I have already been to see The Lord of the Rings Musical, but the BBC now has a piece on the official start of the run (video) which might help to show some of the effects used.

There is a nice piece of time lapse photography for the stage itself.

(The show leaves a better impression that this footage does).

I previously mentioned that we’d been to see Evita. It occurred to me that I didn’t write anything detailed before now.

Why not, I wonder? I think it was a combination of two factors. Firstly, it was closing, and so there would be very few people left who might be deciding whether to buy tickets. Secondly, I just felt disappointed.

Evita is one of those things that I’d long been aware of, but had never had any contact with (apart from the odd breakout song). It had somehow become one of ‘those’ things that had got built up beyond what it actually was - and frankly - it wasn’t that good.

I don’t quite know why, I really don’t, it had all the ingredients, the Argentine actress playing Evita was stunning and the support were good, but still, it just didn’t work for me.

I think it was something to do with the plot device of the ‘on stage narrator’. The actor in that role did what was asked of him, make no mistake, but I didn’t much like what he was being asked to do. It felt like Lloyd Webber at his most clichéd - and I do like some of his other stuff (well, okay, I liked ‘Phantom’).

The thing has closed now, so I’ll not say any more.

With the wife on a business trip, I took myself off to see ‘Fiddler on the Roof‘ at the Savoy Theatre today. Whilst I’ve seen the film (which in turn was based on the show) - I’m not that familiar with it, and so it was as a new show to me.

And what a Show.

The staging was simple, yet effective, with one central piece of scenery which was reused in many ways. Tevye (the role made famous by Zero Mostel, and later by Topol) was played by Henry Goodman, and he was the perfect Tevye, just the right amount of Yiddish charm… oh vey!

The show opens with a big number, ‘Tradition’ and carries on with a good mix of humour, music and tragedy. The famous ‘If I were a Rich Man’ is dispensed with in the second scene, with great relish by the leading man.

My favourite scenes were all probably in the first act - the second act is darker. I loved the wedding scenes, the arguments between Tevye and Lazar Wolf and the dancing was great. You can’t go wrong with a bit of cossack thrown in! I also loved the Inn scene, where Lazar Wolf and Tevye have a misunderstanding about a meeting.

In the more tender moments, I would pick out Tevye and Golde’s duet, ‘Do You Love Me’, which Henry Goodman (who looks nothing like his programme photo) injects with some lovely humorous touches.

Miriam Elwell-Sutton, who was understudying for Tzeitel was very good indeed, as was Alexandra Silber and Natasha Broomfield (Hodel and Chava). Simon Delaney’s Tom Lorcan’s ‘Motel’ was very well pitched, I thought. He had a lovely sequence with Tevye, when he asks Tevye not to shout at him.

The flavour of the piece is maintained throughout, and the curtain call is done in the style of a yiddish dance, a lovely touch.

Comparing this to Lord of the Rings, which I saw on Thursday…. the Lord of the Rings has more of a ‘wow’ factor, but ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is just so damned enjoyable, I’d say this is out in front by some margin.

I’d be interested to hear if you’ve seen this show, and have any thoughts upon it, if you’re considering going (perhaps based on this post), or even if this post has put you off!

Before I launch into this, please note that it’s 1am, and I apologise for any typos or poorly phrased things.

When I first heard that they were doing The Lord of the Rings as a musical, my first reaction was one of wry amusement, surely it wouldn’t transfer?

When I heard about the actual performances in Toronto, these impressions seemed to be confirmed, and so when it came to London I wasn’t too keen.

However, I’d read that they learned from Toronto, and tightened things up a bit - and so on a whim I took myself into London to see the show.

It’s good. It’s very good.

It’s not ‘Lord of the Rings’ complete, but the major highlights are there. For example, the Rider of Rohan don’t appear at all, nor do the elephaunts or the army of the dead, but the Ents do, as does Shelob, Saruman, the Black Riders, the Elves, Moria and others.

The set spreads into the theatre, with branches covering the boxes, and the stage itself is absolutely chock full of hydraulics - sections rise and fall, and the whole thing spins.

There are several points which were simply incredibly well done. Firstly there was the ring disappearances. Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday is a great application of Physics - it’s a variant on Pepper’s ghost. It’ll leave some people in amazement.

The disappearance in the prancing pony was astounding, though possibly mainly due to my inattention. I was expecting a cheat with the stage lights (but that wasn’t it) - one minute Frodo was there, and the next he wasn’t. Now, I may have blinked and missed it - in fact I know I did, as I don’t know how that was done. Frodo’s disappearance it was very swift (he probably just merged with some people moving cross stage) - but it was very smooth.

The first real appearance of Gollum, at the start of act 2 was the perfect entrance. A really good piece of stage engineering. The black riders were very effective too… Shelob and the Balrog also made an appearance. Some smaller audience members will have nightmares about Shelob.

I liked the rendering of the orcs, where can I have a go on some of those bouncy stilts?

Large sections of the book are removed, I think this won’t disadvantage anyone unfamiliar with the material (indeed, it is probably more problematic for those familiar, as they’re more likely to be thinking ‘that bit should be next… where was it?’) It’ll annoy people who are ‘precious’ about the book, but for everyone else, it’s good. The stage show restores the ‘in one bound he was free’ escape from Saruman by Gandalf (I know it gets filled in later in the book - but in the film the filling in is pretty quick, and I think that’s better for live action).

Tom Bombadil doesn’t appear (yay!) though he does get a mention.

The music is actually well done, this could have easily been handled badly. There’s a nice duet with Sam and Frodo which was getting a bit too slushy for me - and then Gollum subverts it. Nice.

Opening night isn’t for a few weeks yet, these are the previews, so there’s still a few things to iron out, for example, when Gandalf knocks on the door of Bag End, he really does need to ensure he doesn’t knock the door right open. Also the Bag End set is a bit wobbly. There were a few other little foibles, some on stage, some technical (e.g. during a quiet bit, there was a yellow flash above the stage which was out of place). There was a bit of a mishmash of accents, which could be offputting, and the elves (especially Arwen and Galadrial) kept doing weird jerky things with their hands, not continuously, but from time to time.

These were minor points, in an otherwise excellent production - and it is still in previews, with one of the main actors currently with an injured leg after an accident last week.

Generally, it was very good, and I could really see where the millions were spent!

Tip: There is one full interval, the second interval is a pause, you have only a couple of minutes. Things start on stage 15 minutes before curtain.

Finally. I’d like to remind you of the opening sentence….

Tonight, we went to see the Blue Man Group in London. It is closing down this month (on the 24th) and so it was a case of ‘now or never’ (assuming they don’t tour it!)

It really is a great show. Very funny, hard to explain. Very visual. Very weird. We were sitting in the second row (plastic ponchos were provided, but not needed).

I came very close to catching a marshmallow in my mouth, but these guys can play ‘chubby bunnies‘ at 10 paces (they can, honestly!)

It’s a phenomenal show, great percussion, great visuals. Very funny too. There was a lovely bit with waste pipes that was very inventive, and I loved the drumming with the coloured liquids.

I want to go again!

If you can get to see it, you really should take the opportunity.