Playbill: A new production of the 2006 stage musical The Lord of the Rings is coming to the US. Adapted from the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, Paul Hart's production will be presented in collaboration with Chicago Shakespeare Theater this summer from July 19 to September 1.
6 comments:
Yes. I support this. Let’s make more book to musical adaptations. There’s already a Lord of the Rings musical, a Percy Jackson musical, a Great Gatsby musical, a Good Omens musical, and multiple Harry Potter musicals. Why stop there? Ender’s Game: The Musical. The Giver: The Musical. How to Train Your Dragon: The Musical. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Musical. We as an industry owe it to the nerds of this world to make full length 2-1/2 hour musical scores for every great book of the last two centuries. In all seriousness though, I am very curious about this musical and its puppets. I’m surprised I had never heard about it before. I’m saddened to learn that its West End run was “one of the biggest commercial failures in West End history at the time,” but hopefully this does not bode poorly for its U.S. premiere.
Today I learned that there was a 2006 stage musical for Lord of the Rings and I think I need to process that information for a bit. I do support the venture, and as a big Lord of the Rings fan, I think this would be really cool to experience. The production photos attached to the article do look really cool - I enjoy the staging and the lighting, it seems like it is a successful conversion from a traditional staging to an immersive experience. While as per the article it doesn’t sound like this was very successful when it launched in 2006, I wonder if it will do better in the US this time around, especially as new LoTR movies like the War of the Rohirrim will be premiering in the near(ish) future, which might kick up more general interest around the Lord of the Rings franchise. I’m curious to follow the journey of this production!
I am so here for this let's make more books to Stage adaptations. I'm also a sucker for immersive theater so the fact that this Lord of the Rings adaptation is going to be immersive is similar to a way that great comment was hits really close to home. Although I have never read Lord of the Rings which some may consider scandalous, I am planning on reading the book this summer and living fairly close to Chicago. I might just need to make a field trip to see this production. I'm really excited to see how they power down this massive book series that was like eight films into something that is palatable for the average theater viewer. Part of me feels like Paige to Stage adaptations can go one of two ways either very good or very bad with the recent success of Gatsby and The Outsiders I'm hoping that this production remains a success too.
This sounds pretty awesome. the Lord of the Rings in musical form, something I wouldn't naturally expect however based on the state of the world right now people seem to search for the biggest money maker. as a huge franchise of course people would be curious to see this musical, as am I. if I were to design this musical I would first create an extremely intricate set using Scenic painting techniques To work on top of scenery. maybe a dark scrim in the back with low lighting and fog as well as airbrushed trees the characters would of course wear fitting costumes. The set would be extremely Moody and a bit eerie. I think it would be something super awesome to work on. however, one must ask themselves why. is it really necessary for the Lord of the Rings to become a musical in 2024? Besides from the fact that people would want to compare the musicals to the book to the movies, I don't think it's really necessary, the Lord of the Rings stand alone and don't need more adaptations. I think at some point it might lose What It Wants originally had.
How did I not know there was a 2006 musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings? I mean 2006 was middle school for me and way before I became a theater kid, so that could explain it. However, I grew up with a mother obsessed with Lord of the Rings. I learned to read from The Hobbit, and some of my favorite literary quotes come from the trilogy. I would love to see this musical, if given the chance, despite my disliking of puppets. Part of me hopes to be in Chicago while the show is running so that I have the opportunity to see it. Since the original musical wasn’t well-received back in 2006 in London, I wonder what the reception of this production will be like here in the US. It’s possible that today’s technology could be enough to make a difference. I mean, look at how Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is doing, and how much difference a fanbase can make.
The more immersive theatre the better, I'm really sad that I'll never get to see sleep no more on broadway, as I don't think I'll make it before it finally closes after it's like third round of extensions. I think that immersive theatre allows for greater empathy and connection to characters onstage or in the playing area, and I think that things like interactivity is just really cool and adds a lot of value to the experience of seeing a live performance. I'm interested to see how this show will be tech'd, due to the huge swath of locations and time. I really love the idea of the large scale puppets in this show, as I've loved the art of puppetry for a while, and have been wanting to see more shows utilize large puppets. I love the idea of the audience's location relative to the playing space, and I think that this story is a really interesting one to tell, as its the foundation of a lot of fantasy.
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