Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Dial "M" for Mordor

According to Yahoo!, there is going to be a musical based on "Lord of the Rings":

The show, based on the fantasy classic by J.R.R. Tolkien, is to open in March 2006 in Toronto and come to London six months later. But the producers have promised to go back to the original tale of Middle Earth and not try to reproduce the dazzling special effects from the movie trilogy, which earned $3 billion worldwide and garnered a string of Oscars. "We are ultimately dependent on 50 actors and musicians to tell the story rather than technology," producer Kevin Wallace said as he announced details of the 27 million Canadian dollar (11.5 million pound) musical. "We are going to have to break new ground. It is a hybrid of text, music, spectacle and physical theater," he added. Eager to quell the fears of devoted Tolkien purists who dreaded the classic being transformed into a showbiz extravaganza, he said: "There will be no singing and dancing Hobbits. The music will be in a very traditional mold and draw on ethnic traditions."

My advice to the producers: Keep it secret, keep it safe.

No comments: