LONDON (Reuters) – Hobbits, dwarves and elves are heading for the London stage in the world’s first major musical of the “Lord of the Rings,” its backers said on Wednesday.
West End producer Kevin Wallace said the reworking of British author JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic will cost $13 million.
“It will stimulate audiences’ imaginations in a way they’ve never felt before,” he told Reuters.
A cast of 50, lavish sets and a full orchestra will help recreate Middle Earth, the mystical setting for the swords and sorcery trilogy.
The show will be co-produced by Saul Zaentz, the veteran Hollywood producer behind “The English Patient” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
It is due to open in London in Spring 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the publication of the complete trilogy and may be put on around the world.
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I can just imagine the opening number of the Hobbits in the Shire singing Randy Newman’s Short People and Gollum singing It’s not easy being green. Also the Ents could do a musical interlude of Rush’s The Trees, a cautionary tale of tree greed and aggression. Maybe they could even get Adam Ent to do that part.
With the success of the LOTR movies there will probably be other commercial rip-offs, like:
Wireless phone companies will have “Lord of the Ringtones”
Business publishing world with “Seven Hobbits of Highly Effective People”.
Betty Crocker’s: Six meals a day on a budget.
3 comments
I’m a Tolkien nut and a musical theater buff, but they just don’t go together….
Mmm… “Lord of the ringtones” Just what my cell phone needs.
What is it in the human psyche that drives us to turn every successful piece of entertainment into a musical? And to re-do successful movies? (e.g. Thoroughly Modern Millie)
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