Two Words: Road Trip.

Singing at the gates or Mordor: "

Spamalot and The Light in the Piazza were the big winners at Sunday’s 59th annual Tony Awards. Any early favorites for next year? From April’s Detroit Free Press:

The next big thing in theater, the musical version of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ is scheduled for its world premiere in 2006 in Toronto. Previews won’t begin until Feb. 2 and the show has yet to be cast but producer Kevin Wallace offered a preview Thursday night to tour operators and other invited guests at the Renaissance Center.




Emphasizing ‘LOTR’s’ human aspects before he mentioned its special effects, Wallace called the show ‘as powerful and emotional a story as you’ve ever experienced in the theater.’




Some particulars: The show will run 3 1/2 hours, including two intermissions; the music is by Indian composer A.R. Rahman (‘Bombay Dreams’) and Finnish folk group Varttina, and there will be Hobbits mingling with playgoers before the show.

Playbill.com recently noted that advance tickets are already being snatched up:

In the first week of sales toward the February 2006 Toronto world premiere of the musical The Lord of the Rings, theatregoers snapped up $7 million (Canadian) in tickets, a spokesperson for the Toronto producers confirmed.




One might cringe imagining a quirky show tune of sweet admonition from Frodo called ‘Oh, Sam!,’ about hobbit pal Sam’s dogged faithfulness. Don’t expect it: Traditional musical theatre is not what India’s most popular composer, A.R. Rahman, and the Finnish group Värttinä, collaborating with Christopher Nightingale, write.




What would the elves sing? What is the sound a hobbit dances to? Can an orc carry a tune?




Expect varied Asian- and European-influenced sounds to suggest the many tribes of the story.

No word yet as to whether or not the Orcs will dance Bollywood style in the background.

"

(Via Sepia Mutiny.)