“Lord of the Rings” – the Legend Becomes Electric

By Wes Hessel

Two of the fantasy genre’s greatest authors were both at Oxford in the late 1920’s and good friends – C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien; Lewis is known for the seminal Narnia series, Tolkien for a book about a hobbit and the three volume sequel set which is known by that overarching title of lore: “Lord of the Rings”.  The adventure is so big, it took three large tomes to cover the sweeping saga that is set in the land of Middle Earth in the close of the Third Age.

For those that know the story, enough said; for those that don’t, let’s distill this to a basic outline. A piece of jewelry found in “The Hobbit” turns out to be the most important and powerful magical ring in that world, and so is extremely dangerous since the forces of darkness want it at any and all costs. A group of hobbits and a company of leaders of various races join together to protect the “One Ring” from being taken, which leads to a journey of epic proportions, while the collective dark tribes go after the good guys, who don’t necessarily get along with each other but have to ally due to the tremendous threat. It’s a significant oversimplification but one gets the idea.

So that formidable trilogy is condensed into this grand production, “The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale”, the U.S. premiere for this play with music, which I consider it. As can always be counted on, Chicago Shakespeare brings its world class work to bear and the result is stirring. The casting is inspired (wait ‘til you find out who voiced Treebeard), the acting stellar with the characterizations very faithful, the comedy seemingly straight from the text and well delivered, the songs mirthful and melodious, and the effects look like Gandalf himself had a hand in them.

The story will next be told in what one could argue is the mother ship: New Zealand, where the acclaimed films were shot. So you only have until September 1st to take in this terrific tale – for tickets or more information, journey in a hurry to www.chicagoshakes.com.

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