Moving heaven and (Middle) Earth

According to Wallace, the play adapts Tolkien's novels, not Jackson's cinema trilogy, and that may be true to an extent. At least one strand of McKenna's book, a dark vignette on the Hobbits' return to the shire, never made it to the screen. Still, James Loye, a Welsh actor and a dead ringer for Elijah Wood, is cast as Frodo.

No number of revisions will take anything away from the strongest aspects of the production. There's no blue-penciling Gollum (Michael Therriault) into the background. There's no hiding the ensemble of Orcs whose fight scenes mash up Gene Kelly, Bruce Lee, and the Blue Man Group. There's no muffling the high notes struck in the soaring pop-operatic songs written by the Finnish group Vartinna and the score by A.R. Rahman.

By his own admission, McKenna anticipated difficulty in conveying "the huge amount of back story the audience needs to be told in a way that is digestible and understandable." The first act features an extensive narration with scenes played in silhouette on an elaborate set, sort of a Cliffs Notes introduction to Middle Earth.

To date, reviews by hard-core "Lord of the Rings" fans have been ecstatic, though Internet chatter has complained that the character of Gandalf lacks the requisite regal presence. (It seems that Ian McKellen can sleep soundly.) At the end of the matinee last Sunday, the audience saved its loudest ovation for Mr. Therriault as Gollum. His Gollum is an homage to, if not an imitation of, Andy Serkis's computer-enhanced portrayal from the movies. That said, Therriault's accomplishments are remarkable, simply because he Photoshops himself into something almost unrecognizably human through nothing more than imagination and physical prowess.

"I really enjoyed it, and I think it stayed faithful to the important story lines of Tolkien's books," says Andy Tavares, an accountant. "The most important points of the plot are there. And the set and costumes and music are all amazing."

The $25 million production comes at the end of a long journey for producer Wallace, formerly of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. In 2002 he sought out film producer Saul Zaentz, who had acquired the film and stage rights to Tolkien's work. It took a year to piece together a deal. Wallace then brought in the Mirvishes - Ed and son David, Toronto's leading theatrical impresarios - and concert promoter Michael Cohl.

Wallace has projected more than C$17 million (US$14.8 million) in ticket sales by opening night, which should cheer the municipal and provincial governments, which have invested in the production. The show moves to London later this year and, he hopes, ultimately to Broadway.

The invention and reinvention, writing and rewriting, of "Rings" evokes Wallace's youth in Limerick, Ireland, and the festivals that sparked his interest in theater.

"My mother worked for the local theater festival," he says. "Companies would come in from all over Ireland to stage plays as part of a competition - a different show every night for weeks at a time."

The young Wallace went on to work with the players and crew during the days and as an usher at night. "I suppose that the arc of this production runs much like the arc of my career," he says.

If that arc is like the stage production of "Rings," then it's sure to continue being written - and rewritten.

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