Here are highlights of Variety's review:

It is gratifying to report that in its elaborate
design and massive scale, "The Lord of the Rings" channels all that investment into an imposing, often impressive visual and aural spectacle.Too bad this respectful but somewhat arduous trudge through Middle-earth never summons comparable resources in the storytelling department.

Tolkien fanatics already versed in the story should guarantee an audience on both sides of the pond. Others (including most musical-theater aficionados)likely will remain indifferent to or confused by this saga of short people burdened by power jewelry, which in this episodic rendering lacks clarity, an emotional center and a fluid narrative engine.

The decision to stage the story as a musical seems almost arbitrary given that the songs add so little. "Bombay Dreams" composer A.R. Rahman and Finnish folk ensemble Varttina have attempted to create a score that reflects the story's mythological flavor more than traditional musical-theater modes. But only a few songs have a narrative shape or function, let alone fully developed melodies; the rest seem like new age
symphonia.

In its deadly serious tone, distinctly 1980s-style bloat and bombast and banner-waving call to arms, "LOTR" at times recalls "Les Miserables." But its solemnity is undercut by involuntary detours into Monty Python territory, with clunky dialogue and characters that produce an unintended comic effect -- an envoy of dark lord Sauron awkwardly resembles Tim the
Enchanter, while the bearded Ents are like ZZ Top on stilts.

But the show's real problem is lack of depth. None of the characters is brought vividly to life, least of all hobbit hero Frodo, whose odyssey to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom gets lost amid the narrative clutter. James Loye is plucky and sincere in the role, but he undersells the ringbearer's torment, the tremendous, debilitating weight of Frodo's task.

Only Michael Therriault as the scene-stealing Gollum makes a strong, memorably creepy impression, waging schizophrenic internal warfare between his good and bad sides and slinking about like he's stepped straight out of a German Expressionist horror movie."