Finnish folk band excited at stage version of Lord of the Rings

Gala première in Toronto tonight

print this

The Finnish folk group Värtttinä is to experience one of the culminations of its 20-year career, when a massive stage adaptation of J.R.R.Tolkien's famous Lord of the Rings trilogy has its gala première at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto tonight.
      The Finnish band has played a significant role in producing the music for the piece.
      While music has a significant role in the performance, it is not a traditional musical as such.
      The previews started already at the beginning of February, and ran for five hours or more - too long indeed.
      Tonight the aim is to bring the production home in around three and half hours plus intervals. Janne Lappalainen, the saxophonist and bouzouki player of Värttinä, has been in Toronto since last November, contributing to the final adaptation, including several changes to the music. Curious to learn the latest changes, the other members of the band arrived in Toronto on Wednesday evening (Finnish time).
      The celebrated musical director Christopher Nightingale is the orchestrator and musical supervisor of The Lord of the Rings, the person responsible for the music of Middle Earth. He has been working with the composer A.R. Rahman and with Värttinä for two years.
      After the première, Värttinä will stay in Canada for a few days. Next Sunday the band has a gig in Montreal, and afterwards there will be another performance at the Mod Club in Toronto on Monday.
     
By next Monday the reviews of the most significant American and British newspapers will have been published. It is up to the critics, whether or not The Lord of the Rings will be taken to Broadway in New York. In any case this would happen in 2008 at the earliest, as Toronto has reserved the exclusive rights for all North American performances for 18 months.
     
In London, the big-budget production is likely to be seen at the Dominion Theatre at the beginning of 2007.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Lords of the Rings in Seurasaari (28.9.2004)

Links:
  Värttinä website

Helsingin Sanomat