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Fantasy » alt.fan.tolkien » "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed
| "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed [message #242405] |
Fr, 24 März 2006 20:45 |
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"Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed
By Jennifer Kwan
TORONTO (Reuters) - The "Lord of the Rings" musical, touted as the most
expensive stage production yet, met mixed reviews on Friday as critics
applauded its leaping orcs and menacing dark riders, but got lost in
the tangled plots of Middle Earth.
The 55-strong cast slipped into 500 costumes and engaged in fight
scenes and acrobatics atop a 40-ton, computer-controlled stage floor
featuring 17 elevators, which spun and rose amid magic and illusion.
For all the feverish activity at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre,
the show based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic trilogy drew only one standing
ovation in more than three hours, but many in the audience called it
breathtaking and spectacular.
The C$28 million ($24 million U.S.) show's technology was of little
help to a "largely incomprehensible" musical version of Tolkien's
masterpiece, said Ben Brantley of The New York Times, one of several
out-of-town critics who flew to Toronto to see the show that is
expected to move on to London and Broadway.
"Everyone and everything winds up lost in this ... adaptation of
Tolkien's cult-inspiring trilogy of fantasy novels," Brantley said.
"That includes plot, character and the patience of most ordinary
theatergoers."
Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times said, "Pity the production
can't be judged exclusively on its design, it would be roundly
considered a hit."
But he added that despite the show's shortcomings and desperate need to
be cut, "The good news for investors is that commercially the project
will surely pay off.
'PARASITIC EXTRAVAGANZA'
"Riding the coattails of Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning movie
trilogy with its global gross of $3 billion and counting, this kind of
parasitic extravaganza has a built-in audience. Today Toronto's
Princess of Wales Theatre, tomorrow London's West End, followed by the
rest of the premium-ticket-buying world."
Time magazine declared the show a "definitive megamusical" while the
Times of London branded it "A stirring triumph of theatrical magic."
"With some fine tuning, this tale could hold its audience in total
thrall," wrote the Times' Sam Marlowe.
And even the Tolkien family was impressed. "I thought it was a
beautiful show and I was impressed," said Rachel Tolkien, the author's
granddaughter. "Everything in the book that to me is important, or
really moved me, is on the stage," she told Reuters.
Local critics were less enthused.
"'The Lord of the Rings' ... may boast of its record-breaking cost, but
it still looks a lot like unfinished business," Toronto Globe and Mail
critic Kamal Al-Solaylee said. "The blueprint for the adaptation, a
heroic, if misguided, undertaking billed as a hybrid of drama, music
and spectacle, is now in place. All it needs is an engaging
storytelling approach, an emotional arc, credible performances and a
more coherent musical score."
The story follows Frodo Baggins, played by James Loye, and his quest to
save Middle Earth by destroying the ring of power during three acts
that take the audience through the dream-like and misty Mines of Moria,
Forest of Fangorn and to the final battle at Mount Doom.
The show, which is scheduled to go to London in 2007, still has a lot
to prove and much will depend on the next few months, said lead
producer Kevin Wallace, formerly in-house producer with Andrew Lloyd
Webber's London-based The Really Useful Group.
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| Re: "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed [message #242406 ] |
Fr, 24 März 2006 21:58 |
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jewahe wrote:
> "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed
> By Jennifer Kwan
Here's a NYTimes picture from the production. I can't find the review.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/03/22/travel/22toro nto.583.jpg
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| Re: "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed [message #242407 ] |
Fr, 24 März 2006 23:52 |
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Robinsons <wrob [at] erols.com> wrote:
> jewahe wrote:
>
>> "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed
>> By Jennifer Kwan
>
> Here's a NYTimes picture from the production. I can't find the
> review.
>
>
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/03/22/travel/22toro nto.583.jpg
Is that Lothlorien, or something? I can see the hobbits in the
foreground, and Gimli at right. Those characters seem rather similar to
the way they appeared in the Jackson films. And what are the Elves
wearing on their heads? I thought they were Ents at first!
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| Re: "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed [message #242409 ] |
Sa, 25 März 2006 03:27 |
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Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
> Is that Lothlorien, or something? I can see the hobbits in the
> foreground, and Gimli at right. Those characters seem rather similar
> to the way they appeared in the Jackson films. And what are the Elves
> wearing on their heads? I thought they were Ents at first!
I saw a picture in _Time_ recently (I'm not sure of the issue). The Ents
look kinda like wizards on stilts!
--
Bill
"Wise fool"
Gandalf, THE TWO TOWERS
-- The Wise will remove 'se' to reply; the Foolish will not--
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| Re: "Lord of the Rings" opens in Canada, reviews mixed [message #242442 ] |
Mo, 27 März 2006 19:41 |
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I saw a clip of this show on the news last week and I agree, a lot of
the costumes and sets seem to draw heavily from the artistic styles of
the movie trilogy. To be honest though, that just makes me more excited
to see it, even if it is a "parasitic extravaganza" :)
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