Some strong improvisational acting nearly pulls the production through, but in the end, their working is too reverential to the source material. And way too dude-friendly. It’s musical theater for people who don’t like plays, mainly stoners who appreciate jokes about flatulence and secret gay love.
As the big red eye of Sauron explains at the start, “Lord of the Rings” was a book, then a movie and now a musical! Focusing mainly on the first part of Tolkien’s trilogy, “Fellowship!” gives fans all their favorite characters reduced to one-note performances. Bilbo (Steve Purnick) recites tired shtick from the vaudeville era. Pippin (writer Holden-Bashar) tells bad jokes that get identical responses the entire show. Arwen (Edi Patterson) and Strider (Matthew Stephen Young) have some nice chemistry as the tragic lovers, but like I said, their one-note interpretations become tiresome.
At the center is an understated but ultimately forgettable Frodo (Cory Rouse). This hobbit of destiny gets completely obliterated by the over-sized presence of Sam (Paul C. Vogt). His interminable pining over Frodo seems left over from a failed “Saturday Night Live” skit.
To be fair, Vogt triumphs in his brief take on the monster Balrog. He performs the show-stopping “Balrog Blues” better than the best local drag queens.
Everyone involved tries valiantly to overcome the easy targets and stale humor.
Allen Simpson’s songs are pleasant enough. Mike Jespersen’s technical direction and Matt Gourley’s video artwork add a professional sheen to the judiciously used special effects. The costumes of Sandra Burns are uniformly terrific.
Even some of the magic inherent in Tolkien’s epic bleeds through toward the open-ended conclusion.
But the focus and tight timing of a talented cast is undone by tired jokes, which probably would have killed — in 2002.
JAMES PETRILLO is an actor and screenwriter from Los Angeles.
