LOTR - Stage Production

[goldenegg]

I just came back from seeing the LOTR show in Toronto. Overall it was quite disappointing. There are some cool things in the show, but it pretty much falls flat. What really hurts the production is a completely broken plot. If I didn't already know the story, I would have been scratching my head through the 2nd and 3rd acts.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Helm's Deep sequence due to technical difficulties. What we did see of the scene what visually impressive.

Anyone else catch the show?

[7-Endless]

That's too bad. I was hoping it was going to be half decent...

[Bordrr]

anyone know where to get discounted tickets for this?

[daSEXIESTman]

Hey there,

I have two tickets for the sold out event on Valentines Day weekend. Looking to get rid of them for what I bought them at $125 each. Again, the seats are Orchestra (so its close). $250 total. Let me know if you are interested.

[jerryhung]

guess I won't even bother to look for discounted tickets to go

Craig's List have some LOTR tickets
http://toronto.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/search?areaID=25&subAreaID=0&query=lord+of+the+ring&catAbbreviation=sss&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

[caliente]

I just came back from seeing the LOTR show in Toronto. Overall it was quite disappointing. There are some cool things in the show, but it pretty much falls flat. What really hurts the production is a completely broken plot. If I didn't already know the story, I would have been scratching my head through the 2nd and 3rd acts.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Helm's Deep sequence due to technical difficulties. What we did see of the scene what visually impressive.

Anyone else catch the show?


Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. Perhaps it will get better with time since it sounds like you went to the opening night preview show.

Keep the reviews coming!!
Thanks.

[gei]

OP: Are you speaking as a regular theatre-goer, or just as a person who was a fan of the movies?

[Chyron]

I think/thought adapting LOTR to the stage is/was a huge mistake. Even the films weren't THAT spectacular... its going to be more of a "Look at what we did technically" as opposed to an artistic, or theatrical masterpiece... much the way the films were celebrations of CG and not necessarily great films.

[goldenegg]

OP: Are you speaking as a regular theatre-goer, or just as a person who was a fan of the movies?

I'm both a regular "theater-goer" and a fan of the movies. I see about a dozen theater productions each year in Toronto, New York and London.

[ferkel]

I'm both a regular "theater-goer" and a fan of the movies. I see about a dozen theater productions each year in Toronto, New York and London.


LOTR - Act 1
I'm sitting here at the first intermission of the new LOTR stage production. It's definately interesting. The story has been heavily abridged, which really reqires the audience to know the main story ahead of time.

They were still ironing out problems right up to curtain time. The show started late as the crew was frantically trying to get things ready.

There have been some very impressive sequences so far (the dark riders are jawdroping) and some which have dragged a bit. I can already see some changes that will occur before the March 21st press screening. So far my thumb is pointing up.

Let's see how the act 2 holds up.

[Whitedart]

I just came back from seeing the LOTR show in Toronto. Overall it was quite disappointing. There are some cool things in the show, but it pretty much falls flat. What really hurts the production is a completely broken plot. If I didn't already know the story, I would have been scratching my head through the 2nd and 3rd acts.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Helm's Deep sequence due to technical difficulties. What we did see of the scene what visually impressive.

Anyone else catch the show?

My daughter was there for the dress rehearsal yesterday afternoon and had the following comments about the show:

Considering it was a dress rehearsal and there were obviously a few bumps and rough edges, the overall impression I had of the show was very good.

Most of the technical aspects including the Effects, Lighting, Costume and Properties were quite impressive. One example of this was at the end of Act One in the depths of Moira with the "death" of Gandalf. The visual impression of this scene was breathtaking; the gust of wind just completed the overall experience at that moment, as well as the combined effect of lighting and sound. The transformation sequences, such as the journey up into Lothlorian, were wonderfully created and displayed in a unique way.

In regards to the music, the compositions were very well done, but the impact it had was not quite as expected. I felt in some ways it could have been a touch more dramatic, where at times the music almost sounded too quiet. However, this was only during a very few small moments of the show. In contrast, the scene of the Four Hobbits in Bree (spelling?) was so upbeat and lively, with a perfect music volume and was one of my favourite parts of the entire show.

As indicated by a different reviewer, I must agree that, yes, the ringwraiths (dark riders) were incredible, but I wish we would have seen more of them. They were really only included in two scenes and barely seen at that, as they were mostly lit very dim and more like shadowy creatures. It can be argued that this is truly how the characters are, which makes it more realisitic to the books, but I felt as though we could have seen more of these characters.

The large spider was also a favourite of mine. The use of puppetry on such a mass scale always amazes me in any production, and this was no exception.

Gollum, not sure whom the actor is who plays him, but he is absolutely fabulous. His physical notions and use of voice is quite remarkable and believeable, and truly impressive to watch. I especially enjoyed watching his character in any scene he was present.

Brent Carver, a Toronto based actor is playing Gandalf in this production. I saw him last year in Canstage's production of "Vigil" where he seemd to capture a lot of depth in his character. Although, in Lord of the Rings, I found him to play Gandalf much more subtle and dull that what I was expecting. He is a wonderful actor, and I felt that his voice sounded very weak for the character he was playing. However, his physical stature and appearance on stage is still scene-stealing and a pleasure to watch.

Overall, I think it's difficult for anyone who has seen the movies and read the stories to watch this production from a new perspective. As the storyline tends to follow the novels, the costumes and visual aspects look similar to those within the movies, other than a few small bits here and there. Going into this show, I only knew the first story, "The Fellowship", and I followed the storyline without difficulty.

Consdiering I am also a very frequent theatre go-er, mainly in Toronto, I must say that I was very impressed with the production thus far. It was a dress rehearsal, which is always expected to have flaws, and I am sure it will be polished by the opening night performance. I would definately recommend going to see it, as it is unlike anything I have ever seen before.

[crsm0085]

I was also at the Saturday evening show and was fortunate enough to have been able to obtain front row orchestra seating. I'm torn about whether or not I would call the show a disappointment. I think it is still too early to make any real judgements like that.

I found the individual performances of most of the players to be quite good, with the characters of Frodo and Gollum as standouts. One distinct exception in my opinion was the performance of Brent Carver as Gandalf, whose interpretation of the character I found to be bewilderingly bad. Gandalf the Grey came accross to me as skittish and weak, which I had initially hoped was deliberate, to contrast his return as 'the White'. Unfortunately this did not end up to be the case. Kudos to him for taking a unique approach to the character, but I found that it really detracted from the character, and by extension, the story as a whole.

There was actually more singing in the show than I had anticipated, and for the most part it was enjoyable. Galadriel's performance in the Lothlorien scene stood out as a highlight of the show to me, as did the scene at the Prancing Pony Inn.

The costumes and effects were great, as has been mentioned in other reviews above. I don't have much to add to what has already been said, except that they have done some amazing work on the stage itself. The stage is almost completely mobile; it can be rotated, and different sections can be raised and lowered to accomodate certain scenes. As of Saturday's performance, they were still working out some glitches in it, and actually had to skip over a scene due to a technical problem with the stage, but despite this it was quite impressive. There was one minor complaint I had with it however - for certain scenes with the stage raised neither myself nor those sitting beside me in the front row could see anything that was happening. I can only assume this would have been a problem for anyone seated in the first few rows.

Finally, as for the story as a whole, much like the OP I found the plot to be broken, or at least difficult to follow at times, and I'm saying that as someone who is reasonably familiar with the books and the films. On the other hand, there was a person sitting behind me who had obviously come into the show with no background knowledge of the story, and throughout the show she made it abundantly clear to the person she was with (and those of us within earshot) that she had no idea what was going on.

I guess in conclusion I should point out that I'm not really a regular theatre-goer, so I suppose you should take my ramblings here accordingly. I plan to go back and see the show again (from a better vantage point!) once it is out of its 'infancy'. However, while they should be able to fix up the technical issues and I personally hope they will 're-interpret' Gandalf, I don't know how they will be able to fix the plot given amount of material they have to cover in a relatively brief period of time.

[sandie]

I'm surprised to hear the OP is disappointed. I haven't actually read the article yet, but Front page (bottom corner) of G&M says its good. We'll see. I got front row tickets for March 5th. I think I'll still hang onto mine for now.

[goldenegg]

One distinct exception in my opinion was the performance of Brent Carver as Gandalf, whose interpretation of the character I found to be bewilderingly bad.

I've been describing it as 'Captain Kirk plays Gandalf'.

"Frodo .... you must ... take the ........... ring ... to ... mount ... dooo ... ooom"

:lol: