Lord of the Rings & Other Things
I got back from Canada and the wedding in Warren, PA yesterday afternoon at around 1pm. I was utterly exhausted. You don't really know how much energy traveling takes out of you until you get home and all you want to do is crash. I consider Paul's house my home as well as my parent's house. So, I was crashing at Paul's last night and I called to tell mom about that and she didn't take it very well. She started to give me a lecture about how Paul and I weren't married and that I shouldn't be spending the night at his place all the time. I have to say that I didn't take the lecture very well and that I was rather irritated. I mean I love my mother but what she doesn't understand is that this is the year 2006 and things have changed from the last time she dated and got engaged.
What my mom doesn't understand is that men and women live together now. She doesn't see that I am in fact engaged to be married to Paul and that it's not really that big of deal when it comes to crashing at his house. I mean if my mom only knew what Paul I were doing she would be less than pleased with me. I think if she knew she would lock me up in my room or something. I really do believe that she thinks me to be this innocent young woman. My dad is the only one that really knows better but pretends that he really doesn't know what's going on. I have to say that I love my dad for that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Anyway, enough of the negative things. I want to talk about the play in Toronto. So as some of my may know I went to Toronto, Canada to see Lord of the Rings onstage. I have to say that it was not a disappointment in the least. I had read a lot of reviews before I left and they said how the play was horrible and had nothing to do with Lord of the Rings. This really made me nervous because the last thing I wanted to see was my beloved novel butchered.
The reality of it is that it is neither like the book nor the movie. It is a combination of both. I mean how is it possible to put all three books into one play and how are you to put the special effects from the movie into a play? There is no possible way but to interpret it the way that you see fit.
The Good:
- The rawness of the characters. The way the actors put the characters out there was something all together different but just as memorable.
- Frodo Baggins in the play had a more regal air to him. You also saw more of the brave Frodo. Elijah Wood showed the emotional and innocent Frodo struggling within himself. I personally prefer Elijah Wood's Frodo but I really think that this actor had a whole other way of seeing Frodo which was intriguing and definitely moving all the same.
- The connection between Sam and Frodo was still there. I was no a Sean Astin/Elijah Wood performance but I definitely felt the strong friendship between the two actors on stage.
- The music, yes there was plenty of music to carry this play and it would have been horrible without the music. I had two favorite songs, the one the hobbits sang in the Prancing Pony and the one Sam and Frodo sang on their way to Mt. Doom. It moved the play along really well. I definitely would love to buy the soundtrack if they ever sold one.
- The scenery, they did a great job with the set. I mean in some cases when you go to see a play you have to use your imagination for some things. It was the same for LOTR Onstage but the some of the scenes such as Lothlorin was AMAZING. I never saw anything so beautiful onstage in my life. The golden leaves and the trees and the elves...Lady Galadriel was exceptional.
- An added bonus was that the Scouring in some sense was portrayed in the play. I was thrilled about that. Sharky was in the play and was killed. There was destruction in the Shire. I felt that finally it had been acknowledged.
The Bad:
- Pippin and Merry were comic relief and I didn't feel anything other than that. It was disappointing.
- Eowyn wasn't really a major female character in the play. It was more of the Arwen show because she was in the scenes more.
- Rosie Cotton and Sam were already in love and the Rosie in the play had red hair. Blah!
- There was no Faramir, which really bothered me for some reason. There was also no Grima which also bothered me.
- They didn't really spend a lot of time on some of the key scenes in the book and sometimes I felt it moved too fast.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This week I'm moving back into an apartment. Thursday is when I leave. I'm excited about this but also not so excited. I hate moving things in and out. I never realize all the stuff I have until I start lugging it into the apartment.
Also, how did the summer go by so quickly?
What my mom doesn't understand is that men and women live together now. She doesn't see that I am in fact engaged to be married to Paul and that it's not really that big of deal when it comes to crashing at his house. I mean if my mom only knew what Paul I were doing she would be less than pleased with me. I think if she knew she would lock me up in my room or something. I really do believe that she thinks me to be this innocent young woman. My dad is the only one that really knows better but pretends that he really doesn't know what's going on. I have to say that I love my dad for that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Anyway, enough of the negative things. I want to talk about the play in Toronto. So as some of my may know I went to Toronto, Canada to see Lord of the Rings onstage. I have to say that it was not a disappointment in the least. I had read a lot of reviews before I left and they said how the play was horrible and had nothing to do with Lord of the Rings. This really made me nervous because the last thing I wanted to see was my beloved novel butchered.
The reality of it is that it is neither like the book nor the movie. It is a combination of both. I mean how is it possible to put all three books into one play and how are you to put the special effects from the movie into a play? There is no possible way but to interpret it the way that you see fit.
The Good:
- The rawness of the characters. The way the actors put the characters out there was something all together different but just as memorable.
- Frodo Baggins in the play had a more regal air to him. You also saw more of the brave Frodo. Elijah Wood showed the emotional and innocent Frodo struggling within himself. I personally prefer Elijah Wood's Frodo but I really think that this actor had a whole other way of seeing Frodo which was intriguing and definitely moving all the same.
- The connection between Sam and Frodo was still there. I was no a Sean Astin/Elijah Wood performance but I definitely felt the strong friendship between the two actors on stage.
- The music, yes there was plenty of music to carry this play and it would have been horrible without the music. I had two favorite songs, the one the hobbits sang in the Prancing Pony and the one Sam and Frodo sang on their way to Mt. Doom. It moved the play along really well. I definitely would love to buy the soundtrack if they ever sold one.
- The scenery, they did a great job with the set. I mean in some cases when you go to see a play you have to use your imagination for some things. It was the same for LOTR Onstage but the some of the scenes such as Lothlorin was AMAZING. I never saw anything so beautiful onstage in my life. The golden leaves and the trees and the elves...Lady Galadriel was exceptional.
- An added bonus was that the Scouring in some sense was portrayed in the play. I was thrilled about that. Sharky was in the play and was killed. There was destruction in the Shire. I felt that finally it had been acknowledged.
The Bad:
- Pippin and Merry were comic relief and I didn't feel anything other than that. It was disappointing.
- Eowyn wasn't really a major female character in the play. It was more of the Arwen show because she was in the scenes more.
- Rosie Cotton and Sam were already in love and the Rosie in the play had red hair. Blah!
- There was no Faramir, which really bothered me for some reason. There was also no Grima which also bothered me.
- They didn't really spend a lot of time on some of the key scenes in the book and sometimes I felt it moved too fast.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This week I'm moving back into an apartment. Thursday is when I leave. I'm excited about this but also not so excited. I hate moving things in and out. I never realize all the stuff I have until I start lugging it into the apartment.
Also, how did the summer go by so quickly?