My oldest daughter, Myrna, went to go see LORD OF THE RINGS last night, and here are her very thoughtful impressions of the experience:

I had the chance to go see LORD OF THE RINGS with a friend who had an extra ticket.

I entered the show not really knowing what to expect. The reviews haven't been that good, but this was my friend's second time going and she loved it. We're both really big Lord of the Rings fans. When I came out, I was impressed.

The score wasn't DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, but it wasn't bad. It was fun to listen to, but I wasn't humming the songs when I exited the theatre. There was a lot of "battle cry" singing and Elfish words, but my favorite songs were the song sung by Galadriel, and "The Road Goes On".

The story was, of course, Lord of the Rings, but a lot of it was cut for time. The show lasted 3.5 hours, but when my friend saw it in previews, she said it was closer to 4 or 4.5 hours. A lot of changes had been made, including cutting out the Ghost Army and giving characters more lines. At some parts though, (this might just be because they can't do ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING on stage), I found it hard to follow the story. For example, the part where Frodo was throwing the ring into the fire, but then decided to keep it for himself, and then Smeagol comes in, and he accidentally jumps into the volcano. That took place in a matter of 1 minute, and was confuzzleding.

The set was AMAZING. In the middle of the stage, there was a big circle. This circle could turn, but was also cut up into smaller pieces that could rise and fall. I thought that was amazingly cool. Also, the big spider took up 75% of the stage. It was really stylishly done because the spider was worked by people. Another highlight of the set/props/special effects was when Gandalf is fighting the big fiery monster in the mines of Moria. First, there was a huge monster, then there was the wind going through the whole theatre, then there were the tiny black pieces of tissue paper swirling around. End of Act 1.

The cast was amazing, and my favorites were Rebecca Jackson Mendoza (Galadriel), Michael Therriault (Gollum) who I saw in THE PRODUCERS, and Owen Sharpe (Pippin). But, everyone was really great. It must take a lot out of them to do that almost every day.

Other than that, I bought $80 worth of merchandise and had a great time overall! I would definitely see it again, and the costumes and sets were amazing. If you're really into classic show tunes, it might not be your thing. But it is a must-see for any Lord of the Rings fan!

Thanks Myrna! Feel free to write Blogway Baby posts anytime you want [hint hint], especially if you find yourself with time on your hands [koff, koff -- summer break -- koff, koff].

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