LOTR TO BE MUSICAL

SkyNews ^ | March 14, 2004

[billorites]

Fresh from its runaway success at the Oscars, fantasy epic Lord of the Rings is set to hit the stage as a lavish musical, reports say.

Producers are planning to turn the book series into the most expensive musical ever seen in London, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

News of the musical version comes weeks after the final film installment of the trilogy, Return Of The King, won 11 Academy Awards.

The £8m production will see dozens of actors portray hobbits, elves, wizards and orcs in complex battle scenes.

"I have been in theatre for 25 years and I know the power of theatre in telling epic stories," said co-producer Kevin Wallace, a former collaborator of successful stage composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"I believe that we will be able to make a version of The Lord of the Rings that will be a brilliant piece," he told the newspaper.

The show, to open next year, would last a mammoth three and a half hours, Wallace said.

"If Shakespeare can put all England on stage in Henry IV, I am confident that we can put on the whole of Middle Earth and tell the story of the entire trilogy over that time," he said.

The three books in the Lord of the Rings series, chronicling the struggle between good and evil in Middle Earth, were written by

British author JRR Tolkien from 1954-55 and have proved enduringly popular ever since.

[JenB]

Mmm, Shakespeare is good and altered Shakespeare can be better. Still, nothing quite matches a really good adaptation of a play. Like Branagh's version of "Much Ado About Nothing" - my favorite Shakespeare play anyway, I love his rendering of it.

Let's see.

All I want is a Hole somewhere,
Far away from Mordor's foul air
With one hobbit-size chair
Oh wouldn't it be luverly?
Lots of lembas for me to eat
Lots of hair on my big feet...

[RosieCotton]

Also good.

Darn it, I'm too tired to be original today. Long day. Long, longgggg day.

[Fedora]

Sweetheart, they're suspecting things

People will say we're in love...

Darn! Darn! Darn!

I've grown accustomed to this ring!. . .

[JenB]

Oh - I really did LOL there!

"Just you wait, Frodo Baggins, just you wait!
You'll be sorry but your tears will be too late
That you sent away your Sam
And continued into Shelob's Lair alone
Just you wait, Frodo Baggins, just you wait!"

[Fedora]

Sung by Gollum:

Just you wait, Samwise Gamgee! Just you wait!

Cry fat hobbit, but your tears will be too late!

You'll learn some cruel hard lessonses

when I get back my Precious!

Just you wait, Samwise Gamgee! Just you wait!

[Fedora]

Believe it or not, I typed my Post #45 before I read your #44--GMTA :)

[JenB]

Yes, but yours scans and I have one line that just doesn't work.

I can so see Gollum singing either, though. Hmmm.... would make for a *really* interesting reinterpretation of "My Fair Lady"....

Weren't we just discussing 'filking' earlier today?

[Fedora]

Weren't we just discussing 'filking' earlier today?

That we were--LOL!

[JenB]

Which only goes to prove there are scarier people in this world than us.

Some of them are making musicals right now.

[Fedora]

Which only goes to prove there are scarier people in this world than us.

Where?!!! [cringes and looks around nervously]

[JenB]

Just outside your house, if my schemes were correct - put your hands on the monitor and stand up, sloooowly.

Goodnight! See you at the Hole tomorrow.

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!

The Hobbit Hole :: Troop Support Projects

Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.

[Alouette]

Lord of the Rings is set to hit the stage as a lavish musical

Been there. Done that.

[Samwise]

Springtime for Sauron and Mordor
U-boats are sailing once more
"Well! Talk about bad taste!"
Springtime for Sauron and Mordor
Means ... that ... soon we'll be going ...
We've got to be going ...
You know we'll be going to ... WAR!

[Mudboy Slim]

"This doesn't sound like a good idea to me..."

I agree...any attempt to condense the LOTR into 2-3 hours will haveta destroy the essence of the story.

FReegards...MUD

[stands2reason]

What's "filking?"

And do you Hole (smial) people like hobbit pics?

[JenB]

We tend to like the movies, yeah. Some more than others. Just ask HairoftheDog about the editing of "Two Towers"...

"Filking" means to take a tune and put new, slightly altered words to it. It comes from Science Fiction fandom. The parodies of musical numbers that some of us were trying to do a couple days ago would be considered 'filks'. Or abominations.

[Argh]

Cast Hillary as an orc, save big bucks on makeup...

[Sockdologer]

*dies*
Do NOT get that stuck in my head. Do NOT!

[Overtaxed]

I can send you the audio file if you like. :)