Q1 Wins Contract for Lord of the Rings

Mirvish Productions of Toronto along with partners Kevin Wallace and Michael Cohl, have announced that Q1 Production Technologies Inc. has won the lighting contract for the much anticipated stage musical adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy The Lord of the Rings, set to have its world premiere in Toronto in March 2006

Q1žs Rob Kennedy says "it's a privilege to be chosen to participate in this truly historic theatrical event and be working with such a talented creative team". Lighting Designer Paul Pyant has a worldwide reputation for his award-winning work in theatre, opera and ballet, and in a show like this the lighting design will be an absolutely key creative element. A large Vari-Lite automated fixture package combined with the conventional lighting and effects packages will be controlled by a number of Strand 500 series lighting consoles linked by Ethernet - an interesting set of challenges for the show's programming team according to Kennedy.

The $27-million show will open at the Princess of Wales Theatre with a largely Canadian cast said Wallace, a former Andrew Lloyd Webber collaborator who produced Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar and Sunset Boulevard.

The show's large cast and elaborate staging will "plunge the audience into events as they happen" said director Matthew Warchus. "We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard conventions of musical theatre, but rather to expand those conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien's material."

In development for the past four years, and originally set to debut in London, the show's original cost estimate of about $20 was touted as the most expensive in the history of British theatre. The premiere was moved to Toronto when there was no London theatre available to accommodate the massive and technically complex three-hour production. The show has grown both in scope and budget since the move, and a London debut is now scheduled for 2007 with Broadway following.

Tolkien's epic - first published as a complete trilogy 50 years ago this Spring - has been the subject of a revival of late, thanks to Peter Jackson's three award-winning films which have grossed more that $3 billion US worldwide. The musical will feature a book and lyrics by Warchus and British playwright Shaun McKenna with music by Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman and Finnish group Varttina. Previews begin February 2, 2006.

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