"Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale" on stage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
CHICAGO (CBS) — A timeless journey has made its way to the stage: a musical version of the classic "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is now playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
It sounds a little unbelievable—the literary classic "The Lord of the Rings," but its creators are up to the epic task. A wise wizard still joins forces with earnest hobbits and other inhabitants of Middle Earth on a journey to the dark realms of Mordor to return the powerful One Ring and vanquish its evil.
The score is folksy with a Celtic sound, peppered with powerful anthems. Much of the music is played by characters live on stage. To its credit, the production, the U.S. debut, stays mostly true to Tolkien's trilogy and its large cast of characters.
Director Paul Hart talked about the creative journey there and back. How does Lord of the Rings lend itself to a musical?
"The original books are absolutely packed with music. I mean, obviously, when you read them, you don't necessarily hear, but there's poetry layered all the way through," Hart said. "It's a natural extension of the books in that sense."
It's an immersive evening of theater with different elements coming together.
"There is everything in this production. Right from the start, you meet the actors, you know, (the) front of house and in the auditorium, and then throughout the show, we just throw more and more at it. So there's projection puppetry. There's incredible movement and music, but also terrific acting as well," Hart said. "So we really had to use every device we could think of in order to tell this epic story."
You can make the journey to see "The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale," which plays through September 1.