**** Highly Recommended Chicago Shakespeare Theatre has scored a hit with the U.S. premiere of The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale which is absolutely fabulous! The musical as a whole is amazing, but if you break it down, each and every element – casting, staging, costumes, scenery, lighting, special effects, choreography, music – is exactly right. It's also interactive - you'll see characters running through the audience, climbing up and down the stairs, even lowering from the upper gallery on a rope! Audience members arriving in costume are loving it! This is a MUST SEE!!! 4 BIG Spotlights
The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale is based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Coincidentally, July 29th was the 70th anniversary of the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in the trilogy. Although I read the books a long, long time ago, I’m a member of a teeny, tiny minority who never saw the movies!
The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale is directed by Paul Hart who originated this staging at the Watermill Theatre in West Berkshire, Newbury, UK in 2023. Book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus, with music by A.R. Rahman, Finnish folk band Värttinä and Christopher Nightingale, choreography by Anjali Mehra. The whole production will transfer to the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand with performances beginning November 5th.
If you’re a purist, be warned, this is a somewhat compressed, Hobbit-centric version of The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbits are celebrating of Bilbo Baggins’ (Rick Hall) eleventy-first birthday with music and dancing. During the party, he gives his beloved nephew Frodo Baggins (Spencer Davis Milford) his most prized possession, a gold ring. This isn’t just any ring, it’s the all-powerful One Ring, and Bilbo wants Frodo to return it to Mordor.
Frodo’s very best friend, Samwise Gamgee (Michael Kurowski), immediately volunteers to go with Frodo, even though he has a wife, Rosie Cotton (Suzanne Hannau) who will stay home. Pippin Took (Ben Mathew) and Merry Brandybuck (Eileen Doan) also volunteer for the Fellowship. The wise and powerful Wizard, Gandolph the Grey (Tom Amandes), mentors Frodo. Also joining the fellowship - Aragorn the ranger (Will James, Jr.), Legolas the elf (Justin Albinder), Gimli the dwarf (Ian Maryfield) and Boromir of Gondor (Matthew C. Yee).
On the perilous journey across Middle Earth, they encounter Saruman (Jeff Parker), an evil wizard who wants to rule all of Middle Earth. He demands that Frodo give him the Ring. When he’s thwarted, he works against the Fellowship, turning up frequently to torment them with an evil spell. Poor twisted Gollum (Tony Bozzuto) is another who once owned the ring and desperately wants it back. The scary giant spider, lurking in a cave, really creeped me out!
The Elven queen, Galadriel (Lauren Zakrin), on the other hand, offers help to the fellowship. An Elven princess, Arwen (alina Jenine Taber), falls in love with Aragorn, who turns out to be a king. Finally, the Fellowship reaches the Forest of Fangorn where Treebeard (voiced by John Llithgow) and the other giant trees agree to help them.
From the Prologue, which featured the Springle-ring, a lively dance unique to the Hobbits, to the Finale, I loved the music which had hints of Celtic, Bluegrass, Folk, Indian Raga and more. I think that most of the actors were also the musicians. You’d often see a character with a guitar slung across his back or carrying another instrument. Even Gandolph was spotted playing the bodhran (an Irish drum).
The ensemble includes Joey Faggion, Mia Hilt, James Mueller, Jarais Musgrove, Hannah Novak, Adam Qutaishat, Laura Savage, Bernadette Santos Schwegel and Arik Vega.
The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale runs through September 1st in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, Chicago. Parking in CST’s designated area in the Navy Pier Garage is available at a 40% discount with validation from CST.
Running time is 2 hours, 45 minutes, plus an intermission. Performances are Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:00 pm; Wednesdays at 1:00 & 7:00 pm; Saturdays at 2:00 & 7:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm.
Accessible performances: ASL Interpreted Performance – Friday, August 23rd at 7:00 pm; Audio-described performance with optional touch tour – Sunday, August 25th at 2:00 pm; Open-captioned performance – Wednesday, August 21st at 1:00 & 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $41. FYI (312) 595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com