Theatre Review: The Lord of the Rings - A Musical Tale

The Lord of the Rings - A Musical Tale

Based on books by J.R.R. Tolkien

Book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus

Composers A.R. Rahman, Varttina, Christopher Nightingale

Director Paul Hart

Photo credit Daniel Boud

State Theatre Sydney

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP, MAICD

J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels, which were written between 1937 and 1949 are some of the best selling books ever, with more than 150 million copies sold, and Peter Jackson’s transpositions to the screen elevated their popularity.

The future of civilisation rests in the fate of the One Ring, which has been lost for centuries. Powerful forces are unrelenting in their search for it, but fate has placed it in the hands of a young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Rarmian Newton) who inherited the Ring from Bilbo Baggins (Laurence Coy), and Frodo steps into legend.

The wizard Gandalf (Terence Crawford) suspects that it is a Ring of Power and confirms that it was lost by the Dark Lord Sauron and counsels Frodo to take it away from the Shire. Frodo’s daunting task is to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged. 

He sets out on foot with his cousin Pippin Took (Hannah Buckley) and Sam Gamgee (Wern Mac). They’re pursued by Black Riders but meet some Elves who ward off the Riders. The Hobbits take a shortcut to Bucklebury Ferry, where they meet their friend Merry Brandybuck (Jeremi Campese). Merry and Pippin reveal that they know about the Ring and insist on joining Frodo on his journey that involves many twists and turns including the battle of the wizards. In the second act there’s an encounter with Gollum (Laurence Boxhall) who steals every scene in which he appears, and then there’s the appearance of the giant spider. That scene is equivalent to “the helicopter” in Miss Saigon. 

My heart felt warm when I heard and saw the diverse cast that included some Asian performers speaking with Irish and English accents. In fact, the whole troupe works as a powerful unit.

Choreographer and movement director Anjali Mehra had her work cut out moving around and blocking the 32 performers in a busy, action-packed show.

Not sure how a Lord of the Rings purist would react, but from a theatre-goer’s perspective the music enhances the overall experience and is entirely congruent with the atmosphere of Tolkien’s work.

The Lord of the Rings - A Musical Tale is a huge project with seven production companies involved, and it’s really interesting on several levels. On opening night, the cast interacted with people in the front stalls before the show and during the curtain calls. For almost three-and-a-half hours we were transported to Middle-earth and emerged feeling happy and satisfied. It’s a beautifully produced escapist piece of theatre.