Lord of the Rings musical closing this July

[Nerwen]

This musical sounds very odd indeed. Why were the Orcs on crutches?

[Sauron the White]

Why were the orcs on crutches? Thats a really good question. I aksed myself the same thing when I saw it since it looked really weird and seemed to serve no purpose although Mithalwen suggests they may have been spring loaded to help them in backflips and other moves. That could very well be the case. If so, I did not realize it when I saw the play. When I saw it I simply thought they were crutches and gave them a type of "on all fours" look. It reminded me a bit of the Flying Monkeys from WIZARD OF OZ when they scurried on the ground fighting the good guys.

here are some links so you can see the actual stuff

An Overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ngg7wcbwEU

Arwen Evenstar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS3LN5TUPHc

The Ringwraiths: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPF_Xiv7Dlw

Lothlorien: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxS_k_0eu_4

Star of Earendil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0GNgdVz0A

The Final Battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td8QWBpYIlA

Flight to the Ford: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIqY66cP13s

Epilogue: Farewells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si6LAl6XhCw

Finale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJrsb6_6nfo

The Road Goes On: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yA7gRDgqE

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

This musical sounds very odd indeed. Why were the Orcs on crutches?

I would guess that it harks back to the fundamental problem with Tolkien that you have humans playing humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits and orcs. In film you can play around with CGI, on radio you can use different voice types, in the flesh you are stuck with humans. In "Grand Opera" there are certain conventions linking vocal ranges and types to types of character - but with the different demands of musical this is not so possible. So you just have to somehow
make humans seem less human.

I think the crutches were to extend the limbs (Treebeard was a shepherd on stilts ) and give the orcs move a bit like chimpanzees - not human but not
totally alien. It was certainly quite scary ... and they were very agile. though not as impressive as Golum's head first crawl.

[Nogrod]

The music is going to be released in Finland the next week... So we're just waiting for a few days more... But looking at the clips Sauron provided it sounds good indeed. Or at least to my Finnish ears as I can clearly make out the Finnish themes from there...

From what I have heard of it the Toronto-show was more or less bad but the London production was somewhat better. So I do join the many here to see the next installment where it's better than in the two first ones...

But just talking of links aren't those links provided by Sauron the White as illegal as Davem's links in the "Microphones..." -thread? I mean in no way do I wish to see them go. Vice versa. I'd like to see all possible links come back.

Just asking...

[davem]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

But just talking of links aren't those links provided by Sauron the White as illegal as Davem's links in the "Microphones..." -thread? .

I think some of them are legal - but you can access a selection of perfectly legal clips on the Show's website: http://www.lotr.com/sights_sounds/