I had the privilege of watching this in the West End in 2007. This is easily the best musical I have ever seen. I still have no idea how they got Bilbo Baggins to disappear before eyes. I loved that Gollumn was literally climbing the walls and that the orcs were running through the aisles. I was mesmerised from beginning to end!! Beautiful music and story telling. I still talk about it to this day and now my children also love LOTR ❤

Thank you for covering the Lord of the Rings Musical! Very few Tolkien KZfaqrs talk about it and even fewer people have actually seen it.

Without having seen it, I have to say that I quite admire the ambition behind this musical. And to it's credit, some of the songs that I've manad to track down online are beautiful. Like Howard Shore levels of beautiful.

I wish there was a full bootleg somewhere because I’m so curious on how the story was edited from the books since the director never watched the movies. I absolutely LOVE the cast album, I think every song is gorgeous and needs more recognition

“Moderate to severe” lol describing Tolkien fandom like it’s a case of chronic pain

Wow, this video brought back some fantastic memories that I had forgotten and some that I had clearly erased - Gollum in particular! I was lucky enough to see the show multiple times as a student in London. I’ll never forget hearing Laura Michelle Kelly’s breathtaking performance of Lothlorien for the first time. The talent involved really did make this production, even though all else seemed to fail them! The show was an enormous feat not just in the staging but also as you quite rightly point out, story telling! But as a Tolkien fan the music was what kept drawing me back to the show and I was sad to see it leave. The soundtrack still gets a regular play in our house, much to the dismay of my suffering husband and children!

The music and visual effects were some of the most stunning EVER put on stage.

Had the absolute pleasure of seeing this musical twice. It's the best musical I have ever seen. It had all the elements that make a show great. The choreography, the songs and special effects were phenomenal. So very sad it closed as it really deserved to keep running. It's the only musical that really blew me away with its complex and magical sets. It needs to be brought back as I need to see it again.

I actually own a copy of the original cast recording and always thought the music and effects were to die for, sadly trying to smoosh together three books into one show just isn't possible. That being said, seeing the show as a child will still be one of the most treasured memories I have.

That orc scarred me for life... on the flip side, I'm pretty sure I still have confetti from the Balrog hidden amongst my hoarded things back home

I think the music, and visuals etc are gorgeous. Part of me really wishes it would be revived but with a severe rewrite or something. Lothlorien and Now and for Always are just such beautiful songs and I feel sad that its' forgotten for all it's good and remembered for its' bad.

I've never seen the show, but I've been a fan of the soundtrack for years at this point. That being said, I have a hard time seeing how one could successfully cram aaaaalllll of that story into a single musical. Barring them trying again with a musical for each individual book, I'm fine with just existing in the same world as the soundtrack. Shout out to "The Cat And The Moon" as an awesome pump-up jam

I have seen it several times in London and loved it. I never thought that this wonderful book would ever be adaptable for the stage.

I saw the new version of the musical last week! Rebranded as an immersive musical tale, but it was simply amazing, one of the best shows I've ever seen (I've seen a lot) I knew it had been on in the early naughties and had been gutted I hadn't watched it. The new version is stripped back and smaller scale, but it's the same show at heart, simply stunning and beautiful. The cast all play the music and it's partly outside. It's being shown at the Water Mill Theatre in Newbury, it feels like being in the shire, and is on until October, check it out!!

I remember going to see it! When I was around the same age! I still listen to the music on Spotify!

As someone who has never seen it I have to say that while the musical may have been flawed, I still find the music absolutely gorgeous and I would kill to see all of the affects they pulled ofd

I was hoping someone on KZfaq had covered this musical! Glad to hear a little bit about it, from someone who actually saw it no less!

Thanks for this video. A few years ago I found and bought a LotR: the Musical hardcover book from a yard sale. I never knew it existed before that, let alone had any idea about the production- thank you for filling in a gap in my LotR knowledge!

So I watched it :D in London. My family and I went and are all big Tolkien fans. The plot was lacking yes, but I thought visually and musically it was amazing. I still have earworms of the songs years later. There are snippets online and the soundtrack is on youtube, too. I honestly loved it. I think it was a great musical.

I was there in 2007! All i remember is Laura Michelle Kelly belting the Lothlorien song while doing aerial yoga hanging from the roof. That alone was worth the price. 😂 still gives me goosebumps

One of my best friends introduced me to the cast recording years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. Thank you for covering this!

I saw it and really enjoyed it. I immediately bought the CD and play it still. Lothlorien was amazing and makes the hairs on my arms tingle all these years later.

I saw this twice in London and must say thought it was the best musical I have ever seen. I still get goosebumps today when I hear the music. It is one of those memories I will never forget .

Rankin Bass’ Hobbit was my intro to tolkien, and I saw the Musical LOTR before the films or reading the books. The plot was definitely minimal, but I remembered following it quite well, the later half being more condensed than the fellowship sections. To me it was like watching an opera based on Greek or Roman mythology. You’re there for the spectacle, and if that interested you enough, maybe you’d go back and find the source material to have a better understanding of what you just saw.

I have the cd, without having seen the actual musical. The music was fantastic! Some of the songs were so poignant and beautiful.

I saw the show twice during its run in London. Still one of my favourite musicals I have ever seen. I think the songs were/are incredible. I still regularly listen to the music from it! (which is what led me tofind this video) I hope they one day do another version of it for an anniversary, but I doubt it!

Something I heard from someone who worked on the show, was that the Balrog at the end of the end of act One was created by origami. A huge fold-up monster. Also had a lovely "Peppers Ghost" effect of Bilbo vanishing.

Still one of the best things I’ve seen on stage! The Drury Lane version was mind blowing! Visually stunning but also brilliantly written with some gorgeous performances.

The Watermill production was absolutely amazing. Amazing. Obviously they had to really, really compress the timeline but my goodness, it is a fun adaptation.

As a LOTR fan from the late 70’s and living an hour from Toronto I certainly remember this show being put on but resisted going to see it. It seemed at the time to be a bad idea and history seems to have proven me right.

I'm surprised it was made. I remember hearing they were working on a musical, but didn't know it was out there.

The songs are truly beautiful. 'Lothloren' and 'Wonder' give me tingles every time! 'The Road Goes On' and 'Now And For Always' are two of my favourite songs ever too. Well done to the songwriters.

I live in Toronto and I was 27 when this was playing here. I completely forgot it existed until this video.

I was so lucky to see this show on stage in London at the Apollo Theatre. I was 15 and i thought it was breathing. My brother bought the CD whilst we were there and i immediately uploaded every song to KZfaq. After the release of Hamilton I found a big uptick in the amount of comments and likes my videos were getting, so i checked the stats and the viewership had spiked dramatically! I really hoped it was going to be the start of its return. So sad that show just disappeared. I remember the website saying "coming soon" in 213 (I think it was) and getting so excited! Now, even the website is gone.

I actually saw the London production twice. I enjoyed it but I think people expected too much of it and didn’t take it for what it was. There was no way they could condense such a work but for me it was worth seeing for the visuals and the female performances. Some of the music wasn’t musical theatre memorable but for me there were enough songs that were and those songs were beautiful and had a lot of depth to them. Especially the songs sung by the two female leads. For those who didn’t get to see the show just look up the cast album on KZfaq and I’m sure you will see/hear what I mean by that. Because it was more of a visual and immersive experience it was certainly worth the price of a West End ticket and I have fond memories of seeing it.

I had heard of this, but I didn't know it was so elaborate!

That there was a musical is news to me. I get a sense of what the producers were trying to accomplish. Wish I'd seen it. Your parents are adorable, Jess, and you appear to be a wonderful family, which gives me a good feeling.

I only recently found your channel and am trying catch up on your oeuvre. I thought I knew a lot about Tolkien but I learn something new from each of your videos. This video really floored me! I had never heard of this musical. Unlike Professor Tolkien I have no objection to fantasy as such on stage. I have no more problem suspending disbelief that a sprinkling of fairy dust can impart the ability to fly than that Dianna Rigg is an 11th century Scottish queen (The Old Vic, 1973). I’ve found the original cast album on Apple Music and I’ve listened about a third of it. It’s not bad. I’m hoping I can find a video of the whole production. Thanks for your work.

I remember hearing about the show at the time, but as I'm from Scotland, a family trip to London for a 10 year old boy to see a LoTR musical simply wasn't in the cards. Only many years later did I come across the songs on KZfaq, and they definitely appeal to my tastes. The biggest impact that any of the songs had on me only came a few years ago, though. When my Dad passed away, I spent a lot of that day helping my Mum and siblings, speaking to relatives who came to pay their respects and the undertakers who came to collect his body. Needless to say it was an emotionally draining day and when I went to bed that night, I stuck on a pair of earphones and put my liked songs on shuffle. Eventually Wonder from the LoTR musical (I think in the show its a song sung by Galadriel) came on, and I was particularly moved by the following lyrics: Out of death, life Out of night, day, glory from sorrow Out of grief, joy Out of storm, comes strength for tomorrow Out of dust, gold Out of fire, air, comfort forsaken Out of rage, calm Out of loss, find, glory awaken Corny as fuck I know but they were lyrics I needed to hear at that moment.

I never knew about the Lord of the Rings musical, but my middle school did a Hobbit musical that I enjoyed, from what I can remember of it

My daughter and I have had many conversations about the adaptation of the book into the movie (with your help), and I agree a stage adaptation of such a massive book would be damn tough. Maybe an opera trilogy, a la Wagner's Ring series? One needs lots of time, and illusion of lots of space to make this adaptation a success. It could happen. So cool for your parents to join you. Thanks Jess's mom and dad! You should be proud of your daughter's hard work!

I learned something new!

It's just been revived for a limited two month run at The Watermill Theatre, Newbury; I went to see it for my Birthday, and I think it was a fantastic revival. The setting - a delightful watermill converted into a little theatre, set among the beautiful English countryside that inspired the Shire - was a perfect match for the story, the actors were spirited and friendly, the production design was in many ways inspired (despite the fact that, as a LARPer I recognised several pieces of costume from my own wardrobe). It was better than the London production by far - and probably less people will see it over the run than saw it in one night in London.

I saw the London production as a teen, and I still remember it! Mostly I agree with your parents. The good bits were VERY good, and the awkward bits were awkward. So many of the visuals were fantastic. The hobbits catching fireflies, the aerial elves in Lothlorien, Gollum 'swimming' down from the ceiling, the revolving stage, the Cat & The Fiddle scene, the orcs on stilts (someone screamed as the interval ended and they entered down the aisles from the back of the theatre). Weirdly I don't remember the Balrog! There were so many clever visual touches. And the sountrack was wonderful. I still listen to it today, particularly Galadriel's two songs and 'Now & for always" The struggle the show had was that you just can't depict battles as big as Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith on a little theatre stage with a cast of 40. Even with projections and little vignettes of moments in the fight, the scale just didn't come across. So the plot went: Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and Sam leave for Mordor and we follow them for a bit, everyone else stages a big battle to cover for them, the end. Most of Two Towers, and Return of the King had to be skipped. This messed with the scope of the story, where it's a few tiny people in a vast world, with the fate of multiple peoples riding on their success and contributing to it. There just isn't time to get to know everyone well enough to care about them in a 3hr show. I do think there might be a way to do the story well. HelloFutureMe has suggested making the story SMALLER on purpose, and only following Frodo and Sam once the Fellowship splits. That way you could keep the story close and personal, and give the audience the time to really care about those characters. And you'd still have the big set pieces and puppets like the Mumakil and winged Nazgul. I think something like that could work.

It's showing again this year at The Watermill Theatre, UK.

I loved every second of it, more than the films probably. And yes a great use of Pepper's Ghosst

Never seen it but I’ll be forever grateful for the song “Wonder” which is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

I was lucky enough to have seen it. In that same theater as you. My friend got me a ticket for my birthday. I remember loving the production and the songs. I'm not sure if i remember the actual story though. But i wish I'd known it was playing again earlier this yr, as i did love it then

Very late to this party (just found your channel and I'm loving it) but my mind is blown. I was in my second year of university for THEATRE TECHNICAL PRODUCTION in 2006 in TORONTO when this thing showed up. We talked about it at length in our courses. We marveled and studied the set pieces and costumes. We all imagined this future of high budget technical shows to lift us in our future careers. I'm certain we had at least 1 instructor who was working on the thing. And it was so wiped from my memory that I am still trying to think who of my friends might recall if I actually saw the thing. As a student I doubt I would have been able to afford the tickets, but maybe I went to a preview? I'm almost certain I did as I remember the stage moving, even typing this I remember Merry's lav mic failing and not getting fixed until almost intermission. Holy crap I was there. It was horrible. Thank you for reminding me. #rankinandbasswasgoodfightme

As a big fan of both Lord of the Rings and musical theater, this show is a guilty pleasure of mine. I never got to see it onstage so I can't speak to whether it worked or if the story was coherent. All I know is that I really enjoy the music from it. I love how they integrated Quenya into the lyrics. I love the tongue-twister of a song they sing in Bree. I love Gollum's Jekyll & Hyde style duet with himself. And "Now and For Always" is a beautiful song that perfectly captures Frodo and Sam's bond and the indomitable nature of hobbits. Musically, I thought they portrayed the story well. But maybe it works better as a soundtrack album than as a stage production. That said, there's apparently a revival of this show in the works for 2023. I'm very curious to see how it fares. It would be awesome if they filmed a performance of it.

The fact that you said what you say at 11:39 (to 48) a year or so before Rings of Power dropped is NUTS. Wish someone would have told ol' Benzoids that...

I can’t believe I didn’t know this existed!! I love and hate it, as Gollum loves and hates himself 😭😭

I remember seeing the musical when I was about 12/13 and the image of the Balrog sticks in my mind. Otherwise, I don't remember very much about it. Two ideas on how you could adapt Tolkien for stage. One is based on the Ring Cycle: Wagner managed to present pretty indepth Germanic/Norse mythology in his operas. However, he did take 4 pretty lengthy operas to do so. Perhaps an opera, given its epic scale, would be more suited to LotR, and you could have one per book. As an alternative, for a stage play (rather than a musical) perhaps one of the tales at the heart of the Silmarillion could work i.e. Beren and Luthien or the Children of Hurin. Though they rely on wider context for the fullest meaning, in some ways they are self-contained stories that I think could be made similar in tone to a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy. If all else fails, Farmer Giles of Ham would make a great pantomime!

I saw the musical on 8 Dec 2007, half way through it's London run, but I have no memory of it. However in my annual newsletter, which was written in the following days I was enthusiastic: "Spectacular is a word that underplays the experience of the Lord of the Rings musical I saw in December. One was not watching the Fellowship in the mines of Moria with the fiery Balrog, one was there with them! I too have "The Official Stage Companion", by Gary Russell, a beautifully produced hardback guide to the design, creation and production of the musical, a gift I received at the time. Maybe my longer term thoughts on the production are better revealed by knowing that 16 years later I still have not read it. Thank you for your videos which demonstrate that you have carried out detailed research into Middle Earth and its peoples.

I worked FoH in Toronto for this production and your video is giving me severe flashbacks. Helm's Deep used to break down on the daily. On double shows, the delays used to give us less than a 30 minute break between shows. Michael Terriault (Gollum) used to hang at stage door in his full make up and a bathrobe because he didn't have enough time to get his make up re applied.

the lotr musical is so underrated! The Road Goes On and Lothorien are two of my all time favourite songs

This musicl has stayed with my since I got to see it in 2007, some of the visuals and the music was too nice to forget. Also it invoked the same magical feeling I got from my first literary encouters with Middle Earth which were more ethereal and magical than that of the movies so it remains quite special. I just wish there had been more evidence left behind for people to experience it now

I would say the music itself (as that is my only frame of reference) was really quite pleasant. "Now and For Always" is really quite a moving number...

I’ve never seen the show but I really want to!!! I’ve loved the soundtrack for years. The music is really beautiful.

If they wanted to cut run time for the play, they just needed to have most of the journey via giant eagle and then have a random Hobbit remark: "Imagine if we had walked all that way!".

Bruh! I was just thinking about this randomly. I couldn’t remember ANYTHING cept the beginning when they were in hobbiton…there were fireflies think? And the orcs in the audience….and yes…the stage moving was crazy.

Those of you who got to see this show are very, very lucky. Speaking as someone who has never left the U.S., was 6 years old when the show was actually running, and only heard about it 6-7 years after the show shut down during my first LOTR phase in 5th grade. Fortunately for people like me, someone was able to compile audio and video from various sources to piece together almost the whole show for anyone to see on KZfaq!

I remember reading the headline in a Toronto newspaper "Bored Of The Rings" - ouch.

I never got to see the musical myself, which seems to be a blessing and a curse. I was, however, utterly obsessed with the London cast soundtrack as a young teen deep in my lotr phase (I say phase like it ever really ended lol). The visuals I did see in clips were entrancing, the song for Lothlorien STILL gives me goosebumps. I think you’re right that there was no way this could ever work, it’s simply too much world and story for a stage play. And yet, perhaps because I never saw it except in my head, there’s something about the idea I just can’t stop loving. There was clearly so much thought and care put into the sets, the effects, the costumes, the music (they worked with a Finnish folk band to get the sound of the language that had most inspired Elvish). And I think there’s something beautiful about turning Tolkien’s story, which is fundamentally musical, into a story told through music. Maybe it’s better for me it only lives in my imagination and in clips I found on KZfaq. But I can’t help but be glad that it exists, a different and beautiful vision of a beloved world… even if the reality of such a show was an impossible dream.

Completely different but related, a small community theater group in my town made one called "one musical to rule them all" where they took well known theatre songs and changed the lyrics to fit the story, it was so much fun, you still needed to know the story to understand what was going on but it was great

It’s funny I actually knew about this musical not because of Lotr but because of my background in theatre. I found the cat and the moon while researching for Broadway Wishes a student run groups where we would show musical numbers to raise money for the make a wish foundation. I loved it from a lotr, a realistic, an almost Irish, and a purely musical standpoint. The rest of the show is never gotten into because it seemed so lost that it didn’t feel worthwhile to look for.

It's funny, I only know that this happened because when I was searching for Tolkein music on KZfaq the renditions of the Prancing Pony songs from this musical came up. Funnily enough I heard the news about them PLANNING this musical in, I don't know, 2004 or something back when I spent most of my time online on the IMDb forums for LOTR, but I never heard about it actually going into production and coming out or anything. In contrast I do have very clear memories of the great Hobbit stage play in the 90s I saw where Gandalf, Elrond and Bard were actors but the entire rest of the cast were puppets. I was doing a quick Google and it looks like, remarkably, it may have only been an Australian/New Zealand production.

New production is now on in the UK and getting rave reviews! I saw the original 5 times and adored it.

Never pull a reverse-Hobbit.

One of my friends who was a harpist with an opera used to shout her revulsion at some of the 40 and $50,000 Harps because the quality of the sound was not what her educated ear would prefer. To us normal Mortals we were transported by what we could hear. I think knowing the context as well as the symbolic significance of some of the characters is what caught my attention in the musical. In contrast I think the Amazon series will find many fans because it has a story that unfolds even though you have a symbolic Mary the mother of Jesus just about making out with Judas which doesn't follow actual Tolkien or the Bible. Is that good theater and is it faithful to the author? Perhaps. And perhaps someday a better theatrical production might be created but I found this one enjoyable inspirational and memorable.

I love the Lord of the Rings books and Middle Earth has been in my imagination since I was about 8 years old. I find musical theatre really quite a difficult genre to like - the songs often feel contrived, even manipulative. My wife and daughter saw the restaging of the LOTR musical at the Watermill on September last year and I joined them for a second time. I have to say I was unexpectedly bowled over by it. I can imagine it being overblown and entirely messy on a large scale, but this honed down version was exquisite.

I saw it too! Was waaaay up in the gods, and on the night we saw it the balrog didn't work or inflate?

Love this show although it’s not the greatest adaptation of the books for the stage. I think critics were overly harsh towards it- mostly because it was just so new and completely different from what most theatre had been like up until that point. Bummed the show never came to the USA and/or that the international tour never came to fruition.

Also, believe it or not this show is actually getting a revival! A smaller theatre in the UK is showing it, and making it a semi-immersive theatre show. I'm not sure exactly what that will entail, but apparently the opening scenes of the birthday party in the Shire will take place on the green outside the theatre building, so... if nothing else, it'll be interesting :p

I am a BIG lotr fan, and I have never heard of this, but I would LOVE to watch this crash

After initially watching this video, I went on a deep dive for this musical, watching other reviews of it, listening to the album, and researching its history for myself. I managed to find a recording of it, though I didn't finish watching it and now I have to track it down again. The audio and visual quality was practically nonexistent, but I was able to tell that when Gandalf came in to talk to Frodo about the ring, he just would not stop yelling at him and it was honestly hilarious. XD It's really sad that this musical didn't do well and isn't more well known. I absolutely love the soundtrack. (Now and for Always is to DIE for!) From what I can tell, the biggest problem with this musical was its plot. I think if we could get a good writer to sit down and fix the script, this musical could have a real chance of being good. I hope that happens some day. I desperately want to see this performed on stage!

You need to do a video on the LOTR musical that WASN'T a failure: "Fellowship! A Musical Parody" I saw it in NYC and it was hilarious!

The music is lovely and i wish I could have seen it.

The absence of a SINGLE ACTUAL TOLKIEN SONG, is what I find most alarming. He wrote hundreds after all.

at 1:10 when jess said hi, i actually though it was video feed of her mom and for a split second i legit thought she was an immortal elf ..or a vampire, freaked me out. but turns out im just dumb and it was just jess with a low res camera

When actors are told to "break a leg", it's not supposed to be taken literally. More seriously, I haven't seen this show but the music is good.

So I saw this musical at 16 in Drury Lane. The only bits I remember vividly are Frodo and Sam's song, the execution of the orcs and Laura Michelle Kelly belting interchangeably. It was compelling but not the most memorable experiences ever.

I bought the music from the musical. Now and for always is my favorite. You have "cool" parents.

I'd never even heard of it. And now I know why.

I have been reading Tolkien since 1976, never heard of the musical. I am however, going to Evil Dead the musical next month :)

I heard of it when it was on stage but I never had the money to bother with it. I tend to agree Tolkien. There are things that can be done stage and can't be. It probably would have been better if they did a 'Globe' version of it, but I doubt they would have even considered it. I love William Shakespeare done pure and simple, with all the words. I agree that Tolkien's stories are too complex.

Didn't even know this was a thing.

I've never seen it performed, so I can't speak to the coherence of the plot, but I have listened to the music. A lot of it seemed kind of new age-y in a way I didn't necessarily detest, but I preferred the movie soundtracks. That said, I unironically love the hobbit numbers, especially the drinking song, the Cat and the Moon. A real banger!

Perhaps something like the Ring Cycle?

I saw this in London… why no one ever did a full dvd filming of it before it shut down is beyond me. Even more perplexing as there are several musical numbers professionally shot from the west end show. Why did they not film the whole thing? Or perhaps they did and it was never made available. The show was stunning but in hindsight does not suit a theatre audience. It was too dark and patrons too far away to see what was going on and get involved with the characters. There were also wayyyy too many songs. But what an impressive production.

I actually saw this back in the day, and I did really enjoy it! The scope, the music, the general look of it all was brilliant, but there were issues. For one, they tried their hardest to condense the whole story into a single play. I have never seen any LOTR adaptation that did this successfully. Even the Bakshi film, for all its condensing, only got as far as the Battle of Helms Deep. It really should've been staged as a two-parter, like The Cursed Child or Henry IV or something. Also some of the casting just didn't work and the effects ranged from beautiful to laughable (particularly the Balrog and the Ents).

It sounds like it should have been three plays, similar to Peter Brook's approach to The Mahabharata in the 1980s.

Can you please admit that the music for this show was beautiful?

I saw a stage version of the hobbit on stage and very much enjoyed it. Granted expectations are much lower for a children’s community theater production Some musicals are just strange. My sister-in-law once got us to watch “Cannibal the musical“. That’s a strange little play. Just because reviews are good or bad doesn’t mean you’ll like or dislike a play. The reviews for an all male production of “taming of the shrew” were mostly all negative. After the play I saw one of the supporting actors and went up to shake his hand and told him I enjoyed the play, it was much better than I was expecting. I mostly remember that instance because my wife told me I shouldn’t have worded the compliment as if my expectations were low. But both reviews read hated the play so my expectations were very low.

It was at least less cursed than Spiderman the musical.....

I have been reading Tolkien since I was fifteen; so, sixty-two years. The existence of a musical adaptation was a mystery to me until today (20 April 2024). I still have difficulty with the superb Peter Jackson movies being too condensed for my tastes. A three hour musical, especially one so totally devoid of substance as described, would probably have driven me out before the first intermission. An adaptation must, at a minimum, maintain the flavor of the original source material. None of the scenes from the musical that were interspersed with this video gave me the slightest impression that I had been transported into Middle Earth. On the other hand, the Jackson films put me there as soon as they began and never once did I get the feeling that I was not living and breathing a tale of Middle Earth. I believe that I fully understand Jess’ grounds for rejection of the musical and, from what I gleaned, I wholeheartedly agree.

I had the pleasure??? of seeing this in early 2008 on a educational tour with my university theatre department the acting was not great but from a technical perspective it was outstanding. I think about Gollum climbing headfirst down and never seeing a rope come off of him.

I only happened upon it on YT about a year ago. I was able to find a video of it with really bad sound but was able to play the music at appropriate times from another video. I have to admit that, while I liked Arwen getting a song and she and Aragorn getting IIRC the happy ending reprise, Aragorn's part of the story seemed really muddled, especially in Rohan. I do like the music, and the scene with "Now and For Always" actually captures the scene where Frodo and Sam are talking about the story they've landed in right before they cross into Mordor. If you're actually reading this a year after you did the video, do you know what's up with a revival of the show? What little I saw looked like the one revival of Sweeny Todd that was done with really minimal staging and the actors playing some of the accompaniments themselves. Oh, and I lost count of how many times I'd read it somewhere around 30. I even read the Silmarillion on my rereads, albeit a "good parts" version. Tolkien is my literary god.

Saw in London in 2008. Easily the best musical I've ever seen.

They made this musical so that Christopher Tolkien would appreciate the Peter Jackson movies.