> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://thedailyeudemon.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# LOTR: The Musical Almost Here
- URL: https://thedailyeudemon.com/2651/
- Published: 2005-10-11T12:16:38.000Z
- Updated: 2005-10-11T12:16:38.000Z
- Author: Eric Scheske
- Tags: Entertainment, #wpChunk

It should have a lot of great beer-drinking songs from the Shire:

> When the stage version of J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" opens \[in Toronto\]next spring, the show is expected to feature about 18 songs, a cast of 55 and about 12 million investors.

> Literally. That's because, in an act of unprecedented governmental showmanship, Ontario's officials - on behalf of their 12 million citizens - have signed on as investors for the show, which is expected to be one of the most expensive ever. Taking on a role traditionally played by impresarios, idealists and other theatrical gamblers, the provincial government will contribute some $2.5 million of the show's $23 million budget, betting that the production's global appeal will justify a unique, and risky, public-private partnership. . .

> "Our estimation is that a 36-week run could bring in close to $40 million Canadian," said Bruce MacMillan, president and chief executive of Tourism Toronto, which calculated monies spent on hotels, restaurants and taxes before opting to invest. "Everything is a risk, but we did our due diligence." . . .

> The stage version's $23 million price tag would make it more expensive than any show on Broadway. "The Lion King," by comparison, cost Disney some $20 million.

> Like Las Vegas - which has imported several major Broadway shows in recent years, including "Avenue Q" and "Mamma Mia" - Toronto seems to be angling for tourists with a taste for theater, a demographic that it hopes will also sample other of the city's cultural outposts, like the Royal Ontario Museum.

> "We'd like to be second behind New York," said Bill Allen, the deputy minister for tourism for the province of Ontario. "Frankly, we lost a lot of our place in the theater scene, and we see 'Lord of the Rings' as a way to bring that back."

[*NYT* Link](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/11/theater/newsandfeatures/11ring.html?ref=thedailyeudemon.com).