Accident Halts London Lord of the Rings through June 2

BBC News reports that performances of the London production of The Lord of the Rings, the Tolkien-based musical now in previews, have been halted for a few days due to a stage accident.

As the article states, "One of the actors is believed to have caught his leg in the moving stage during an early scene.  The individual was not one of the lead actors, but the show was halted and the audience offered refunds. Performances are due to resume on Saturday."  The Lord of the Rings, which has undergone some revisions since its 2006 Toronto premiere, features a large hydraulic stage that is capable of being revolved as well as sectionally raised and lowered.

The Lord of the Rings opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on June 19th, 2007. The show stars Olivier Award-winner Laura Michelle Kelly, as Galadriel, and James Loye, as Frodo Baggins, with Malcolm Storry (The Royal Hunt Of The Sun at the National) as Gandalf, Jerome Pradon (London Les Misérables) as Aragorn, Richard Henders (London Caroline, Or Change) as Merry, Michael Rouse (London The Boy Friend) as Legolas, Sévan Stephan (London Guys And Dolls) as Gimli, Steven Miller as Boromir and Rosalie Craig as Arwen, as well as Andrew Jarvis as Elrond, Terence Frisch as Bilbo, Tim Morgan as Théoden, Kirsty Malpass as Rosie, Peter Howe as Sam, Dora Award-winner Michael Therriault as Gollum and Owen Sharpe as Pippin. 

The world premiere Toronto production of Lord of the Rings began performances on February 4, 2006, and closed on September 3rd at the Princess of Wales Theatre. 

The production, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien books (which also inspired Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning film series), generated an economic impact of more than $640 million to Toronto and the province of Ontario during its hit run.  Despite opening to mixed reviews, The Lord of the Rings received seven Dora Awards - including Best Musical.

The Lord of the Rings features music by A.R. Rahman (along with the Finnish group Varrtina and Christopher Nightingale), and the book and lyrics are by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus. Rob Howell's elaborate sets feature three interconnected turntables with 16 elevators; he also designed the costumes. Warchus directs.

The creative team spent over two years developing the show. Simon Baker (sound), The Gray Circle (moving image design), Paul Kieve (illusions direction), Laurie Battle (Tolkien creative consultation), and Nightingale (musical supervision) comprise the rest of the creative team. The show is presented by Kevin Wallace and Saul Zaentz, in association with David and Ed Mirvish and Michael Kohl.

Visit www.lotr.com for more information on the musical.