Lord of the Wrongs (The Lord of the Rings)

Name: Crazy_Cat

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Product:	The Lord of the Rings
Date:	28/09/07 (405 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong visual effects and great costume designs.

Disadvantages: Forgettable music and songs, and drastic alterations to the original story.

I felt very nervous when I went to see The Lord of the Rings at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Firstly, I’m probably the biggest fan of the books that I know. I re-read them once every year, and I even wrote my dissertation on Tolkien when I was at university (don’t judge me). On top of that, I absolutely love musicals, and have seen and performed in more than I can count. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to enjoy this.

For those of you that aren’t quite as big Tolkien fanatics as myself, and are unfamiliar with the story, let me provide you with a much-simplified overview of the plot:

The Lord of the Rings is essentially the tale of a hobbit (or halfling) of the Shire, called Frodo, who inherits a magical invisibility ring from his uncle Bilbo. The ring came to Bilbo on a previous adventure, in which he encountered a twisted, pitiful creature called Gollum, from whom Bilbo ‘won’ the ring. Many years later, Frodo learns that the ring was originally the property of the dark lord Sauron, and that is has the power to return Sauron to his former strength as an evil dictator. Under the guidance of the wizard Gandalf, Frodo embarks upon a quest to take the ring to the land of Morder, where he must cast the ring into the depths of the fiery Cracks of Doom and destroy the ring forever, thus defeating Sauron and preventing him from rising to power ever again. Frodo is assisted on his journey by three fellow hobbits called Sam, Merry and Pippin; Gandalf the wizard; the exiled king Aragorn; Legolas the elf; Gimli the dwarf; and Boromir, man of the south.

That should be enough for you to go on. Now, back to that night at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where I was, as I say, very nervous.

My first impression was definitely positive. A dozen hobbits danced upon the stage and frolicked in the aisles as I took to my seat, providing the audience with instant entertainment as we waited for the performance to start. The hobbits certainly looked the part, complete with hairy feet, rosy cheeks and curly wigs. The cropped, earthy-toned costumes were obviously greatly inspired by those in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, and worked very well on stage. As the final audience members were seated, the music jumped into action and the hobbits began a delightfully choreographed dance, which I felt captured the care-free, party-loving attitude of Tolkien’s hobbits very well. I was left feeling highly relieved and eager for more.

Unfortunately for me, that sense of relief was to be short-lived.

The hobbits’ entrance provided a promising start, but what followed was far less pleasing. I could make my peace with the hobbits’ dubious country accents, but the characterisation of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin (the four principal hobbits) was a deal-breaker for me. Far from the heroic, multi-layered characters of the books, the on-stage hobbits were two-dimensional and showed very little character development throughout. Particularly disappointing was James Loye’s Frodo, who failed to demonstrate the steady decline of Frodo’s strength as the burden of the ring grew heavier. Peter Howe’s Sam was perhaps the only hobbit who showed character development, but his performance was often over-the-top. Far more farcical, however, was Owen Sharpe’s portrayal of Pippin. With his effeminate mannerisms and squeaky-pitched declarations of ‘ooh, I don’t like trees’, he was easily the most annoying and pantomime-ish of the hobbits. Richard Henders’ Merry was simply forgettable.

Although the hobbits failed to impress, thankfully other parts succeeded in winning my approval. The undisputable star of the show was Michael Therriault for his emotionally complex and physically remarkable depiction of Gollum. Therriault won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for his portrayal of Gollum when the musical first ran in Toronto, Canada, and was subsequently shipped over by director Matthew Warchus to make his UK debut at Drury Lane. It is unsurprising that the casting team were apparently unable to find an actor who could match Therriault’s performance. His voice and movement were stylistically flawless, and his representation of Gollum’s schizophrenia (through song, nonetheless!) was mesmerising. It is also notable that his performance was very different to that of Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the Peter Jackson films. He truly made the part of Gollum his own, and was very deserving of the tumultuous applause he received.

Laura Michelle Kelly provided another notably strong performance as the Elven lady, Galadriel. Kelly is a fairly big name in the West End, having starred in Mary Poppins and as Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady. She has also recently finished filming Tim Burton’s Sweeny Todd, in which she plays The Beggar Woman alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. I thought Kelly was very well suited to the role of Galadriel, my only criticism being that her hand gestures were rather over-pronounced. It’s unlikely that this was Kelly’s fault. All of the elves seemed to use a bizarre sign-language to accompany their speech, which I imagine the director thought was graceful and Elvish. Frankly, I think it just looked silly. That aside, Kelly gave a great performance, and her main solo, ‘Lothlorien’, was probably the most epic and memorable song of the night.

However, while Therriault and Kelly dazzled, other leads failed to shine. Jérôme Pradon lacked the stage presence required to play Aragorn, and was unconvincing as the wise ranger and powerful leader of men. Malcom Storry was satisfactory as Gandalf, but left me feeling somewhat under-whelmed. Legolas and Gimli were sadly reduced to background characters, and consequently much of the humour and emotion that is central to their relationship in the books was lost.

Although my feelings towards the lead characters were hot and cold, I was thoroughly impressed by the chorus actors, who worked seamlessly as an ensemble with unwavering energy. The sharp choreography and awe-inspiring acrobatics, (not to mention their umpteen costume changes as they traversed the races of Middle-earth in super-quick time), were truly remarkable. As orcs they were genuinely scary, especially when they invaded the audience. Aisle seats in the stalls are not for the faint-hearted in this show.

The design of the orcs’ costumes was spectacularly dark and grotesque, and like the orcs of Tolkien’s world, varied from orc to orc. Some had long dangling arms, while others had springs attached to their feet, allowing them to pounce and somersault across the stage. In fact, the costumes in the show were, on the whole, exceptionally good. The design for the creepy black riders was simple but very effective: a cloaked man on stilts held the body of the horse around him, controlling the head like a puppet. Stilts were also employed for the ents, who stood at lofty heights of ten to fifteen feet.

Costume and set designer Rob Howell also deserves credit for the conception of the set design. The stage was an impressive tangle of tree branches, which spread out towards the audience and completely submerged the boxed seating areas. The staging was often mobile, with many layers rotating, rising and sinking as needed. This was very effective in conveying the characters’ long journeys across middle-Earth, as it provided a strong visual notion of movement and travel.

Strong praise must also go to the pairing of Gregory Meeh (special effects designer) and Paul Kieve (illusions and magic effects) for the stunning visual effects. When Bilbo used the ring to disappear in the opening scene, he literally vanished before my eyes. I would guess that the trick was devised using a gauze curtain and some cleverly placed lighting, but it was impossible from the audience to see how the effect was executed. While it was these more subtle devices that impressed me, it was still hard not be in awe of the spectacularly designed Shelob. The giant spider was essentially a simple puppet, but the effect was enough to have plenty of audience members shrinking in their seats.

Of course, a musical may have stunning costumes, staging and visual effects, but it is the music itself that is often central to a show’s success. I have seen many great shows with the most basic of visuals, but that are carried on the strength and endurance of the songs and those that deliver them. The Lord of the Rings is not one of those shows. I’m not saying that the music was bad, it simply wasn’t memorable. Although I was pleased to learn that much of the score was composed by a Finnish contemporary folk bank called Värttinä (one of Tolkien’s Elvish languages was based on the Finnish language, which Tolkien found to be beautiful with a fascinating grammatical structure), the result was still disappointing. While the Elvish music was certainly lovely to listen to, it was all a bit repetitive. The only striking song was Galadriel’s ‘Lothlorien’, but this was largely because Laura Michelle Kelly sang it so fantastically.

Some of the hobbits’ songs were entertaining, and Frodo and Sam’s big duet was fairly enjoyable, but none of the songs were particularly rousing or catchy. In all, I’d say that the music was good for adding atmosphere, but there was nothing that made me really sit up and listen. You certainly won’t find yourself humming on your way home after seeing this show.

In fact, if you’re a fan of the books, you’re more likely to leave the show grumbling about the butchery that Tolkien’s books have suffered. Obviously I appreciate that condensing three 500-page novels into a three-hour show will require a fair bit of trimming, especially if numerous songs need to be squeezed into the mix as well. But to ruthlessly cut out major places and characters from a story that has been voted the best-loved in Britain many times, seems a tad unwise.

In terms of faithfulness to the book, the first act wasn’t too bad. Plenty had been cut, but the essentials were all there (with the main exception of Tom Bombadil’s chapters, but as he was axed in the film versions, I was hardly surprised to discover that he got the chop in the musical adaptation as well). However, when Act One ended with Gandalf’s climactic confrontation of the Balrog, I was somewhat concerned. After all, this is a scene that appears barely three-quarters of the way in to The Fellowship of the Ring. How would Matthew Warchus, the director, manage to squeeze the rest of the first book, and all of The Two Towers and The Return of the King into just two more (substantially shorter) acts?

The answer is simple. He didn’t.

A quick glance at my program’s cast list would have prepared me for the nasty shock that followed the interval. No Theoden. No Denethor. No Faramir. No Éomer. Even Éowyn, the only fully-formed female character in the books, fails to make an appearance. Éowyn’s defeat of the Witch-king of Angmar (the leader of Sauron’s black riders) is one of my favourite moments in the books, and I was sad to see such a powerful scene to go missing from the stage adaptation.

The lands of Rohan and Minas Tirith were sadly cut completely and replaced by the generic ‘lands of men’. The characters of Theoden and Denethor were crudely combined to form the ‘steward of the lands of men’, who resembles Theoden in personality but, like Denethor, is a steward and Boromir’s father. He features briefly: Gandalf releases him from Saruman’s spell in about ten seconds, and the steward instantly jumps to his feet ready to aid the fellowship. The steward’s story is very anticlimactic when compared to the fates of Theoden and Denethor in the books, and I doubt members of the audience who hadn’t read The Lord of the Rings would even remember his presence in the show.

Other characters were not cut out completely, but their scenes were heavily abbreviated. The ents feature for a few short minutes, and were positively ‘hasty’ when compared to their on-page counterparts, in a rushed scene that completely contradicted the notion that ents are slow and thoughtful: ‘We ents don’t say anything unless it’s worth taking a very long time to say it,’ Michael Hobbs’ Treebeard hurries.

Even the presence of a Tolkien expert, Laurie Battle, as literary consultant to the creative team, couldn’t save the story. For me, and I’m sure many Tolkien fans will agree, the magic of The Lord of the Rings lies in the characters, story, and the detail of the world that Tolkien has created. Clever special effects and a budget of 25 million pounds might make a visually impressive show, but if the story and the songs are lacking, it will never be a true success. Perhaps another director could have done a better job, but I suspect The Lord of the Rings is a story that could never be adapted for the stage successfully.

On a final note, I’d like to recall one of Gandalf’s last scenes, in which he informed the hobbits that he was ‘off to see Tom Bombadil’ (this is the first and last reference to the character, who features in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring and was somewhat controversially removed from the film adaptations). This was a throw-away and pointless line, which could only confuse those who hadn’t read the books, and irritate those who had. You could practically hear Matthew Warchus shouting from back-stage, ‘I’ve kept Tom Bombadil in – Ha! I’ve beaten Peter Jackson’.

No you haven’t, Warchus. You really haven’t.





The Lord of the Rings: The Musical is on stage at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which is close to Charing Cross tube and train stations.

The official website for the musical is www.lotr.com or you can call 0870 890 6002 to book.

Performance Times:

Monday evenings at 7.00pm
Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 7.30pm
Saturday matinees at 2.00pm
Thursday matinees at 2.00pm from 28 June
Extra matinees on Monday 24 and Monday 31 December at 1.30pm
No evening performance 24 December.
No performances 25 December.

Seat Prices:

Stalls £60.00, £50.00
Grand Circle £60.00
Upper Circle £42.50, £35.00
Balcony £27.50, £20.00, £15.00

Summary: Heavy on the special effects, light on the faithfulness to Tolkien.