The Lord of the Rings musical that opened last year in the UK will stage its U.S. debut in Chicago this July, producers announced today.
Based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien and directed by Paul Hart, The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale will begin performances July 19 at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, running through September 1. An international tour will follow, with venues and dates to be announced in June.
“I can’t wait for this next step in the epic journey of The Lord of the Rings as we craft this new staging for the US premiere production with Chicago Shakespeare Theater for Chicago audiences,” Hart said in a statement. “We loved creating this version which was retold from the perspective of the Hobbits at The Watermill and will now be expanded far beyond those horizons. It will be thrilling to share with new audiences...
Based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien and directed by Paul Hart, The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale will begin performances July 19 at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, running through September 1. An international tour will follow, with venues and dates to be announced in June.
“I can’t wait for this next step in the epic journey of The Lord of the Rings as we craft this new staging for the US premiere production with Chicago Shakespeare Theater for Chicago audiences,” Hart said in a statement. “We loved creating this version which was retold from the perspective of the Hobbits at The Watermill and will now be expanded far beyond those horizons. It will be thrilling to share with new audiences...
- 4/9/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Music has always played an important role in Tolkien adaptations. J.A. Bayona, producer and director on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, told Den of Geek last year that he played music on set for the actors to help them get “the right tone” for their characters, and that “there’s an… obvious sense of musicality when you read the books” which is “all about language and the beauty of language.” The show’s season one finale even featured a new musical setting for Tolkien’s “Rhyme of the Rings,” written by Bear McCreary and performed by Fiona Apple, which was generally well-received by fans.
Anyone who has read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings knows that the books are full of songs. Aragorn sings old Elvish ballads, Bilbo is quite the composer, the Dwarves have songs about their ancient mines, the Rohirrim love melancholic battle epics,...
Anyone who has read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings knows that the books are full of songs. Aragorn sings old Elvish ballads, Bilbo is quite the composer, the Dwarves have songs about their ancient mines, the Rohirrim love melancholic battle epics,...
- 3/20/2023
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: A musical stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, originally co-created in 2006 by Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical director Matthew Warchus, is headed to the English countryside.
The Shire of Middle-earth, the inland area inhabited by the hobbits and Bilbo Baggins, will be re-created at the Watermill Theatre to allow a cast of 20 actor-musicians to perform the musical in the open air.
The Watermill Theatre is located in Berkshire, a county adjacent to Oxfordshire, where Tolkien wrote his chronicle of the Hobbit universe’s Great War of the Ring. It will present a semi-immersive production of The Lord of the Rings that takes advantage of the venue’s picturesque setting on the banks of the River Lambourn.
Expect the village of Bagnor close to the town of Newbury, where the Watermill is based, to be overrun by Ringers and Tolkienites eager to see the show,...
The Shire of Middle-earth, the inland area inhabited by the hobbits and Bilbo Baggins, will be re-created at the Watermill Theatre to allow a cast of 20 actor-musicians to perform the musical in the open air.
The Watermill Theatre is located in Berkshire, a county adjacent to Oxfordshire, where Tolkien wrote his chronicle of the Hobbit universe’s Great War of the Ring. It will present a semi-immersive production of The Lord of the Rings that takes advantage of the venue’s picturesque setting on the banks of the River Lambourn.
Expect the village of Bagnor close to the town of Newbury, where the Watermill is based, to be overrun by Ringers and Tolkienites eager to see the show,...
- 3/2/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Broadway has just reopened after shuttering on March 13, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To mark the return of the rialto, the 74th annual Tonys were handed out on Sunday, September 26 at the Winter Garden theater. This two-part ceremony, which will be hosted by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald on Paramount+ and “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom, Jr. on CBS, comes almost one year after nominations were announced on October 15, 2020.
Two new musicals – “Jagged Little Pill” and “Moulin Rouge!” — lead the Tony Awards nominations with 15 and 14 bids respectively including Best Musical. A third tuner, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” reaped a dozen bids as did the new drama “Slave Play.” While the nominees were decided by 48 theater professionals, the winners were voted on by 831 members of the Broadway community.
Below, the 2020 Tony Awards winners list in all 25 competitive categories.
See Broadway insiders dishing the 2020 Tony Awards nominations in our theater forum
Musicals...
Two new musicals – “Jagged Little Pill” and “Moulin Rouge!” — lead the Tony Awards nominations with 15 and 14 bids respectively including Best Musical. A third tuner, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” reaped a dozen bids as did the new drama “Slave Play.” While the nominees were decided by 48 theater professionals, the winners were voted on by 831 members of the Broadway community.
Below, the 2020 Tony Awards winners list in all 25 competitive categories.
See Broadway insiders dishing the 2020 Tony Awards nominations in our theater forum
Musicals...
- 9/26/2021
- by Sam Eckmann and David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The curtain’s inching up on the Tony Awards: A ceremony will be held on an as-yet-undetermined date in coordination with Broadway’s eventual reopening, but voters will finally be able to make their selections beginning March 1, Tony organizers tell Deadline.
Nominees for the 74th Annual Tony Awards were announced last October, with the 18 eligible productions reflecting the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season (the count usually numbers in the 30s). The 2020 Tony ceremony and CBS broadcast had originally been set for June 7 at New York’s Radio City Musical Hall, but of course was scuttled due to the Covid shutdown.
The voting period will run from March 1 to March 15. Although Broadway remains officially closed until June, most insiders don’t expect any stagings before fall at the earliest, with timing contingent on widespread Covid-19 vaccinations.
The March 12 theater closure preceded the official end of the Broadway season and the traditional late-April/early-May announcement of nominees,...
Nominees for the 74th Annual Tony Awards were announced last October, with the 18 eligible productions reflecting the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season (the count usually numbers in the 30s). The 2020 Tony ceremony and CBS broadcast had originally been set for June 7 at New York’s Radio City Musical Hall, but of course was scuttled due to the Covid shutdown.
The voting period will run from March 1 to March 15. Although Broadway remains officially closed until June, most insiders don’t expect any stagings before fall at the earliest, with timing contingent on widespread Covid-19 vaccinations.
The March 12 theater closure preceded the official end of the Broadway season and the traditional late-April/early-May announcement of nominees,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The Tony Awards nominations were announced on Thursday, October 15 by Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart (“Aladdin”). The reveal of the roster of contenders was carried on the Tonys YouTube channel. While the nominations for the 74th annual Tony Awards were determined by 41 theater professionals, winners will be decided by 784 members of the Broadway community.
Only 18 shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there are 10 original works and four revivals in the running. Over on the musical side, four new tuners are in contention; no musical revivals qualified. The cutoff date for eligibility was February 19, 2020. As both the Bob Dylan tuner “Girl From the North Country” and a new revival of “West Side Story” opened after that, don’t look for them on the list of nominations below.
Broadway has remained closed since March 13 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Tony Awards had been set...
Only 18 shows were eligible for consideration by the nominating committee. On the play side, there are 10 original works and four revivals in the running. Over on the musical side, four new tuners are in contention; no musical revivals qualified. The cutoff date for eligibility was February 19, 2020. As both the Bob Dylan tuner “Girl From the North Country” and a new revival of “West Side Story” opened after that, don’t look for them on the list of nominations below.
Broadway has remained closed since March 13 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Tony Awards had been set...
- 10/15/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Tony Awards nominations are always tricky to predict, but this year’s shortlist of Broadway’s best and brightest proves even more challenging to wrangle thanks to the coronavirus-shortened season, eligibility confusion, changed numbers of slots per category, and even questions about whether the two-person Actor in a Musical category will get nixed. Despite these unique hurdles, conventional Tony wisdom will still help to foresee some unexpected nominations. Below, see a list of just a handful of potential upsets that could shock theatre fans when the shortlists are announced.
A “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” surge
The Tony nominating committee often favors spring productions, leaving a lot of summer and fall works underrepresented in the nominations. Though this season got unfortunately shortchanged due to Covid-19, some of those shows from the very start of the season now have a chance at recognition, like the beautiful revival of...
A “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” surge
The Tony nominating committee often favors spring productions, leaving a lot of summer and fall works underrepresented in the nominations. Though this season got unfortunately shortchanged due to Covid-19, some of those shows from the very start of the season now have a chance at recognition, like the beautiful revival of...
- 10/15/2020
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the second time during the 2019-2020 Broadway season to discuss eligibility of eleven productions for the 2020 American Theatre Wing’s 74th Annual Tony Awards.
The productions considered were: “The Great Society,” “Slave Play,” “Linda Vista,” “The Rose Tattoo,” “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” “The Sound Inside,” “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” “The Inheritance,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Jagged Little Pill” and “My Name is Lucy Barton.”
The following determinations were made:
David Weiner (lighting designer) and Victoria Sagady (projection designer) will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Lighting Design of a Play category for their work on “The Great Society.”
Joaquina Kalukango will be considered eligible in the Lead Actress in a Play category for her performance in “Slave Play.”
Ian Barford will be considered eligible in the Lead Actor in a Play category for his performance in “Linda Vista.”
Marisa Tomei...
The productions considered were: “The Great Society,” “Slave Play,” “Linda Vista,” “The Rose Tattoo,” “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” “The Sound Inside,” “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” “The Inheritance,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Jagged Little Pill” and “My Name is Lucy Barton.”
The following determinations were made:
David Weiner (lighting designer) and Victoria Sagady (projection designer) will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Lighting Design of a Play category for their work on “The Great Society.”
Joaquina Kalukango will be considered eligible in the Lead Actress in a Play category for her performance in “Slave Play.”
Ian Barford will be considered eligible in the Lead Actor in a Play category for his performance in “Linda Vista.”
Marisa Tomei...
- 1/31/2020
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Actor Campbell Scott will tackle the holiday season’s favorite miser with an eight-week Broadway run of A Christmas Carol, with Matthew Warchus directing the Jack Thorne adaptation of the Dickens classic.
The production heads to Broadway via London, where the show played well-received runs at the Old Vic.
As adapted by Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), A Christmas Carol begins previews Thursday, November 7 at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, with an opening night set for Wednesday, November 20. The strictly limited engagement runs through Sunday, January 5, 2020.
With Scott as Scrooge and featuring 12 Christmas songs, A Christmas Carol will be produced on Broadway by Tom Smedes, Heather Shields, ShowTown Productions, and Catherine Schreiber.
Complete casting will be announced later.
A Christmas Carol will feature scenic and costume design by Rob Howell...
The production heads to Broadway via London, where the show played well-received runs at the Old Vic.
As adapted by Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), A Christmas Carol begins previews Thursday, November 7 at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, with an opening night set for Wednesday, November 20. The strictly limited engagement runs through Sunday, January 5, 2020.
With Scott as Scrooge and featuring 12 Christmas songs, A Christmas Carol will be produced on Broadway by Tom Smedes, Heather Shields, ShowTown Productions, and Catherine Schreiber.
Complete casting will be announced later.
A Christmas Carol will feature scenic and costume design by Rob Howell...
- 8/13/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The Climate Was Changing: Warchus Revisits 80s Set Instance of Activism
British director Matthew Warchus first appeared in 1999 with his directorial debut, Simpatico, based on the Sam Shepard play. While it received a rather underwhelming response despite starring Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte and a supporting Sharon Stone, Warchus has been off the map for the past fifteen years until Pride. An insightful screenplay from first time writer Stephen Beresford is the first of many surprises in this well performed resuscitation of the 1984 UK mining strike, which examines the possibilities of tolerance and supporting those in need of assistance. Though its tale may seem merely a footnote in the long haul toward Lgbt equality, Warchus has concocted a relatable film meant to cross boundaries and audiences, and thankfully isn’t shackled down by its own good intentions.
In 1984 Britain, the National Union of Mineworkers called a series of strikes that crippled the government.
British director Matthew Warchus first appeared in 1999 with his directorial debut, Simpatico, based on the Sam Shepard play. While it received a rather underwhelming response despite starring Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte and a supporting Sharon Stone, Warchus has been off the map for the past fifteen years until Pride. An insightful screenplay from first time writer Stephen Beresford is the first of many surprises in this well performed resuscitation of the 1984 UK mining strike, which examines the possibilities of tolerance and supporting those in need of assistance. Though its tale may seem merely a footnote in the long haul toward Lgbt equality, Warchus has concocted a relatable film meant to cross boundaries and audiences, and thankfully isn’t shackled down by its own good intentions.
In 1984 Britain, the National Union of Mineworkers called a series of strikes that crippled the government.
- 9/24/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“Audiences will have their sense of humanity refreshed.”
Actors Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West, director Matthew Warchus and the filmmakers of Pride discuss the background of this emotional story in the new featurette.
Critics are already cheering the film. “Breakout British hit is a warm, witty triumph,” says Digital Spy.
The Hollywood News writes, “Pride really is a thing of beauty.”
Pride is inspired by an extraordinary true story.
It’s the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike, prompting a London-based group of gay and lesbian activists to raise money to support the strikers’ families. Initially rebuffed by the Union, the group identifies a tiny mining village in Wales and sets off to make their donation in person. As the strike drags on, the two groups discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.
Directed...
Actors Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West, director Matthew Warchus and the filmmakers of Pride discuss the background of this emotional story in the new featurette.
Critics are already cheering the film. “Breakout British hit is a warm, witty triumph,” says Digital Spy.
The Hollywood News writes, “Pride really is a thing of beauty.”
Pride is inspired by an extraordinary true story.
It’s the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike, prompting a London-based group of gay and lesbian activists to raise money to support the strikers’ families. Initially rebuffed by the Union, the group identifies a tiny mining village in Wales and sets off to make their donation in person. As the strike drags on, the two groups discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.
Directed...
- 9/16/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.