Lord of the Rings

When I saw it, there was a cast of 55 (swings included?) and there were a great variety of roles for men and women. I think some ensemble people (male and female) had to be under 5'5 to be hobbits and double as orks, etc. But most of the HUMAN actors were about 6 ft tall. It depends on the individual and how they want to be place you.
I saw it and I'm wondering if it'll flop like it did in Toronto. New York would rip it to shreds, I'm positive. London, maybe not. It may be more accustomed to their audiences - and that's not trying to give a quip to them. For instance, someone recently did URINETOWN in England and it was a total cultural shock for them.

thanks for the pictures
i think the Black Riders look rather cool, but Gollum... I think it would have been more effective if they had a puppet type of thing where a man controls it or something...just doesnt really work for me
but cool.

Wow, thanks for the pictures. I was also wondering, how much dancing was the ensemble doing?

Don't say anything bad about gollum. He was the BEST part of the show. Totally worth flying to Toronto to see the show.

The hobbits dance at Rivendale (?) wasn't really dancing. They jumped over benches and did some Riverdance stuff.

-There were 10 females in the cast of 55. 2 of which were swings. So only 8 on stage per night. Female swings covering ensemble tracks only sometimes went on in male roles and vice versa.
-The hobbits (at least the 4 main ones) were padded in their stomachs and behinds. They wore prosthetic noses and fake feet.
-The actors cast as hobbits were 5'7 or shorter.
-Non hobbit characters in the fellowship wore high shoes and stood/sat at different levels to achieve the height differances.
-There were only 2 dance numbers, one was a 3 minute preshow dance in the shire (was originally 20 minutes) and one was a full blown number at the Prancing Pony that involved some creative use of benches.
-There were many fight sequences that were just as choreographed that used most of the ensemble members.

I think that clears up some of the questions. If you have more, I'll be happy to answer.

Updated On: 9/16/06 at 03:10 PM

Did anyone else notice that during Gadladriel's song, there were men dressed as women in the white robes and long blonde wigs? I was in the 2nd row, and it looked like they were trying to look like women but you could definately tell they weren't! Were they all supposed to be a certain gender, or did it just look like it?

Yes, at times it was difficult to see when the stage would be raised, but it wasn't that bad. Yes, the show is best seen far back, but the good thing about being up close is that all the expressions and actions are so CLOSE and you feel like you're right there in Middle Earth. The battle scenes were hard to see, but the rest of the show was very visible, especially the end of Act One, when all the leaves and fog is blown right into your face.

Alright, i"m back again.

I've been listening to "Into the West" all night-the cover song by Annie Lenox for Return of the King. WOW is that an amazing song.

I wish she wrote all the music.

"Into the West" is NOT a song from the stage version. It is from one of the films. There is no association.