The 80+ year legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels still persist, evidenced by The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale, bringing the epic fantasy to the Crown Theatre in Perth. Frodo Baggins, an orphan hobbit from the tranquil paradise of The Shire, is bequeathed the One Ring, an object imbued with immeasurable evil. Alongside his friend Sam, cousins Merry and Pippin, and a retinue of loyal followers, they embark on a journey to finally destroy the ring, encountering many allies, enemies, and video projections along the way.
The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale is a joyous spectacle with several standout moments of beautiful music and creative effects. The short stature of the hobbits is done seamlessly, and the show itself practically starts early, as the hobbits mingle amongst the arriving audience, introducing themselves to individual people. One even asked me for some Maltesers, which I happily offered (they were my plus one’s so I didn’t mind).
As a revamped version of the original Lord of the Rings stage show from 2006, this new production does not present like you’d expect from a traditional musical. Aside from choral chants during action scenes, the majority of the songs serve as reprises from the plot, introducing scenes and setting moods, rather than elevating character-building moments.
The scenes with Frodo, played by Rarmian Newton and Gollum, played by Laurence Boxhall, are the most endearing and emotionally resonant part of the show. Their slower pacing provides a welcome chance for the audience to catch their breath.
Newton immediately wins the crowd with his infectious mirth that transitions into grim exhaustion over the two acts. Boxhall steals the entire second act with seemingly endless energy. His dialogue is performed with a perfectly grotesque strain that fits shockingly well to a singing voice. It’s these character moments that reveal the musical’s true potential.
The use of visible musicians gives the production a bespoke charm. A staccato violin string acting as the sound effect for a squeaky door was an obvious audience highlight. Every instrument is played on stage by the ensemble and several main cast members. This scrappy orchestra is diverse and well rounded, with tinny flutes, beautiful harps, and resonant cellos, though the appearance of blatantly modern instruments in such an apocryphal story gets rather jarring. The regal and serious Elrond, king of the elves, stepped out with a glistening trombone in his left hand.
Theatre thrives on creativity with limited resources, and The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale shines the most with its effective props and stage-appropriate interpretations of creatures. Skeletal horse heads coil up the arms of cloaked actors to make intimidating Black Riders. Dancers clothed in black and donning gas masks make surprisingly believable orc soldiers.
By far the most impressive visual is, surprisingly, not the Balrog, made famous by Ian McKellan’s “You shall not pass!” quote, but Shelob, the enormous spider. In almost pitch darkness, glowing, teal eyes are joined by long, spindly legs. Genuinely terrifying, it earns a well-deserved cheers from a spine-tingled audience.
Many fantastical visuals are projected onto the back wall. Treebeard for example is entirely represented with digital arrangements of leaves and branches. He also speaks with an Australian accent (didgeridoos included) which is oddly off-brand for a story based on Western European mythology.
By cramming a three book story into a two act musical, the plot moves quickly and clinically. Important scenes are sometimes left out completely, replaced with compacted exposition. This was never more obvious than during the middle of Act Two, after the beautiful ‘Now And For Always,’ a delicate reprieve with Sam and Frodo, before the final steps of their journey. This sombre duet is immediately followed by a haunting performance of ‘Gollum’s Song,’ where Gollum pranced and writhed around the stage.
Much like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it requires a certain amount of audience pre-knowledge to completely appreciate The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale. Its quick pace makes it impossible to comprehend entirely if coming in fresh. The movie trilogy is a quick and recommended watch before stepping through the theatre doors. But don’t be disappointed that the musical’s version of the Balrog looks less like a CGI demon and more like a boss from a Super Mario video game.
The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale is on now until 6 April at Crown Theatre, Perth.
The tour continues to Melbourne from 26 April and the Gold Coast from 4 July.
Tickets on sale now via Ticketmaster.
Website: https://lotronstage.com/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/lotronstage/
Photo credits: Daniel Boud
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3 responses to “Review: Lord of the Rings A Musical Tale Perth”
We saw this at crown last night and walked out at intermission. I believe others did too. Strobe lights so bright we closed our eyes. Amateurish acting. And why did some of the hobbies sound Irish? A complete disappointment.
Excellent! Two and a half hours of brilliant entertainment. To capture the essence of Tolkien’s three books in such a condensed time was amazing. The acting, singing, musicianship, dancing and set design were all superb. A++
Just out from tonight’s show and it was Amazing, a must see!!! Vocals that would outdo Adele!!! You can see the effort that went into the staging and special effects, superb!
The acting was astounding! I really can’t say a bad thing about it and would highly highly recommend!