The 'Lord Of The Rings' Musical Sets Cast For American Premiere
Image Source: Broadway World
While The Lord of the Rings fans are waiting for the next season of The Rings of Power, they can take a trip to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater to see Tolkien’s epic in musical form. The musical is told from the hobbits’ point of view and starts with Bilbo giving Frodo a gold ring during his eleventy-first birthday party. Those familiar with the source material know that this event sets Frodo on a journey toward Mordor to vanquish evil with his traveling companions known as the Fellowship.
The musical’s book and lyrics were written by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus with A.R. Rahman and Christopher Nightingale as composers. The musical debuted in Toronto and was over three hours long. It found its way to the West End in London and finally to the United States, where the show has been shortened to two and a half hours. Spencer Davis Milford leads the cast as Frodo with Tom Amandes as the wizard Gandalf, Lauren Zarkin as the elf Galadriel, Rick Hall as Bilbo, and Michael Kurowsi as the trusty Samwise. Completing the Fellowship are Ben Mathew as Pippin, Eileen Doan as Merry, Justin Albinder as Legolas, Will James Jr. as Aragorn, Ian Mayfield as Gimli, and Matthew C. Yee as Boromir. Jeff Parker has a double role as Saruman and Elrond. Alina Jenine Taber plays Arwen, and Suzanne Hannau plays Rosie. Rounding out the cast are ensemble members Joey Faggion, Mia Hilt, Jarais Musgrove, Hannah Novak, Bernadette Santos Schwegel, Laura Savage, Carter Rose Sherman, Adam Qutaishat, and Arik Vega.
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The creative team includes Simon Kenny as the production designer, Anjali Mehra as choreographer and movement director, Mark Aspinall as music supervisor, Michael McBride as music director and keyboard programmer, Rory Beaton as the lighting designer, and Adam Fisher as the original sound designer. George Reeve will serve as the projection designer with Charlie Tymms as the puppet designer. Rachel Flesh is the Chicago fight and intimacy director, Christ Harris is the associate director, and Nicholas Pope is the Chicago designer. Ian Syme serves as the associate projection designer, Dani McCallum as the original fight director, and Ashleigh Cheadle as the original puppetry designer. The musical will open at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare on July 19 and runs through September 1.
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Source(s): Theater Mania, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Playbill
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