The road goes on -- ever, ever on
Just a quick warning for safety's sake: I'm talking alot here about details of the production, just in case you squeam at any signs of spoilers.
That done, where to start? I guess with the beginning of the show. 'Lord of the Rings' is one of the only musicals I've ever seen (the other one being the revival of 'Kiss Me, Kate') to have a pre-show. I was on-time enough to get to my seat (F27, 6th row aisle bitches) 20 minutes before showtime, and 5 minutes later hobbits started to filter onstage... and through the audience! They were setting up for a picnic and trying to catch fireflies, which were little pinpoints of light floating up above the audience. On occasion they'd talk to us: a little boy behind me was laughing, and a hobbit turned to him and shushed. "You shouldn't laugh, that scares 'em away!" To signal the beginning of the show itself, they all ended up onstage and did a dance. It was at that point Merry & Pippin first appeared- I recognized 'em by their costumes- and all was squee.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges of a show like this is how to turn 1,000 page story (or 12-hour movie) into a 3-hour musical, and one way they accomplish this is to get the exposition off right quick. A narrator explains what happened at Bilbo's party, and the scene with Gandalf and Frodo at Bag End goes by very fast- Frodo and Sam are off on the journey after the first 10 minutes. Another way is by cutting out a lot of character details. Denethor and Theoden have been condensed into one character, the Steward of the City of Kings, and Eowyn and Faramir are both nowhere to be seen (apparently Eowyn was in it when the show went up in Toronto, but no more). My favorite hobbits are also sadly made even more superfluous than they ever were. If there's no Rohan there's no Squire of Rohan, and if there's no Denethor there's no Guard of the Citadel. However, the musical is successful in that it tells the most central parts of the story, and the fact that it's simplified makes it seem ever more archetypal and legendary, which I'd guess was what they were going for.
Anyway, even if M&P are never officially conscripted, we do get to see them fighting in the background.
The musical has a much different bent from the movies, in that it brings up moral dillemas. The films made it very simple: Ring is bad, Ring must be destroyed. But in the show they make it quite clear that once the Ring is gone, it will mean the end of magic in Middle Earth. If there's no ultimate evil, there's no need for an ultimate good to fight against it. Also, Saruman is more ambiguous. His collaboration with Sauron is an attempt to pretend friendship until the time is ripe to stab the Dark Lord in the back and bring about the triumph of Light; he just goes a bit too far with the charade.
Now I must talk about the technical aspects of the show, because holyshit. Saying the show was beautiful is redundant to anyone who's seen the pictures on the website. But to see all of it in action was amazing. The way the races were differentitated, first of all. Elves, for example, aren't just 'Elves-because-we-say-so'. There's a fluid sort of sign language that incorporates in all their movements and gives them an ethereal quality. Orcs aren't just guys in gnarly makeup: they're acrobats, hopping and flipping around the stage with deadly blades attached to their arms. Hobbits are in fact not that much shorter than the other actors, but because of their costumes and the way they move there isn't any doubt. And Gollum... I can understand why it's the same actor who originated the role in Toronto, because I'm not sure there's a human being alive who can do the sort of things he does with his body, especially 8 times a week, twice on Saturday.
And... the effect of the Ring, which is perhaps the most perplexing effect in the show. I'd go into detail about it, but... I don't want to, just because if it were me I wouldn't want to be spoiled. But I will say this: when Frodo disappears, he fucking disappears. I can come up with a way they might be doing it, and even then it still seems implausible. It's magic.
My favorite song was 'Lothlorien', which actually brought me to tears (Galdriel's a very strong character here). Other stand-outs were 'The Road Goes On' and 'Now and For Always', which is Frodo and Sam imagining what kind of tale their journey will turn into. You can listen to 'Lothlorien' on the website, www.lotr.com.
Now, things I thought weren't so great... As wonderful as the music was, the dialogue tended to be pretty bad, especially whenever Gandalf was speaking. And lemme tell you, when you're acting in a show where trees walk and elves float in from the flies, it's even MORE important than ever that you really believe in what you're saying, otherwise the audience isn't going to come along with you.
Also, Aragorn and Arwen had a song which I couldn't help stifling a laugh at because it was so incredibly Song-That-Goes-Like-This.
All in all, though, it was a success in that it told the story and created an enchanting and engaging world. I could talk even more about it, especially in terms of my boys, but I'm down to 12 minutes in my hour session. And I'm definitely going to get the soundtrack, which is slated to be released in October.