Lord of the Rings: The Musical

When I first heard that they were going to make a stage musical version of Lord of the Rings, I thought they were absolutely insane. I'm an avid (some who knew me in middle school would say "obsessive") lover of Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's films, and I guess I was afraid that the musical would have tap-dancing orcs, Frodo singing "On My Own", or Gandalf singing "I Am Not Dead Yet".


However, when I saw the preview trailer for the show, I was blown away. They seem to have succeeded in making an epic piece of musical theatre while retaining all the excitement, beauty, and soul of the original series. With all the intricate moving stage sections, stellar lighting and set design, gorgeous costumes, intense dance and fight scene choreography (the actors had to run an obstacle course during auditions), and an extremely talented cast of 50 actors, it's not surprising that this production cost around $25 million to make.



















I wasn't lucky enough to see this spectacular show during its runs in London and Toronto (although there's a petition for a DVD), but I did buy the soundtrack, and believe me it was totally worth it. The music was a joint-composition between A. R. Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame), and the Finnish folk music band Värttinä, resulting in a perfect blending of their individual styles.

Here are some of my favorite tracks:

The Road Goes On - This track really captures the innocence of the hobbits at the beginning of the story, and has the sweet simplicity of a traditional folk song. It's based on Tolkien's poem "The Road Goes Ever On and On", which both Gandalf and Bilbo can be heard singing in Jackson's version of The Fellowship of the Ring.

"Under moon and star, take the road, no matter how far."

Cat and the Moon - You really must watch the video for this one, because the hobbits' dance will make your day a whole lot brighter! The idea (and a good portion of the lyrics) for this song comes from the chapter "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" from The Fellowship of the Ring.

"Called by the fiddle to the middle of the muddle where the cow with a caper sent the small dog squealing. Moon in a fuddle went to huddle by the griddle but he slipped in a puddle and the world went reeling."

Now and For Always - This is a really touching shared moment between Frodo and Sam, but the best part is how this song transitions into a creepy, twisted refrain sung by Gollum.

"Sit by the firelight's glow; tell us an old tale we know."

Saruman - Värttinä's influence is the most obvious on tracks like this one. Slightly sinister and beautifully haunting, the vocal harmonies on this track reminds me of the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir.

"Eä arda ainulindalë. Aratar maiar rána nénar."

Star of Eärendil - A lovely song showing the departure of the Fellowship from Rivendell.

"Ever shining perfect light, emblazon the sky."

Also on the soundtrack are some brilliant instrumental-based pieces that set the mood for the battle sequences with driving drum beats, blaring horns, and dramatic vocals.
Rating: Buy if you loved The Lord of the Rings books, movies, and soundtracks, or even if you're just a fan of musical theatre in general.


Editor's Note: Here at Moxie & Mayhem, we're continuing our crusade to add more diversity to our sound, so we're going to start writing about the wonderful (and often insane) world of musical theatre! We'll be adding a few more theatre-junkies to the writing staff. We'd love to hear some suggestions of which musicals we should write about!