Tue Oct 21, 2:21 PM ET
LONDON - Indian composer A.R. Rahman and a Finnish folk troupe have been commissioned to write songs for a musical stage version of “The Lord of the Rings,” the show’s producer announced Tuesday.
Rahman, a veteran Bollywood songwriter who scored the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced musical “Bombay Dreams,” will collaborate with the group Varttina on the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein’s fantasy trilogy, which has spawned a hit film series.
“We are recreating Middle-earth and we needed the music that goes with it to be unique,” said Kevin Wallace, who’s producing the West End show.
“A.R. Rahman writes brilliant melodies with an exotic quality and we know he will write something which audiences will adore.”
Tolkein is thought to have drawn on the Finnish folk epic the “Kalevala” to create the world of Middle-earth and the story of a hero’s quest for a magical ring. The Finnish language inspired the Elvish tongue of Tolkein’s trilogy.
The “Lord of the Rings” musical is scheduled to open in London in spring 2005. Wallace has said the production is budgeted at $13 million, which would make it the most expensive musical in West End history.