Show: 14
Title: The Book of Mordor
Category: Comedy / Musical Theater / Literary adaptation
By: Haute Dish Productions
Created by: Haute Dish Productions,
Location: Rarig Thrust
Summary: The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy told through the music of The Book of Mormon.
Highlights: This was perhaps the most anticipated show of this year's Fringe for me, and it did not disappoint! The Book of Mormon is one of my favorite musicals ("if theater is my religion, The Book of Mormon is my most sacred text"), and I've loved the world of Middle Earth since I was 12, having read the books dozens of times and seen the movies almost as many (I've even been to New Zealand twice and visited several filming locations). I was actually a little worried that my expectations were too high and the show would fall short of them, but I'm happy to report that it did not. If you're not familiar with The Book of Mormon or LOTR, well, you can probably stop reading this and go enjoy whatever subpar entertainment you like. But for the rest of us, this show is a thrill. In fact the two stories mash up so well (starting with the title) that I'm surprised no one has done it yet. The entire three-book 12-hour movie story is condensed into about an hour, of course skipping lots of character and events, but hitting all the high points we would expect. The score includes pretty much every song from The Book of Mormon, with very clever new lyrics written to fit the LOTR story. "Two by Two" becomes "Nine by Nine," "You and Me (but mostly me)" perfectly describes the roles of Frodo and the Fellowship, Merry and Pippin are "Messing Things Up Again," and in perhaps my favorite song adaptation, Eowyn and the hobbits "Man Up" (a clever play on Eowyn's famous line "I am no man"). Mankato-based writer/directors Kendra Braunger and Carissa Christenson (who play Pippin and Merry, respectively) have done a wonderful job with a brilliant concept, and the cast gamely throws themselves into what is an epic and impressive feat. I won't even dock them for singing to a recorded track rather than having a live band, because there's just so much going on (including really fun DIY costumes). The Book of Mordor is my favoritest mash-up in the entire history of Fringe mash-ups! Shows like this are one of the reasons fringe festivals exist, and thanks to Haute Dish for giving me the mash-up I didn't know I needed but seems so obvious now!
