Review: Lord of the Rings the musical in Sydney

You’ve read the books. You’ve seen the movies. Do you know how Middle-earth and the world of Hobbits is a complex tale of fantasy. But setting all of this to music?

Now playing at the State Theatre – a fabulous venue for this mystical mix of pantomime and horror – you do have to ask the question: why?

Lord of the Rings the musical has had a chequered past. The posters tell you it was “critically acclaimed”. But that may be being a little economical with the truth.

“Bored of the Rings” was the headline when it opened in Toronto. In London, it lasted six months and failed to make financial sense. Variety, the famous showbiz paper, labelled it “a saga of short people burdened by power jewellery”. it was indeed nominated for awards in London. But it didn’t win any.

It is indeed a strange amalgam of musical schmaltz and ambitious theatrical production. If you’re a fan of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy – and there were plenty in the auditorium when we saw the show, posing in their Cosplay outfits, cheering the characters like a Christmas pantomime, and enjoying every reference – it’s got a lot of appeal.

But if you haven’t seen the movies or read the books, you’ll need to listen intently to the many monologues as the cast tries to fill you in.

But at $23 a hour if you stay for the whole show, it’s a great value! The second half is pure entertainment, with some amazing battle scenes as the people of Middle-earth battled with the forces of darkness (in this case looking a little like giant toads).

The Australian cast members are strong – the best performance by far was Laurence Boxhall as the evil Gollum (you’ll remember him in the films as the skinny character with huge eyes who talks of the ring as his “precious”).

Should you see it? If you love Frodo Baggins and Middle-earth, you should. If you don’t, three hours may be a long time to wait for the finale.