LOTR and the Indian Connection
So for many of my friends and some of my family, The Lord of the Rings has held a special place in their hearts. They've read all the books, seen all the movies, bought the DVD's, and have obsessed over everything that is LOTR. Personally, I enjoyed the movies and even read the second part of the trilogy, but I've never been thoroughly infatuated with it as have many of my peers. But now there's a new twist to the LOTR.
This week's TIME magazine informs us that our lovely neighbors, the Canadians, have decided to jazz up LOTR and bring a whole new audience to it. That's right folks. It has become a musical. Apparently music has always been involved as the "original three-volume story was filled with music--more than 50 songs." ( link)
And of course, where music, singing, and interesting choreography is involved, we desis must also get in on the game. The magazine states,
If it occurs to you that the idea is mad, you aren't the first. "I thought it was foolish," said director Matthew Warchus. He believed it would be "instantly plausible" to do the Ring as a spoof. "It's such an earnest story, and people are so protective of it." Still, he signed on. Then he and musical supervisor Christopher Nightingale chose to break with the Broadway songwriting style and go for an ethereal, world-music sound. Two sounds, in fact: one from A.R. Rahman, the best-selling composer of Indian musical films; the other from the Finnish group Värttinä." ( link)
Hmm. I wonder how much of the "ethereal, world-music" vibe they were going for? I haven't heard the music yet, but I wonder how much "world"="exotic" feeling there is in the music, if any at all.
Nevertheless, kudos to Mr. Rahman who has already dominated the Bollywood music world and who is now slowly conquering the Broadway arena. Rahman also composed the music for Meera Syal's musical, Bombay Dreams. I only saw the musical in London, and therefore do not know how the U.S. version of it was. But, I will say, that I really enjoyed the music. So, if nothing else, I would be interested in seeing this particular rendition of LOTR just for the music. The magazine gives a pretty decent review of the musical overall and for the composed music as well. However, the musical won't come to U.S soil until 2007. Who knows, maybe by then, Rahman may have finally composed music for an American musical!
posted by payal @ 9:30 AM
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