Overview
Those hobbits will go on. In JRR Tolkien's pages, they went on perilous Middle-earth adventures. On screens big and small for decades so far (and into the future, with more TV episodes and movies on the way), they've trekked, ate second breakfasts and attempted to project precious jewellery. Onstage in Australia in 2025, they'll also be marking an eleventy-first birthday, receiving a gold ring, taking a quest to Mordor and attempting to fight evil, all in The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale.
Dating back to 2006, just after the original live-action movie trilogy, this stage musical was revived in the UK in 2023, opened in the US in July 2024 and will hit New Zealand this November. After that, it'll then take the hobbits to Australia from January 2025. First stop: Sydney's State Theatre.
The Market Street venue will host the only Aussie season announced so far, kicking off on Tuesday, January 7, with how long it'll be playing yet to be revealed. Lord of the Rings fans elsewhere across the country, take note, too: you might need to go there and back again to discover what happens when Middle-earth gets melodic.
Your guides for the show are the hobbits, of course, as Frodo and company celebrate Bilbo Baggins, then depart The Shire upon a life-changing journey. Thanks to Tolkien, what occurs from there has enthralled audiences for 70 years now, with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers initially hitting bookshelves in 1954.
There's been no shortage of ways to indulge your Lord of the Rings love since Peter Jackson's features — including his Hobbit trilogy — helped fan the flames of pop culture's affection for Frodo, Samwise, Pippin, Merry and the franchise's many non-underground-dwelling characters. Cinema marathons, visiting the Hobbiton movie set, staying there overnight, hitting up pop-up hobbit houses, sipping hobbit-themed beer: they've all been on the agenda.
Only The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale is combining all things LoTR with tunes and dancing, however, in a show that sports a book and lyrics by from Shaun McKenna (Maddie, La Cava) and Matthew Warchus (Matilda the Musical, Groundhog Day the Musical), plus original music by Slumdog Millionaire Oscar-winner AR Rahman, folk band Värttinä from Finland and Matilda the Musical alum Christopher Nightingale.
The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale will make its Australian premiere at the State Theatre, 49 Market Street, Sydney, from Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Head to the production's website for further details and to sign up for the ticket waitlist.
Images: Liz Lauren.