The Lord Of The Rings: "The Lord of the Rings", the first major stage musical adaptation of JRR Tolkien's classic trilogy, will receive its World Premiere when it opens in London in Spring 2005. This coincides with the 50th anniversary of the publication of the complete trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King".
The £8 million production has book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and music by Stephen Keeling and Bernd Stromberger. McKenna & Keeling were the team responsible for the critically acclaimed West End musical "Maddie".
Award-winning Matthew Warchus will direct. His recent credits include the London musicals "Tell Me On A Sunday" and "Our House", and the Yasmina Reza plays "Life x 3", "The Unexpected Man" and "Art". Award-winning Rob Howell will design. His recent West End credits include "Our House", "Simply Heavenly", "The Graduate", "The Caretaker" and "Sophie's Choice" at The Royal Opera House.
The Musical Supervisor is Christopher Nightingale. Chris provided additional arrangements for "Bombay Dreams" for which he is also Musical Supervisor.
"The Lord of the Rings" will be produced by Kevin Wallace and Saul Zaentz. Kevin Wallace was in-house producer at The Really Useful Theatre Company from 1997-2001 when it produced the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals "Whistle Down the Wind", "The Beautiful Game", "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Sunset Boulevard". In 2001 he received an International EMMY Award as executive producer of the film version of "Jesus Christ Superstar". His other London productions include the critically acclaimed "Gagarin Way" and "Eden". The legendary Saul Zaentz, whose film productions include the award-winning "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Amadeus", "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "The English Patient", was this year awarded the BAFTA 'Academy Fellowship'.
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