Fingers crossed as Rings heads into home stretch
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20060121/LORD21/TPEntertainment/TopStoriesa3==true;aW=00;aH=%0;sBoxAd==true; The final cost of the long-awaited stage adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which begins previews at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre on Feb. 2, may exceed its projected budget of $27-million, according to producer Kevin Wallace. "I always give myself a 5-per-cent cushion either way," Wallace explained during a tea break from rehearsals this week. "So I can tell you that we will definitely spend the $27-million by opening night [March 23]. That's when the budget runs until, because we begin to recoup the next day. And we could go slightly over $28-million. But all projections are within the 5-per-cent window." The cost overages, Wallace said, would likely be to due to overtime for cast and crew. "They're working a lot of overtime and they're getting paid for it, but we knew, going in, that with a new show there would be overtime costs, so it's built in." Offsetting some of the additional expenses are savings realized on the show's British expenditures. The elaborate, custom-built stage, with two revolving turntables and 16 elevators, was built by Delstar in England at a cost of �500,000 (roughly $1-million). Wallace -- lead producer, along with Saul Zaentz, David Mirvish, Michael Cohl and others -- said that when he drafted his original budget, he had booked British expenses at 2.376 Canadian dollars to the pound. As it is, he's paying somewhere between $2.05 and $2.20. "That's a nice windfall for the production." Otherwise, the most ambitious and expensive stage show in history seems to be on track. As of this week, advance sales were closing in on $15-million. Wallace said he expects the show to do another $500,000 in the next two weeks. A great deal depends, he conceded, on the reaction of preview audiences. Their positive buzz could easily push the advance sales north of $20-million by opening night. Conversely, if the show does not register well in previews, and daily sales volumes decline, the creative team will have only a handful of weeks to make changes. So far, according to Mirvish Productions vice-president John Karastamatis, 53 per cent of ticket sales have come from the Greater Toronto Area, 22 per cent from the rest of Ontario, 23 per cent from the United States, and the rest from Germany, Japan, Britain and as far as way as the United Arab Emirates. One important question that the preview weeks are expected to answer: To what age range will the stage version appeal? The greater the range, the more likely LOTR will be a hit. The three Peter Jackson-directed films generated hundreds of millions of dollars, and educated a generation of youngsters about the story at the heart of Tolkien's enduring classic. And children under roughly the age of 9 were more than able to tolerate the three-hour spectacles. So the appetite for more Frodo, Gandalf and the Hobbits may be there. The stage show has three acts, and runs 3� hours (with two intermissions). But you can't eat popcorn and it's harder to nip out in the middle of an act. "I think 8-year-olds will enjoy it," Karastamatis said. "That's important, because grandparents will want to bring their grandchildren. There's a lot of spectacle." The advertising campaign for The Lord of the Rings has been on a kind of hiatus for the past few weeks, but will resume again in earnest on Jan. 26 with a combined package of promotions for radio, print, television and billboards. Most of the campaign seems designed to tease potential ticket buyers, offering hints about characters, costumes and music, while simultaneously trying to create a sense of mystery. A new campaign in the United States will launch after the show opens in March, to tie in with an expected avalanche of reviews. The production has also retained public-relations agents in New York and London to generate press coverage. Such major magazines as GQ, Vogue and Entertainment Weekly are said to be planning features. Among the 55-member cast, only Brent Carver (as Gandalf) has an international reputation, so the show itself -- the name-brand value of Tolkien's trilogy -- is essentially the star. But other members of the creative team are also well known, including director Matthew Warchus, choreographer Peter Darling (nominated this week for an Olivier award for his work in the London musical Billy Elliot), and composers Varttina, the Finnish folk ensemble, and A. R. Rahman, a major name in Indian music. Explore, Experience, Enjoy A.R.Rahman - The Man, The Music, The Magic. Only at arrahmanfans.com - The definitive A.R.Rahman e-community. 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