Lord of the Rings: The Musical (No Joke!) - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

the phantom · 03-16-2005, 10:40 AM

From the article-

Quote:

There will be no singing and dancing Hobbits.

What?!

If you're not going to have singing and dancing hobbits, why even make a LOTR musical?

Who else is going to sing and dance? Saruman? The ents?

alatar · 03-16-2005, 12:00 PM

I'm interested in seeing the 'Gandalf-Witch King at the Gate' song and dance number.

"I will enter the city!"

"You will not enter this city over my broken staff."

Just think, the tension builds until the brass section goes wild, then in the silence thereafter we hear this tiny high-pitched voice sing, "Oh Faramir, Oh Faramir, Oh Faramir's a burning..."

Can we pre-order tickets?

Bêthberry · 03-16-2005, 12:18 PM

Gollem tap dances. And the orcs do the chorus line. According to a local Toronto paper.

Not.

Well, a helicopter once landed on the stage when Miss Saigon played in Toronto. No telling what can be done with stage hydraulics these days.

On the other hand, there is Wagner to think about. One hopes the producers have.

**The Saucepan Man** · 03-16-2005, 01:25 PM

Well, the stage production of His Dark Materials, staged at the National Theatre in London, made very effective use of puppetry, costumes and staging technology (as well as the actors themselves) to produce what I thought was an excellent production. The same sort of thing might well be possible with Lord of the Rings (although I am not sure that Hobbits as puppets would work

). However, even though it was presented as two 3 hour plays, large chunks of the Dark Materials books were jettisoned for the stage production. Imagine how much of LotR (the book) they will have to leave out for this proposed musical. Although, as it is a musical, I suppose that numerous pages of dialogue and exposition can be replaced with song.

Snorri Swifthammer · 03-16-2005, 01:52 PM

Maybe we'll see musical LotR crossovers soon....

Snorri Swifthammer · 03-16-2005, 01:59 PM

Or maybe one of my favorites...

Bêthberry · 03-17-2005, 07:57 AM

Thank you Sauce for reminding us of the fairly successful adaptation of Pullman's His Dark Materials.

I would think that it is less a matter of converting the dialogue to song and the action to dance as to translate the many extensive passages of description of Middle earth into the set design and stage scenery. The theatre for this production, The Princess of Wales theatre (yes, it was named for the late Diana, Princess of Wales) will be renovated so that the stage will have 16 elevators.

Perhaps more intriguing for audiences will be the renovation of the audience area into a Middle-earth forest. Obviously the backers of this production realise how much many readers of Tolkien long to live in Middle-earth.

But don't let me stop the jokes. Here's a link for The Lord of the Rings Musical to inspire you all. Some might be impressed with the opening intro and music.

03-16-2005, 12:18 PM	#3
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	Gollem tap dances. And the orcs do the chorus line. According to a local Toronto paper. Not. Well, a helicopter once landed on the stage when Miss Saigon played in Toronto. No telling what can be done with stage hydraulics these days. On the other hand, there is Wagner to think about. One hopes the producers have. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

03-16-2005, 01:25 PM	#4
The Saucepan Man Corpus Cacophonous Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: A green and pleasant land Posts: 8,390	Well, the stage production of His Dark Materials, staged at the National Theatre in London, made very effective use of puppetry, costumes and staging technology (as well as the actors themselves) to produce what I thought was an excellent production. The same sort of thing might well be possible with Lord of the Rings (although I am not sure that Hobbits as puppets would work ). However, even though it was presented as two 3 hour plays, large chunks of the Dark Materials books were jettisoned for the stage production. Imagine how much of LotR (the book) they will have to leave out for this proposed musical. Although, as it is a musical, I suppose that numerous pages of dialogue and exposition can be replaced with song. __________________ Do you mind? I'm busy doing the fishstick. It's a very delicate state of mind!

03-17-2005, 07:57 AM	#7
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	Muddy York becomes the Shire Thank you Sauce for reminding us of the fairly successful adaptation of Pullman's His Dark Materials. I would think that it is less a matter of converting the dialogue to song and the action to dance as to translate the many extensive passages of description of Middle earth into the set design and stage scenery. The theatre for this production, The Princess of Wales theatre (yes, it was named for the late Diana, Princess of Wales) will be renovated so that the stage will have 16 elevators. Perhaps more intriguing for audiences will be the renovation of the audience area into a Middle-earth forest. Obviously the backers of this production realise how much many readers of Tolkien long to live in Middle-earth. But don't let me stop the jokes. Here's a link for The Lord of the Rings Musical to inspire you all. Some might be impressed with the opening intro and music. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

03-16-2005, 12:00 PM	#2
alatar Doubting Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Heaven's basement Posts: 2,466	I'm interested in seeing the 'Gandalf-Witch King at the Gate' song and dance number. "I will enter the city!" "You will not enter this city over my broken staff." Just think, the tension builds until the brass section goes wild, then in the silence thereafter we hear this tiny high-pitched voice sing, "Oh Faramir, Oh Faramir, Oh Faramir's a burning..." Can we pre-order tickets?