It was just announced yesterday that a musical version of Lord of the Rings is going start playing, next February, at the Princess of Wales theatre, here in Toronto, where it will stay as an exlusive production for at least 9 months, before the show opens in London.
Here is an article from today's Toronto Star:
One production to rule them all A musical based on Tolkien's trilogy was unveiled by the Mirvishes yesterday in a magical teaser
Producers hope it will boost Toronto's theatrical reputation and pull us from `the last of the SARS mud'
RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
THEATRE CRITIC
One of the biggest dreams in Toronto's theatre history started to become a reality yesterday at the Princess of Wales.
A standing-room-only crowd of 2,000 in the theatre shared in the first public manifestation of The Lord of the Rings, the $27 million musical that is expected to return Toronto to its rightful place as a world centre for theatrical creativity when it starts previews next February.
It began with the stage in darkness, as strangely compelling music gradually filled the auditorium. Then, a flash of light, and suddenly an ebony figure on a horse appeared, rearing back.
It was the Black Rider of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination in all of his fearsome splendour. The sound that filled the theatre was the audience gasping in awe, followed by a sigh of relief.
The ring was in good hands.
Ever since reports of this project surfaced from England several years ago, the great fear was that any attempt to combine Tolkien's epic mythology with the conventions of musical theatre would result in a cheesy catastrophe.
But with one bold image, the creators of The Lord of the Rings swept that apprehension from our mind and everything they did for the next hour reinforced that impression.
Yesterday, the news was all good and a feeling of fellowship existed on several levels.
David Mirvish introduced the knights who helped bring the ring to Toronto. There were spokesmen from all three levels of government as well as from the corporate sector.
The city was represented by Mayor David Miller and Lyle Hall, chair of Tourism Toronto; the province had Minister of Tourism and Recreation Jim Bradley, while the federal sector offered Senator Jerry Grafstein.
"What I think this will do is show everyone in the world that we are still an important theatre centre," said Miller. "It's fantastic for Toronto. We're proud to be a part of it and support it."
"This will put us back on the map," said Grafstein. "This will rejuvenate us. It will provide the jet propulsion to pull us out of the last of the SARS mud."
Each of these sectors will contribute $3 million of the $20 million that the Canadian producers are bringing to the table, either through loans, or in-kind donations.
Ben Smith, Air Canada's vice-president of planning, announced his organization would be the lead corporate sponsor of the project, not only offering travel consideration, but marketing the show throughout every destination in the world where the airline flies.
Michael Cohl, the other major Canadian producing partner lightened the atmosphere by quipping, "The difference between Vince Carter and The Lord of the Rings is that The Lord of the Rings realizes Toronto is a great city and wants to play here for many years to come."
The Lord of the Rings can reach, at capacity, 832,000 people a year and Mirvish conservatively estimates the economic impact on the city as surpassing $700 million annually during the run of the show.
Mirvish also thanked the unions — Canadian Actors Equity, IATSE and the Toronto Musicians' Union — whose concessions allowed the production to be more financially viable.
When asked his favourite Tolkien character, Mirvish joked, "I identify with the Hobbits, because I'm a Canadian."
Kevin Wallace, the British impresario who first brought the project together, explained why he chose Toronto.
"I remember when Phantom of the Opera ran here for 10 years. It was a proud city and it was looked on as the third-largest theatre city in the world after New York and London. Well, since SARS, the city has been sleeping in on its potential and it needed a major theatrical event to wake it up again.
"We would be making a huge investment to open the show here and so Toronto had to have as much at stake as we did. It had to matter to all of us."
Wallace brought out the other major members of the creative team, including the disparate pair of composers: A. R. Rahman from India and the group Värttinä from Finland.
He finally introduced director Matthew Warchus, who spoke about how he intended to turn Tolkien's book into a piece for the stage, citing sources as varied as Peter Brook, Robert Lepage and Cirque du Soleil as his inspiration.
"We'd like to thank Canada for its vote of confidence in making this possible," concluded Warchus, although by this point in the proceedings, the community in the theatre was as willing to thank him and his colleagues for their confidence in Toronto.
The presentation concluded with an enthralling tapestry of song and speech. The British vocalist Alma Ferovic sang a song of longing, followed by a recorded passage of a scene from the script.
And then the three blond vocalists of Värttinä stepped forward, backed by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale to conclude with the profoundly moving "Hymn of Fellowship."
There was a moment of silence, followed by thundering applause.
The journey had well and truly begun.
----------------------------------------
The official website for the LOTR musical can be found at
http://www.lotr.com