Like the movies, the musical had its fabulous moments and its flops. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the musical--unlike the movies--was generally very true to the characters as they are portrayed in the book. We had no falling, anguished, foaming at the mouth Frodo. Instead, he managed to keep up his spirits and his courage at all the right points though still maintaining the right amount of struggle with the temptation of the Ring and the burden of carrying it. And, his quintessential failing at Mount Doom (when he claims the Ring for his own) was absolutely brilliant. And I still hail Tolkien's genius with his un-cheesy, un-contrived way of showing that mercy/love triumphs over evil by having Gollum be the cause of the Ring's destruction. Frodo's quintessential success is sparing Gollum's life, and that is the reason that Middle-Earth was saved in the end.
The musical was a little over three hours long (so about the length of one of the films) but it managed to include many of the details that, in my opinion, make the book amazing but unfortunately the films left out in favor of lengthy battle scenes. They had the scouring of the Shire, a mention of Tom Bombadil, Legolas and Gimli's discussion about the various realms they would show each other after the war is over, the fact that 17 years went by between Bilbo's birthday party and Frodo's leaving the Shire (though I guess that detail isn't incredibly important, in my opinion), and many other things. They also managed to include a lot of important details from the Silmarillion, such as the fact that Galadriel was one of the elves to cross over the sea from Valinor and therefore one of the first elves to set foot in Middle-Earth.
Speaking of Galadriel, her character was interesting in the musical. The movies focused on her greatness and mystery whereas the musical focused on her more joyful side (though that's not quite the right word) and, interestingly, her love of Lothlorien (the land she set up for herself and her elves). I wholeheartedly approved of the way the musical emphasized the fact that the destruction of the One Ring meant that Lothlorien and the elves in general would fade away and that the world would never be the same. But I'm not sure that I liked the almost bubbly Galadriel. I mean, they still showed her greatness and there were some great images of her in a golden dress with the golden wood around her and a golden light behind her. And they also included the whole "instead of a dark lord you would have a queen" speech. But the first time we see her, she's coming down from the ceiling on a fancy ribbon in a slightly reclined position, singing about how much she loves Lothlorien. It reminded me more of Guinevere in the movie version of Camelot when she's singing "The Lusty Month of May."
However, the stagecraft was probably the best I've ever seen. I don't even think I can describe it all. But Gandalf with the Balrog, Aragorn when making his speech before the gates of Mordor, the Ring-wraiths, and the first time we see elves were all amazing parts of the musical. But probably my favorite part from a stagecraft perspective was when Frodo was crossing the river into Rivendell because you really got a sense that all sorts of forces that are--at least at this point--incomprehensible to the hobbits are coming out of the woodwork. The lighting and the moving stage made it seem kind of dream-like, and you see and hear a lady elf singing in the background with a light behind her and hear Elrond rebuke the river in a mighty voice. And then the (AMAZING!!) Ring-wraiths are swallowed up by this artistically flowing fabric. (Okay, sorry, I am really doing an awful job of describing this. But it was really great.)
There was also a lot of effort put into making the audience feel like they are a part of the action. The front of the theatre was made to look like branches were growing all over it, including the front rows of the balcony. There was a large ring with a black background in the middle of the stage background (this background could be lifted up as well). About fifteen minutes before the musical started, the hobbits were all on stage hanging out and just living normal lives in the Shire. The main bit of action going on was that they were catching fireflies and putting them in a jar. But there were also hobbits hanging out and talking about Bracecurdles and taters and just living their joyful simple lives. Right when the musical started, they released the fireflies into the black part of the ring on the stage. There was a normal intermission, but there was also a shorter break between the second and third acts, and the audience was supposed to remain in their seats. At this point, the lights were set so that it looked like moonlight coming through the branches, and the orc actors were running around throughout the theatre, hiding and kind of popping out here and there. And when Gandalf was fighting the Balrog, little bits of black paper and smoke were blown right into the audience.
I guess, overall, I was impressed by how much the musical felt like the book at times. It would have felt more like the book if more of the song lyrics and dialogue were taken right from Tolkien instead of using poorly rewritten versions. Even though Denethor seemed more like Theoden and even though his curse was broken by Aragorn instead of Gandalf and even though Rohan and Gondor were combined and even though Pelennor and Helm's Deep were combined, I still thought it was very true to the books. Little plot details are not what I'm concerned with; I understand that it is quite difficult to adapt a 1000+ page book into a film or stage version. I just felt that the people who created the musical had a better sense of what was "essential" to the story than did the people who made the films. Yes, the films were better made from a critical standpoint than this musical (whose only truly outstanding point was its stagecraft/special effects). But from my perspective, character and theme are the most important, and I think that this musical did a good job of keeping those true to the book. Now if only the dance choreography, the dialogue, and the song lyrics (and even some of the song melodies) were better, it could have been absolutely astounding. So...my conclusion is that I am VERY glad I saw it and it was totally worth the forty pounds! :-)
On my way back, I was walking through Covent Garden, and I heard a guy, apparently named Luca (from the business card I grabbed as a souvenir), singing "Hallelujah" (Rufus Wainwright, Shrek, "it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah," etc) and he sounded really good. It was a nice night with a perfect breeze so I decided to join the small crowd that had gathered around this street performer. The next song he sang I hadn't heard before, but I'm assuming it was called "True Colors." It morphed into a medley with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World." He did a couple medleys like that, including one with "One of Us" (Joan of Arcadia theme song, "what if God was one of us"). At the end he sang that song that goes, "And I don't want the world to see me / 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand / When everything's meant to be broken / I just want you to know who I am." Anyways, he had a really good voice and it was just fun to actually stand and listen to a street performer instead of just rushing past them in the Tube station on my way to/from work.
Earlier today, a group of us went to the London Zoo, which was fun. Pictures are going up on Facebook after I finish this blog post. Then the whole internship program went to Ruby Blue for dinner. And then after that was the evening I've been describing. So yeah...tonight was pretty much perfect. It's why I love this city!
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