The Lord of the Rings - The Musical

The Lord of the Rings - the Musical opens in Toronto tonight... Music by a Norwegian folk/pop group and A.R. Rahman (who wrote Bombay Dreams) Will be interesting to see the reviews Have seen some of the publicity shots and it LOOKS pretty :-)

From an article I saw It didn't get rave reviews and cost an absolute bomb. One of the fight scenes was described as being rather lame

well what do you expect - this is theatre, not film!!!!

TLOTR- The Musical; WHY?? One of my insane boyhood chums once sent me "The Lord Of The Rings- The Heavy Metal Album" (with such stirring anthems as Gollum's "Gimme Da Ring" or summink) and I thought that was bile. But this is DIRE! I was only today regaling Mah Wahf with the theorem that the musical is dying because it cannot support an original Idea. The last few successful "musicals" have all seemed to be derived from other source material. The Producers? Wicked? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels? Jerry Springer- The Opera? We Will Rock Somebody With No Ears? Mamma Mia? Even the bilious RENT is a rip-off, or should I euphamise, "update"? What's next? "Schindler's List- The Ice Spectacular?" Is there (and I ask this out of purely masochistic interest) any SUCCESSFUL musical in the last ten years NOT adapted/derived/stolen/revised from another source? You're mah wahf now!

Paul switches into Geek mode: Since 26 April 1996, 22 book musicals (not counting dance musicals, revues and revivals) opened on Broadway and ran more than a year. Their PRIMARY source materials have been: Film: 9 (The Lion King, The Producers, Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Full Monty, Footloose, Saturday Night Fever, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels & Spamalot) Novel: 5 (Jekyll & Hyde, Wicked, Ragtime, The Light in the Piazza & The Scarlet Pimpernel) Opera: 2 (Rent & Aida) Play: 1 (…Spelling Bee) Historical Events: 1 (Titanic) TV show (unofficialy, but obviously): 1 (Avenue Q) Popular Music: 1 (Mamma Mia!) This leaves only two original Musicals: Urinetown & The Life BUT The combination of music and drama has ALWAYS been an adaptive art form. The first operas written about 400 years ago were all based on Mythology or Ancient History. Even if you combine opera, operetta and musicals you would be hard pressed to find many truly original works, but this doesn’t lessen the worth of the others. The truly great works transcend their source. Is Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro a lesser work because it is based on a play? In fact the only composer I can think of whose majority of theatrical work is original is Sir Arthur Sullivan. In recent years there has been a shift in that films are becoming more and more popular as a primary source, but this is only because film is still relatively new, and these things takes time. Is a musical based on a film any less of a musical than that based on a novel? Is Dialogues of the Carmelites a lesser opera than The Turn of the Screw? The most succesful totally original musicals are, without a doubt, Grease and A Chorus Line Are they truly greater than Oklahoma!; Fiddler; Show Boat; Les Miz; The Sound of Music; et al.? We are already starting to see TV make its appearance as a primary source (Jerry Springer, Avenue Q) but it will take a while before that really takes off. In fact one of the most exciting new musicals of the last ten years WAS a TV show (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling) “…the musical is dying because it cannot support an original Idea.” If this were true then the form has been dying ever since it was born 409 years ago, and it still ain’t dead!!!

“…the musical is dying because it cannot support an original Idea.” If this were true then the form has been dying ever since it was born 409 years ago, and it still ain’t dead!!! It isn't dead- it just smells funny... New-Wave Agit prop band Dead Kennedys once claimed "Punks Not Dead, Just Deserve To Die." The same holds true for the musical. IMHO, of course... El You're mah wahf now!

“…the musical is dying because it cannot support an original Idea.” May i point out that there is NO SUCH THING as an Original Idea in this age!!! everything today is taken form myth, other literary or entertainment sources. So yes theatre has been going revival and adaption crazy but some of them are not bad! some a re excellent! and they are helping theatre to live on in a society where it no longer is held in high prestigiege (i cant spell) as it was once upon a time. . . In regards to this topic! LOTR the musical, personally i think it isn't a bad idea and yes it cost heaps but mroe to the fact it's bad TIMING! Not straight after the movie and teh book has just been a huge success again. . . people who see the movies will have extremely high expectations of the musical. . . ~ Tari The Writer is a child forever listening at the keyhole of the adult world.

"May i point out that there is NO SUCH THING as an Original Idea in this age!!!" Point as much you like. But I would counter with the witty rejoinder of "BOLLOCKS!!" If you truly believe that no one has an original idea in this day and age, then "As A Writer" you are not trying hard enough. The big question is: If you DID try hard enough and get an original idea, would audiences FLOCK to see this devastating new invention of yours, or stay away in droves? I would like to think the lack of originality is borne of fear of failure. Which, of course, costs buckets of money. El P.S.- for a writer, there's an awful amount of spelling errors in your post. Who's your proof reader? Fire they dead ass. Order some golf shoes!

I read somewhere once that there are only 6 jokes and one story line in the world and all the rest is variation on a theme but I don't believe that. I will say that for a long time the plots of 90% of musicals always seemed to be able to be summed up by the following. Boy and Girl meet, for some usually inexplicable reason one or both of them get distracted. A ballet takes place the villain is defeated and the couple get back together. The originality lay in the back ground and the trimmings. In the last few years we have been exploring other ideas although I'm getting a bit sick of plotless "celebrations" of various stars musical lives masquerading as musicals. The world of new ideas is alive and well long may it reign

on the note of my proof reading. . .i dont think i did proof read that post. I might have been in a rush. Cant remember? . . . Anyway. No original ideas could be born out of fear of failure or ridicule but there hasn't been an original idea in years! I believe there is no such thing as original idea these days. Yes there may be those who go against the accepted "norm" if you will but as a product of society it is not possible. Yet in regards to the LOTR musical i stand with what i said previously. ~ Tari The Writer is a child forever listening at the keyhole of the adult world.

POSSIBLY I go to toronto this weekend and I don't know what to do, if buy a ticket for lord of the rings or resting at the hotel... I like very much musicals but i'm not very fond of lord of the ring's books. And i don't have a lot of money this month, i doul buy a ticket, but does it worth it? What may i do?