High kicking hobbits

I must be an ostrich or something, because I totally managed to miss this news until now:

TORONTO — One ring to rule them all – and it’s starting in Toronto. David and Ed Mirvish are expected to announce at a news conference today that Toronto will host the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings, the $27-million stage musical based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s world-famous trilogy.

The plan is to open the show at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre with a largely Canadian cast on March 23, 2006. The Mirvishes will be joining forces with producers Kevin Wallace, Saul Zaentz and Michael Cohl to stage the musical. Wallace confirmed the news yesterday in London.

A report by The Associated Press said Wallace had hoped to open the show in London in the fall, but no theatre large enough to accommodate the technically complex production was available. The musical is now slated to open in London in autumn 2006.

Rumors that the musical will include numbers like "Kill the Hobbit" and "Springtime for Hobbits (and Middle Earth") have not been confirmed at this time.