#understudies in costume

[devil-takethe-hindmost]

phantom friends! (phriends?)

i have a website i’m using to archive content from all the productions worldwide! if you’re interested in joining the team please feel free to fill out this interest form! happily taking content submissions as well!!

[marleneoftheopera]

From Laura Enrech’s Instagram story; I think this is the first good photo I’ve seen showing the Notes ll/Wishing dress for Italy/Madrid?

[lucygold95]

길하윤(Carlotta u/s) & 권가민(Christine u/s)

[same-picture-of-benson-every-day]

good luck with your show week benson poster! opening week is always............. something

Thank you!! This is the less stressful one honestly because Friday and Saturday we're performing in the local theatre like usual, but next month we're performing in GERMANY . so . That's gonna be a big day LMAO

[wabblebees]

i feel fucking CRAZY. if yall could send some good vibes out into the universe for me thatd be great bc i think im gonna really need it the next few days lmfao

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

every once in a while I think about how when my school did the addams family in high school and I played pugsley (a.... canonically fat character) they ordered out costumes and only got one pugsley costume for my very skinny understudy and I had to purchase my own at age 15..... like that was really fucked up I think maybe the teacher who organized costumes should have been summarily executed for that

[boxfivetrades]

Natalie Green and Richard Carson

(x)

[starlooove]

Theatre kid Damian is so real

[qazastra]

trying really hard not to get annoyed that the costume inventory list i was given is inaccurate so even when i went through and did inventory for nearly 1.5 hours after the show (because we somehow lost an entire pair of pants and a dress with a HOOP SKIRT how does that happen) i still dont have an accurate list!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaah

[youremyonlyhope]

.

[mikkeneko]

There was a discussion about Shen Qingqiu going around recently that included the line "Shen Qingqiu is a character that Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan take turns playing," which really stuck with me, but why not be pedantic about it: Understudy AU

Shen Jiu is one of the headliner actors for a large popular play (or a musical) as the main villain, Shen Qingqiu. Mid-season he gets struck by some manner of accident or illness and has to be replaced by his understudy, Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan steps up to the challenge, and despite some concerns on the part of the art review columns, is able to live up to it -- he has the script memorized, he can act and sing, he's a close enough match for Shen Jiu in looks that once the makeup and costume are on you'd have to look really closely to tell that it's a different man under there.

There's just one very noticeable difference: where the actor Shen Jiu had a contentious relationship with his costar -- Luo Mei, the male lead, a celebrity pop idol in his breakout acting role -- Shen Yuan is an enormous fan of his.

Shen Yuan still says all the lines and sings all the songs appropriate for a villain, but as the production rolls on, people begin to notice there's just a different... attitude that the character of Shen Qingqiu displays towards the character of Luo Binghe. There's a fondness in his motions and an aching in his gaze that he just can't stamp out. The conflict between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe starts to sound less like a spiteful rivalry and more like a melancholy period drama.

The audience begins to notice. The audience eats it up. Shen Jiu is apoplectic. The production manager is not pleased, and tries to force Shen Yuan back into line -- but it's not like they can replace him! He is the replacement. And he's doing a good enough job on a technical level that they can't justify firing him.

[sinnersweets]

DogDay x Reader part 8

<;-----part 7, part 9----->

After my birthday mine and DogDays relationship towards each other changed. He would be a little bit more flirtatious with me while I continued to be a nervous wreck around him. I think it’s safe to say that I liked liked him and I’m sure he also did too but none of us would ever bring up that topic. I would die of embarrassment if I told him about my feelings for him and he didn’t feel the same. I’m fine with what we have now.  

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at my office door. “Come in!” I thought it would be DogDay since he’s really the only one who came in my office, but it was actually Sarah. “Oh, hey Sarah, what brings you by?” She shut the door behind her and took a seat in front of my desk before saying, “I came here to like possibly warn you that Bobby Bearhug is like totally trying to get your spot in the show. CatNap overheard Bobby and Miss Delight talking and like; he told me that she convinced Miss Delight to be your understudy.”  

I was taken back by this. However, I was grateful that Sarah told me about this. “Thanks for the heads up Sarah.” She nodded her head while popping a piece of gum in her mouth. Again, I have no idea how she got hired but she seems nice. As she got up to leave, she said one last thing before closing the door. “Oh right, you might wanna go down to the theater room because your costume, it’s like huge.” I made a puzzled look on my face. It shouldn’t be huge; it should be my size. I gave Bobby my measurements. I sighed and followed behind Sarah. 

--------------- 

When I entered the theatre room I was impressed by all the decorations that everyone has made. The set was turning out great. As I looked around I spotted Bobby over by the stage...wearing my costume. Deep breaths Y/N; deep breaths. I walked over to her and put a strained smile on my face. “Hey Bobby.” I said through my teeth. She looked over to me and smiled while saying, “Oh hi Y/N!” I clasped my hands together and took another deep breath. “So, Bobby, I heard that you are now my understudy and I’m so excited for that; but why are you wearing my costume?” Bobby giggles and spun around showing off the costume that was clearly supposed to be made for me. “Well Y/N as your understudy I should also get a costume, you know in case something were to happen to you.”  

I was so close to saying a snarky comment, but I heard DogDay call out from behind me. “Hey Angel!” I turned around and saw that DogDay was in his costume. It looked exactly like the one in the cartoon. He wasn’t wearing his sun pendent, but he looked quite good in the outfit. “Whaddya think Angel?” He turned around and showed off his costume. I smiled while saying, “You look very good DogDay, though I like you more with no clothes and your pendant.” His ears perked up and his eyes widened. I just heard how he probably heard it and that is not what I meant at all. “Wait wait wait- I didn’t mean to make it sound like that at all I swear!” I hid my face in my hands, already feeling my face warm up. “I’m flattered by your comment Angel.” I felt his paws grab onto my hands and pulled them down from my face. As I looked at him he was now at eye level with me.  

“No need to hide that pretty face of yours Angel, I find it cute when you blush.” I could feel my heart beat a little faster. “Where’s your costume at Angel?” I snapped back into reality and struggled to find my words. “Oh-well um, Bobby is actually wearing it.” I pointed behind me and I saw DogDay look to where I pointed. “Oh hey BB! Didn’t see you there.” I quickly covered my mouth with my hands not wanting to laugh out loud. “Oh that’s fine! I think you look absolutely dashing in your costume DogDay~” She pushed passed me and walked up to DogDay. “BB why are you wearing Angel's costume?” “Hm? Oh no you see this is my costume. Her’s is over there.” Mine and DogDays eyes followed to where she pointed, and I saw the same costume that she was wearing but smaller in size. “As her understudy I think it’s only fair that I make myself a costume. In fact DogDay I think you and I should rehearse together.” A whistle blew over the room catching everyone's attention. Up on stage was Miss Delight. “Attention everyone! It’s time to rehearse!” Oh joy. 

--------------- 

Thankfully my costume fit me. I felt kinda off not wearing my uniform, it’s grown on me. I looked at myself in the mirror and was impressed with how I looked. My costume was identical to what Belle wears throughout the movie. “Alright, let's do this.” 

--------------- 

The first couple of scenes went off swell. It surprised me to see DogDay act not so cheerful while playing Beast. KickenChicken...I think he was taking his role too seriously. Hoppy kept smacking him on the head every time he would go off script. Damian tried to have a French accent, but it didn’t sound French; more Irish. And then Bobby; I was ready to throw hands with her. She would always interrupt me and say that I was doing a scene wrong and come on stage and act out what I just did. On stage there was a trap door and every time she would walk over it it took everything in my power not to pull the handle to make her fall through. 

Miss Delight told everyone to take an hour break and then to come back ready to do the whole show. Some of the cast left the room while others stayed behind. I was one of the ones that left. I got an alert from my phone saying there was a severe rainstorm coming near the factory, I hope it wasn’t too bad. I was starting to get a headache and needed to lie down in my office. DogDay followed me to my office saying I could take a nap with him; which I agreed to instantly. “Don’t worry Angel, after today we’ll just have one more day of practice and then we get to perform in front of everyone and Bobby won’t be bothering us anymore.” DogDay spoke as he laid down on his bed and I leaned up against his shoulder. “I hope so. She’s giving me a headache.” DogDay chuckled. After a while we both fell asleep and laid close to each other. 

--------------- 

We were just at the part where Belle tends to the Beasts wounds when suddenly the power goes out. Great. The storm cut the power. Without the lights the theater room was completely pitch black. “Everyone please remain calm and don’t move! We’ll just have to wait for the power to turn back on.” Miss Delight said somewhere in the seats. A loud thunder shook through the room silencing everyone. I sat in the darkness along with DogDay and Damian and the rest of the cast. As I leaned back against my hands I felt something land on top of my head. 

I raise one of my hands up to my head and grab whatever landed on me. I took out my phone and turned on my flashlight and I saw what it was. A spider. I stood up instantly and moved away from everyone while I started swatting around me while screaming, “GET IT OFF GET IT- AHHhh-” Snap. I felt my ankle break as I fell. I cried out in pain. “Angel??!” I could hear DogDay call out for me, but I just kept crying in pain. 

The lights soon came on and then I saw where I had fallen. The trap door was open. I must’ve fallen maybe ten feet down. Soon I saw Damian and DogDays head peer over. “Angel!! Hold on I’ll be right there!”  DogDay disappeared and Damian had a look of horror on his face. “Damian move b-back...I don’t want you to fall!” I said while still crying and fighting through the pain that I felt. Miley, who played Babette pulled Damian back. As I lay helplessly, I saw red smoke surrounding me. I started coughing as I inhaled this smoke. I saw DogDay approach me before I passed out.  

--------------- 

I slowly opened my eyes and saw that DogDay was asleep at the foot of the bed I was on. Looking around the room I saw that I was in the infirmary, though it looked more private than the one I’ve seen before. As I went to go sit up, I felt a shock rush through my body. “Argh-” DogDay then shot up and looked at me before pulling me into a hug while saying, “Angel! Finally you’re awake, I was getting worried.” “How long was I asleep?” I spoke out while hugging him. “Nine hours.” “Nine hours?! That’s ridiculous!” DogDay released me and grabbed onto both of my hands. “You really scared me there for a moment Angel; Damian too.” I felt horrible that Damian saw the pain I was in. “Where is he?” “He’s in Home Sweet Home asleep; I think it’s three in the morning right now.” "Huh??! That means I’m here after hours!!" “Don’t worry Angel, as your boss this won’t count against you. I just need you to rest up and heal.”  

The show. I won’t be able to do it. That means.... My eyes teared up as I chuckled. “Haha, looks like I’m out of commission for the show.” DogDays face changed to one of hurt and displeased. That meant he would end up doing the show with Bobby. She got her way. “No, I won’t do it. I don’t want to do it unless it’s you out there with me Angel.” “You have to DogDay. No one else got an understudy but me. You must.” I leaned over and grabbed onto Dogdays head and rested my forehead on his. “You’ll do great.” I kissed his nose and closed my eyes while still resting my forehead on his. “Angel?” “Hm?” “Can I stay here with you until it’s time for rehearsal?” I smiled and said, “Of course.” DogDay then got up and climbed behind me on the bed and positioned me up against his chest after he took off his pendant. “Comfy?” I hummed yes and closed my eyes while DogDay took my hand and rubbed the top of it. Before I fell asleep I felt something on top of my head again. A kiss.  

A/N: *hides*

[lucygold95]

Christine understudy 권가민[Kwon Ga-min] as serafimo. (+ 손지수's new Serafimo photo.)

2023 May 10(Cover dress rehearsal)

I'm quite lazy, posting May pictures now.

#Similar but different pictures

+손지수 and 송은혜 as serafimo.

++손지수's serafimo photo from POTO Korea 2nd revival's 4th(...) program book.

[dragontamer05]

I'm realizing a lot of these involve people in costumes specifically haha

- So I was wrong about Bananas in Pyjama's it just aired alongside so many other shows growing up it became tied with other actually Canadian shows I watched (for the sake of the poll I guess it get's an Honourary Status

Mr. Dress Up

I've seen it described as Canadian Mr.Rogers which I guess isn't to far off seeing as this man was once an understudy of Mr. Fred Rogers.

Big Comfy Couch

Maybe this is why Clowns don't bother me

The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon

Nice to know my love of dragons started early and has always existed

Mystery Hunters

Fun show. They explored well mysteries around the world. From Hauntings and Cryptids to other stuff. Good fun

Are You Afraid of the Dark

Probably the one I'd expect more non Canadians to be familiar with, Canadian Goosebumps pretty much but like as campfire stories. Some of em could actually be pretty creepy

Zoboomafoo

Probably one of my biggest influences in my animal loving heart

Uh-Oh!

You keep your Nickelodeon Slime, this is the only slime in my childhood. The main part of the game show was spinning a giant wheel to pick the next challenge and if it landed on Uh-Oh then one person in the team ended up in a tank where they got slime dumped on them if the other kid answered a Trivia Question wrong. The guy who did the sliming they called the Punisher. Also the prizes were always dope like gameboys, scooters, bop its, n shit (you can see how dated it is now lol but lemme tell you as kid those prizes were the shit and I wanted em)

Please tell me I (and my sister) aren't the only ones who remember this.

Polka Dot Door/ Polka Dot Shorts

Polka Dot Shorts was basically a spin off of Polka Dot Door which is why they're are lumped together. Back to kids shows with costumes (I wonder what this says about me)

Banana's in Pyjamas

In the 2010s it got like a CG reboot (ngl kinda terrifies me a little) the original did have animated segments from what I remember tho

[yuri-is-online]

Host With the Most (Vil Schoenheit x Yuu)

Intro

notes: they/them used for Yuu, in this house we love Vil Schoenheit and his pursuit of aesthetic beauty, Vil is very touchy with Yuu because he likes them, Yuu is a wee bit oblivious. Also happy New Year! Ha this took me too long to write. If you wish to see more of me, consider looking at my masterlist.

"As the default 'owner' of the Mansion it makes the most sense for Yuu to help me." Vil's voice has that firm air of finality to it that thunders through the air with the same force as Leona's roar or Malleus's storms. Speaking of Leona, he seems to be frightfully amused by this cute little attempt at imitation, and you have absolutely no desire to see them cat fight.

"Just what help do you need exactly? I'm not really the best choice for an understudy." You try your best to keep any trace of tiredness out of your voice, but you really should know better than to lie to Vil by now. He ignores his argument and cups your face in his hands to get a better look at your skin, pursing his lips ever so slightly to try and avoid a full frown.

"You really need to have more faith in yourself." The scolding is serious but the genuine affection in his gaze as you involuntarily chase his touch as he takes back his hands is real. "And to get more sleep. With enough practice you could be more than worthy, but lucky for us both that's not what I had in mind."

"Awww beta fish already claimed little shrimpy? Laaame." Floyd blows a raspberry and you stick out your tongue when Vil looks away.

"No chasing shromps for you." That cheers him up. You think.

"Stay!" Crewel seems to have regained a bit of his fire. "Ramshackle is Yuu's home, so having them work alongside Schoenheit will allow them to keep an eye on all you puppies and make sure you aren't destroying their living space."

"You have no need to worry yourself over such a thing Professor." Rook cheerfully says.

"Yeah! We're good house guests." Laughs Ortho.

"... Schoenheit perhaps you would like to take Yuu to look over costumes and explain your plans while I have some words with my third and fourteenth reasons?" Vil does not need Crewel to tell him twice.

~~~~

"We aren't planning on using any rooms you or Grim do regularly, though Rook and Floyd did have ideas for the attic." Vil immediately starts talking shop as soon as you leave the classroom. "Guests are going to walk though the house on a marked tour, and I'll be playing host for part of the show."

"A ghost host?" You expect to be reprimanded but Vil winks.

"In my first script the host had an assistant, but Ortho suggested he be placed in charge of screen mapping and projection so we didn't need to make as many adjustments to your dorm." Vil sounds just as proud of Ortho as Idia would be if he was telling the story. It fills your heart with warmth. "Thanks to that suggestion I get to have you stick with me for the rest of the week." And just like that the warmth floods up to your ears, damn that professional training for letting Vil say... things. Yes just things, you are reading into friendly banter too much. The way your breath hitches at the gentle ghost of his touch across your back as he guides you through the door he opens is natural, you just aren't used to Vil's touchiness yet.

"Have you already thought out the costumes?" You remove yourself from his side and try to place some distance between yourself and your feelings by looking over the fist set of clothes Crewel has laid out in this empty classroom, completely missing the brief flicker of disappointment Vil refuses to contain.

"I provided Professor Crewel some concept sketches and my script, but we still have some sizing adjustments to make..." Vil's voice trails off and you turn back in concern. Yet he does not seem distracted at all when you do, he simply proceeds with his thoughts evenly. "I hope you don't mind, but the costume I have in mind for you is raven themed, so you might end up looking a bit like our dear Headmage."

"Oh please no." You groan and Vil laughs.

"Just the bit." He moves to your side, directing your attention towards an admittedly sleek tunic like outfit with a hood and feathers embroidered down the cape. "Go ahead and try it on, I'll wait out here to look it over." As you turn to do just that you find his face close to yours, the typical intensity of his stares and danger of this specific smile suggesting something other than his usual ire. "And make sure to tell me if it's comfortable," he gently tips your chin up to look at him with a slender finger, it's as if he means to kiss you with how he tilts his head "you will be standing next to me for the whole night, I can't have my partner falling down from something as simple as fatigue."

Oh there is no need to worry over that when he is more than able to be the death of you on his own.

~~~~

The better part of your next three weeks is spent practicing the haunt and slowly loosing your sanity. You don't actually have any lines, or much of anything to do other than follow Vil around really, but that meant you had to spend more time around him. More time around those casual touches and compliments that have invaded your friendship since your trip to the underworld, battering your imagination in directions you had long since tried to convince yourself was forbidden. Vil is beautiful, and his confidence of it strangely not off putting to your foolish heart. But Vil had been clear, he was affectionate to all of his friends in private and no amount of skirting the boundary-

though it was all him, if you could only realize how he is trying so desperately to initiate that he is starting to come unglued

-would make your desire for his love anything less than a pipe dream. A dream made substantially worse by how you did know just enough about what one of his kisses would feel like to fantasize about tasting him on your lips. Not that you could see them from your position at the back of the test group, clammy hands fidgeting with the prop lantern you carry, but his slicked back hair and strategically rumpled suit are so ingrained in your dreams at this point you're sure you know what he looks like.

As if you are the only one tortured by fantasies, as if he did not design that cape specifically to see you in it. As if-

"Horntoads and lizards, fiddle and strum. Please answer the role by beating a drum!" Cater's head begins to "levitate" up off the table as he chants in a show of theatrics that's still impressive even if this is the 999th time you've seen it; Ortho's projection mapping coupled with Cater's willingness to improvise had blended into a really unique act. Something a Scarabia freshmen seems to really agree with you because he immediately starts screaming and flailing around in a way that has you deeply concerned for your poor dorm's safety. You take a deep breath to steady yourself, trying to examine the idiot's body language to determine if he was a threat or not. A decision that's made for you as soon as he goes for his magic pen and you note, perhaps too late, that maybe you should make your guests surrender them before going through the haunt.

"Excuse me." You make sure your cowl is lowered as you gently try to tug his hand away from his pocket and are rewarded with an easily dodged slap. "Well now you're just embarrassing both of us."

"Just what do you think it is you are doing foolish mortal." You swear you saw Vil walk forward, but your brain refuses to register his movements as soon as he opens his voice. "It seems you would prefer to take my way out after all." It's silly, being impressed with a professional actor staying in character, but then it must be equally silly to go a bit jelly legged at seeing Vil drawn up to his full height and radiating confidence. The student whimpers and you again reach for his hand, acting the good spirit gently tugging him away from the grip of the damned souls of the mansion.

"C'mon now, no need to be shy." The student lets you lead him away mutely, clearly disappointed in himself.

~~~~

"And I will see you all a little later." Vil bows, disappearing from the group as they flow into the dancers and he immediately drops his practiced face and begins making his way to his next scene. He has faith in you, so he is not surprised to see you waiting, cowl once again up and swinging your lantern to amuse yourself in a manner that would be cute if he wasn't so worried. "Yuu," Vil does not love how forceful his tone is for the way it makes you jump but the emotions running about in his chest keep him from softening it "are you alright?"

"Just peachy." You try a chipper tone but choke as Vil once again reaches to touch you. He cups your face in his hands like it is precious, examines it careful and runs his perfect fingers along your arms to examine your hands in what feels dangerously close to an excuse to hold them. "Dumbass," he purses his lips "sorry, po-ta-to thought Cater had actually lost his head because of Riddle or something. I made sure to hand him over to Crewel and suggested we take the guest's magic pens to make sure if they do freak out no spells get fired off."

"In hindsight that seems like a rather obvious precaution." Vil exhales, letting out the disappointment and intakes a prideful, teasing look to his eyes as he continues to focus on you. You swallow thickly, how many times has he said what he's about to in these past few weeks? "You're doing an excellent job, I knew I picked the right person to partner with." You look down at your hands, Vil still hasn't let them go. It hurts somewhat, more than nearly being slapped.

"You don't have to say things like that just to make me feel better." You cough and Vil frowns.

"I don't give compliments for the sake of ego you know." He lets go of one of your hand to run his thumb over your quivering lip, staring deeply at the tears you had not noticed until he moves to dry them as if he can erase them from time with sheer will alone. "When I say something to you about how grateful I am to have met you, that I admire you, when I say I find things about you to be beautiful and that I want you to stand beside me, I mean every word."

"If you say things like that I'm going to start thinking you mean something different when you call me your partner." You try to joke and for some reason this is what makes him falter.

"... wasn't that obvious?" Vil, beautiful Vil, has a genuinely surprised look on his face. As if he was not the one who had said he was affectionate to his friends specifically... as if he had expected you to notice how much longer he spent kissing you than Rook or Epel and divine his romantic intent from the way his hand sought yours alone. Perhaps he had thought you had more courage than you did, or perhaps, you think to yourself with some relief, there are some things Vil just doesn't quite know how to say because he is so used to having to prove himself worthy of saying them in the first place.

"Are you sure you want this?" You ask because you feel like you have to, but what you are really trying to ask is if you are allowed to want this, to want him.

"Dangerously so." He rests his forehead against yours, a contented sigh worming its way past his lips at the lack of ambiguity in the way your fingers finally thread through his. "I only have so much time left to keep you to myself you know? When the school year ends I'll have to make excuses to more than just a handful of classmates for why I deserve to be alone with you, without sparking any comments." You had considered that of course, let it fuel your doubts and even still now it flickers slightly in your mind.

"I don't want to take the coward's way out." You say and Vil's eyes betray momentary shock. "I don't want to keep ignoring my feelings."

"Then we are in agreement, my dearest partner." Vil draws you impossibly close and presses one kiss to your forehead to his joy and your rancor before he dips you to give the kiss you really want. "I don't think I could ignore you if I tried."

Welcome, foolish mortals, to this haunted taglist: @nothingfuninthislife

[myfairkatiecat]

LOTR Musical Chicago Experience (according to Katie)

I GOT TO SEE THE LORD OF THE RINGS MUSICAL IN CHICAGO! As promised, here’s a blog post detailing my experience, my opinions on the characters/plot portrayal, and basically everything else I’m still rotating in my brain after seeing it last night.

Audience Member Experience

After coming in off Navy Pier and into the theater (Navy Pier was cool too but that’s not why we were there), I started seeing Lord of the Rings fans. Some people even came in costume, which was fun. As we got closer to the beginning of the show, it got harder to tell cosplayers apart from actual actors cause… the actors were just there. Walking around, greeting the people, saying hello…

The show began at seven. At about 2 minutes til 7:00, they really began interacting. Our seats were on the main floor near the center, and Bilbo Baggins came out right in front of us, asking some of the people, “Who’s here for my birthday party?” we all responded enthusiastically, and then he shouted so the whole theater could hear, “WHO’S HERE FOR MY BIRTHDAY PARTY??” Then the entire theater sang the happy birthday song to Bilbo Baggins and applauded, but that wasn’t even the beginning of the show. Hobbits were walking around playing games with the audience. I heard Frodo introduce himself to some people behind us. Rosie was carrying around what I believe was a ring toss game.

At about four minutes after 7:00, the main character hobbits began to make their way from the audience and onto the stage, while ensemble members stayed throughout the audience to create the sense of really being there with them in the Shire. The Hobbits greeted each other, gave each other hugs, and everyone started playing instruments to indicate the beginning of the show.

I wouldn’t realize it until house lights finally went off, but they were still on through the whole first number! The actors looked like they were having a fantastic time. The prologue song was a rendition of the “Now and for Always” chorus sung by the hobbits, and then Bilbo said his iconic lines at his birthday party and ended up disappearing in a puff of smoke. When Bilbo said he was bequeathing everything to Frodo, this one actor far back in the audience started grumbling and telling everyone around him that was stupid, and I’m officially dubbing that guy Unidentified Sackville-Baggins Character.

After they began to tell the actual tale and Frodo’s journey began, the house lights finally turned off, and it was like, “oh, we were hanging out with hobbits in the Shire, and NOW we’re watching Frodo’s story after he leaves,” almost like we, the audience, were in the Shire the entire time.

The characters onstage played all of the music. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about that when I first heard about it at the watermill, but now having seen the show performed that way, it was AWESOME. It made everything feel very homey, like a story being told around a campfire, even though the effects for the epic parts were FANTASTIC (I’ll talk about that in a later part of the post).

The characters often showed the nature of their journey by trekking through the pathways in the audience. Act two began suddenly the the house lights going all the way off as Gollum suddenly appeared up in the audience, scurrying down and murmuring in the Gollum voice. (Sméagol’s actor was amazing, by the way. Amazing portrayal. 10/10.)

The audience interaction really made it feel like you were in the story, and it was absolutely so much fun. I could tell the actors agreed.

Casting and Character Portrayal

This is the casting we saw:

With the following cast update:

As you can see, Sam’s understudy played Legolas in the show I saw. He did a fantastic job. He kinda looked like a Sam to me? But that’s probably just because I saw that in the program. His acting was phenomenal and I could tell he was having a great time with the role (especially singing Lothlorien, which, of course. Singing that song is so much fun.)

The rivalry to friendship of Legolas and Gimli was portrayed fantastically. Both characterizations were spot-on and their catfighting from the very establishment of the Fellowship was very entertaining. While a lot of the show was understandably abridged from the original plot, leaving less room for a full development of the relationship, but their journey to understanding each other as friends was beautiful nonetheless, and one of the main things that stood out to me as far as the well-portrayed character development in the show.

Sam and Frodo were phenomenal. The portrayal of their relationship, the good parts and the bad parts, Frodo’s descent as the Ring affects him more and more paired with Sam’s unwavering loyalty—that was one of the things done best about the show. Sam embodied the role, and when he grunted in determination as he picked up Frodo to carry him over his shoulders, the entire audience burst into applause. It was such a wholesome moment because of how well their relationship was done.

Arwen and Aragorn’s romance was done about as well as I could have hoped for given the length of the show and how much of the rest of the plot was going on. It was sweet and given many moments, but there wasn’t tons of development there. However, it touched on the parts that were most important to the plot, and I definitely enjoyed them.

Merry and Pippin were chaotic and played amazingly. Nothing more to say there. Just. Fabulous. 🙃

Boromir!! They did my guy Boromir justice, from his initial hesitance, to the true development of why he sees the Ring as a possibility for good, to the unwavering way he cares for his people and their wellbeing, to the way his honor remained even in his worst moment… it was really good. His death scene made me cry. Aragorn holding Boromir as he died 😭 I don’t even remember their exact dialogue but I was like wow you might as well just kill me now 😢 I went from giggling at “GIVE ME THE RING wait no I didn’t mean it I’m sorry stay with me—“ (yes that was the exact wording he used) to absolutely sobbing over his death. YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT TO ME (they did it was in the books)

Galadriel… :/ okay so the actress was very talented. Like, insanely good. I just would have done Galadriel’s character differently, and I think she was done differently in other productions of this show. She was a powerhouse for sure, but her scrunched expressions on long notes and moments of growling and the way she walked were giving “sassy girlboss” which was fine but not really what I was expecting for her character. So… do with that what you will.

Arwen’s character was portrayed amazingly. She usually only showed up to be in love with Aragorn, which was unfortunate, but the way she was done by the actress was an absolute 10/10. She was so graceful and tender and strong-willed and beautiful and just. Arwen vibes.

I don’t even have anything to say about Sméagol/Gollum. Just… perfect. Amazing. I can’t even describe how well he did the character. Imagine Sméagol in your head and that’s him. The script also did justice to his internal conflict, which I appreciated so much!

Effects

They gave a strobe lights warning but they did NOT tell me they were going to be flashing lights right at my eyes 😭 if you’re sensitive to lights at all, just don’t go to see it. Take care of yourself.

That said, if you can handle it, it was AWESOME. During the “you shall not pass” scene, they had a black tarp waving near the ground with projections of fire on it. It created a seriously awesome lava effect. They were also flashing white lights directly into the audience during the whole thing, which I think was purposefully disorienting while Gandalf ended up disappearing.

The Shelob scene featured an ACTUAL GIANT SPIDER ONSTAGE. I mean not a live spider, it was a puppet I guess? I have no idea how they did it. But it took up the entire stage and it was terrifying. People with arachnophobia DO NOT LOOK.

The effects were genuinely awesome the entire show. I can’t do them justice with description, but the use of their set pieces and lights and fog genuinely made for a great stage fantasy experience.

Other Stuff

The show began right before 7:00 with the interaction as I mentioned before, and bows ended at 10:15. So the actual show was 3 hours, with a fifteen minute intermission.

The adaptation of the plot was very abridged, as I may have mentioned, because of entire the run time being the length of one LOTR movie (which is already a slightly abridged LOTR adaptation). Minor plot points/middle sized plot points were diminished in favor of major plot points and character development, which I think was appropriate for the medium. You could tell where the time skips were, of course—Frodo puts on the ring in the prancing pony and suddenly he’s been stabbed by the witchking and is recovering in Rivendell. And a lot of the plot of Return of the King that didn’t involve Sam and Frodo just vanished. But again, I wasn’t expecting a fully faithful adaptation of every plot point in three hours, and I truly believe the spirit of the Lord of the Rings was captured in this production.

Some of the best and most famous quotes were done basically word for word, which I really appreciated. I did feel like I was immersed in the world of Tolkien’s books, with a dash of the Peter Jackson movies and lots of really well composed music.

If you have any specific questions about my experience at the show, certain scenes or songs, etc, send me an ask or a DM because I could absolutely continue to talk about this show. I’m in love with it and I’m so lucky that I got to see it. If any of you get the chance, I highly recommend it!