Laura Michelle Kelly to Play Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings
Laura Michelle Kelly
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Laura Michelle Kelly has joined the London cast of the stage version of
The Lord of the Rings, according to
The Daily Mail. She will play Elven queen Galadriel, the role played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, when the production opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 19 June (following previews from 9 May).
Kelly won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Mary Poppins. Her extensive West End credits include taking over the role of Swallow in the original production of Whistle Down the Wind, Eponine in Les Miserables, Sophie in Mamma Mia! and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. She also appeared as Hodel in the original cast of the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. The actress released her debut solo album, The Storm Inside, last summer.
The Lord of the Rings, directed by Matthew Warchus, features music by A.R. Rahman and Varttina with Christopher Nightingale and a book and lyrics by Warchus and Shaun McKenna. This stage version was originally presented in Toronto in March 2006. According to
The Daily Mail report, the creative team has completely rewritten the book, changed the score and shortened the running time for the West End version.
“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. As a result, we will be presenting a hybrid of text, physical theatre, music and spectacle never previously seen on this scale,” director Warchus said about the show in a statement. “To read the novel is to experience the events of Middle Earth in the mind’s eye; only in the theatre are actually plunged into the events as they happen. The environment surrounds us. We partcipate. We are in Middle Earth.”