Lord of the Rings musical (Asia Pacific) enters voluntary administration

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 1:02pm

The producing company behind The Lord of the Rings (the same version that opened in Chicago about a year ago) in Australasia has placed itself into administration.

Essentially, they have no money left (or very little money) to cover their outstanding debts and an independent party will take over to see if there’s some way to get them out of the hole. Those owed money will likely be tech equipment rental companies, theatres, cast and crew, and without doubt the licensor/anyone waiting for creative royalties. 

It sounds like the producers had hoped the show would continue on in other Asian countries after closing in Singapore, but it seems they were met with a loud “You will not pass!”. The same producers recently toured the Sarah Brightman Sunset Blvd to a few Asian cities. 

This desperate financial situation is unique to theatre producers in that part of the world, because in general it’s cheaper to put on a show there than many places in the northern hemisphere. Usually considered ‘watertight’, the audience is ready and willing to pay the price for entertainment.

However, the writing may have been on the wall early on in the tour - many photos I saw from the audience showed pretty empty houses right from the start. 

This will be a sad blow to producer Torben Brookman, who as far as I know is one of the “kinder-hearted” in the business and has been well-respected. 
 

https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/features/lorstage-asia-pacific-enters-voluntary-administration-a-sad-turn-after-an-ambitious-australian-tour/amp/

Updated On: 9/9/25 at 01:02 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 1:13pm

Agents of Sauron are behind this, no doubt.

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 1:31pm

The show had a short run - 4-11 October - scheduled for Plymouth, England and is "sold out".  But no cast has been announced. 

The producing company for Australia/Singapore had a name that suggested it was only for those venues - so the UK (and then....?) might still happen? 

When we saw it in Melbourne on a Todays Tix discounted ticket, we were in the first balcony/circle and were able to move to center with no issues as that section was maybe 1/3 full and the balcony behind us was empty.  And we thought the show was "meh"

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 1:41pm

“The show had a short run - 4-11 October - scheduled for Plymouth, England and is "sold out".  But no cast has been announced.” 

This is interesting, thanks for mentioning it. GWB (Torben Brookman’s company) has an office in the UK so it may well be them behind it still. The Plymouth Theatre Royal’s Instagram page has no posts about the show (I only scrolled back two months but that seemed indicative) so perhaps it can be assumed that “sold out” really means “sales halted”.

On the Plymouth website they’re using Australian B-roll and audience vox clips to showcase the production, so I wonder if they were planning to fly the same Aus cast to the UK for the run but have been blocked from going further. If actors are owed money I can see some agents saying “f*ck you, pay me/us” before anyone willingly stepped on a plane. 

Updated On: 9/9/25 at 01:41 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 6:05pm

And now the "official site" just says "FURTHER TOUR DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON" with no mention of Plymouth.  https://lotrmusical.com/

The Plymouth Theatre site still suggests the show is coming there. You may be right about the meaning of "sold out" meaning "not for sale"  

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 9:13am

You're welcome team BWW! :-)

https://www.broadwayworld.com/perth/article/LORD-OF-THE-RINGS-Musical-Enters-Voluntary-Administration-After-Australian-Tour-20250909#:~:text=Director%20Torben%20Brookman%20notified%20suppliers,company%20has%20entered%20voluntary%20administration.&text=LORStage%20Asia%20Pacific%20Pty%20Ltd,to%20reporting%20by%20Aussie%20Theatre.

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 9:16am

The BWW article should have noted something about the Plymouth dates probably being off - even though those performances might be from a different (but related) entity. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 9:21am

ggersten said: "The BWW article should have noted something about the Plymouth dates probably being off - even though those performances might be from a different (but related) entity."

Yes I'm surprised they didn't follow the clues you dug up. Maybe they didn't want it to be totally obvious that they'd mined the forum for the news.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 9:27am

At some point, you'd think they'd say "the only way we're seeing any financial return on this is dumping the title into licensing, since people will clamor to do it."

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 9:39am

Yeah, that will probably be next move. This had Brent Carver involved 20 years ago, which gives an idea of how long they've been trying to find success.

I think their initial timing was right, debuting a couple of years after the final move was released, but at that point I think Lord of the Rings fatigue had set in. Plus, as good as the stage piece may be, it feels like the movies satisfied everyone's curiosity. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 10:16am

BorisTomashevsky said: "ggersten said: "The BWW article should have noted something about the Plymouth dates probably being off - even though those performances might be from a different (but related) entity."

Yes I'm surprised they didn't follow the clues you dug up. Maybe they didn't want it to be totally obvious that they'd mined the forum for the news."

Well, I didn't really dig anything up. It mostly comes from discussion over on Theatreboard. 

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 10:57am

BorisTomashevsky said: 

I think their initial timing was right, debuting a couple of years after the final move was released, but at that point I think Lord of the Rings fatigue had set in. Plus, as good as the stage piece may be, it feels like the movies satisfied everyone's curiosity."

The other problem is that the musical just really isn't very good. The bones of the piece aren't great. It's heavily expository and the songs are beautiful but not exactly ear-catching.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 11:02am

It never sold well in Melbourne, I’m amazed they decided to keep going after the Australian run. They were hoping it would sell on name alone. It should have been put together as an arena tour with bigger sets. Limited nights. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 11:29am

Yes the Global Creatures treatment could have helped here. It looked like they were comping heavily during Melbourne, and actors from other shows were really pushing it hard on instagram which you don’t see often in Australia. 

Spare a thought especially for actor Rob Mallett, who was burned by the collapse of the Elvis musical in Australia and will still be owed money from that. So if a paycheck for Rings is still missing, it will have been an unfortunate year for him. 

Updated On: 9/10/25 at 11:29 AM

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 12:32pm

This seems like it was just generally some really misguided producing. This did not sell well in Chicago and did not sell well in Australia. Additionally, they took a very small production that thrived on its intimacy and blew it up to a mostly standard proscenium production and didn't effectively adjust its scope or scale. Just sort of wrong at every turn. It's sad because the parts that worked in Chicago really worked. Unfortunately, that was only about 15 minutes but you could really see what could have been... if more had been rethought or adjusted. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:02pm

This may explain how in the early scene where Bilbo disappears, we could quite clearly see how it was done from Dress Circle (mezzanine) level. Maybe it looked like stage magic from the stalls - but not from where we sat.  But, later on, the spider was cool!

And this: There are repeated uses of platforms rising up and down. And sometimes for no purpose. In one (laughable) instance, Aragon, Legolas and Gimli are on a platform that rises slightly. Merry and Pippin then come and hop up and are brought up - and the second they are on the platform, it descends back down!

 

Updated On: 9/10/25 at 01:02 PM

[devonian.t]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:25pm

The original production that played Drury Lane in London was so spectacular and beautiful- but it was definitely "sound and fury signifying nothing" from the drama point of view.  It either needed to be a detailed two-parter like Harry Potter, or a much pacier condensed 2-act romp, with slightly fewer repetitive battles and debates.

Laura Michelle Kelly descending from the roof for Lothlorien was utterly breathtaking, though! And when the Balrog exploded, tiny fragments of "dragon" blew into the audience. There was so much attention to detail in everything except the dramatic tension.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:39pm

For the revised version, how much music was added, rewritten or cut? I am a big fan of the LOTR cast recording, but I also recognize that like the Cirque du Soleil cast recordings, it's largely a "listenable" studio concoction of material pared down from a much larger and more intricate (but not necessarily structurally sound) score.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/12/25 at 1:44pm

Plymouth officially cancelled, blamed on changes to the international tour schedule. AKA the whole tour will have been cancelled. 

Lots of people out of work now, and the theatre has taken an unfair financial hit as well. Tolkien couldn’t write his way out of this one. 

https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/the-lord-of-the-rings-musical-pulls-uk-run-next-month_1693855/

Video message from Theatre Royal Plymouth’s artistic director: https://youtu.be/r1wUxU9meUg

 

Email from Theatre Royal to ticket holders:

It is with significant regret that we share the news that the forthcoming season of The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale has been cancelled by the producers of the show. 

The producers, Kevin Wallace for LORStage2, have shared that unexpected changes to their originally planned international tour routing required the production to secure alternative post-Plymouth touring dates.

The producers engaged with partners to revise the routing to make Plymouth feasible, but it has proved impossible to conclude those arrangements in time for the Plymouth season to proceed. 

We know the producers worked tirelessly to resolve this, and to bring the show to Plymouth, but ultimately the logistics became insurmountable in the timeframe available. 

Please be assured all of us at TRP share your frustrations and disappointment.

This cancellation has had an adverse impact on our charity. Whilst we have reached a financial settlement with the producers, there remain other losses for the theatre due to the cancellation. I ask that you are considerate of the challenges we are facing if you deal with my colleagues in our Box Office team in the days ahead.

Thank you so much for your understanding.

 

Updated On: 9/12/25 at 01:44 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/12/25 at 1:59pm

So, some of the delay in announcing was based on Plymouth trying to get as much money from the Producers to compensate for the cancellation. It appears that that sum was not large - because they are literally asking people to not ask for refunds, or at a minimum, convert to a gift certificate/card/voucher.

What a mess!  The producers likely had cancellation insurance, but I doubt the theatre had it.

Still, I presume there will be theatres out there that will give this another chance thinking the producers will act different and audiences will be large.  What is odd is that Plymouth run is claimed to have been "sold out" or at least sold very very well. The one week tour stop with no additional stops announced always appeared weird to people over on Theatreboard - with some speculating that the Plymouth run was really about getting a proshot done. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/12/25 at 2:11pm

That’s really unfortunate if there were plans for a proshot. I was really hoping this would do well so it might tour the US and I could get a chance to see it.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/12/25 at 2:13pm

Yes I think the producers really overestimated the popularity/saleability of the piece. They also seem to have no sense of matching a venue to the show - the audience photos from Singapore make it clear that something that works best in 500 seats doesn’t look good in a 1200 seat room. 

I guess even with a sold out Plymouth, there wouldn’t have been the money to cover all debts from that season. And with the forced cancellation of whatever future venues they’d been hoping for, the money to cover the Plymouth debts wouldn’t have ever been generated.

Gollum’s cursed the whole thing!