Lord of the Rings May Bow in West End October 2005

By John Nathan
August 16, 2004

Plans for the most expensive show ever to be staged in the West End are progressing towards an opening night in October 2005.

Producer Kevin Wallace has yet to cast the Lord of the Rings musical or even establish a venue for the £10 million ($18 million) extravaganza. The Dominion is in the front running, but it is unclear whether the 2,000 seat Clear Channel theatre would be made available. Ticket sales for the Dominion's current show, Ben Elton's We Will Rock You — a musical based on the catalog of the rock group Queen — has proved to be more resilient than that of many West End shows.

What is known is that Bombay Dreams composer A. R. Rahman will be collaborating with the Finish folk group Varttina for the show's score, replacing the team originally announced, Stephen Keeling and Bernd Stromberger.

Director Matthew Warchus and designer Rob Howell — responsible for Madness musical Our House — remain on board as originally announced in late 2003. Choreographing Frodo and Gandalf will be Peter Darling, who has also taken on Billy Elliot — the Musical.