Fellowship!: The Musical Parody of 'The Fellowship of the Ring'

"Fellowship!" is a hilarious, campy takeoff on "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first novel in J.R.R. Tolkien's famous fantasy trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," and it lasts half as long as Peter Jackson's three-hour 2001 film version. The production will look familiar to fans of the movie. Many of the jokes and much of the imagery recalls the film, and the costumes, by Sandra Burns, echo their counterparts with startling exactness.

But those who haven't read the book or seen the film will have a hard time. Besides a short prologue, which offers more comedic riff than context, there is little explanation of the Middle Earth setting. "Fellowship!" is for Tolkien fans and gleefully pokes fun at the movie's earnest interpretation. Characters are defined by one attribute, exaggerating a trait of the film.

Allen Simpson's music is a pastiche of genres, from an epic contrapuntal ensemble number in the style of "One Day More" from "Les Miz" to a rock ballad in the style of Journey. The melodies are largely forgettable, and the lyrics, while often witty, lack a unifying voice—perhaps because they're credited to a whole fellowship's worth of lyricists. The songs do serve as vessels for jokes, which are then topped by other, bigger jokes. For example, Arwen and Aragorn sing their love ballad concert-style, with standing microphones, then Aragorn unleashes an electric guitar solo, and finally a stagehand breaks out a disco ball, standing sheepishly underneath it.

The actors are wholeheartedly committed to their campy shtick, competently belting out their parts. Cory Rouse, who plays Frodo, the heroic hobbit, is the standout singer and provides all the requisite over-the-top vocal riffs. But the production's clear highlight is Peter Allen Vogt's sidesplitting solo as the demonic Balrog, done as a lounge singer. In full sequined gown and headdress, Vogt lazily winds his way through the number, interpolating moments of improv to produce one of the funniest performances I've seen this year.

The production, directed by co–book writer Joel McCrary, especially shines in its small visual gags. The film's fancy special effects are hilariously redone with puppets. In one particularly funny sequence, two audience members are grabbed from their seats to re-create a well-known image from the film—the Argonath statues that marked a boundary of Gondor. As with musical parodies like "Urinetown," the transparency of theatrical artifice is a repeat joke, both in McCrary's direction and the script. Stagehands are regularly visible, driving remote-control boats and creating sound effects. Frodo, startled by the wizard Gandalf, cries, "You scared me downstage left!"

But after too many recurring jokes, one wishes that some of the care lavished on puppets and easy gags had been put into the lyrics or the harmonies. Both hobbits and musicals are ripe targets for parody; "Fellowship!" tries to take on both but needed another editing eye.



Presented by SenovvA and the Remarkable Brass Group as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival at the American Theatre of Actors' Chernuchin Theatre, 314 W. 54th St., NYC. Oct. 7–17. Remaining performances: Fri., Oct. 8, 10:30 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 10, 9 p.m.; Wed., Oct. 13, 8 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 16, 8 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 17, 1 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, or www.nymf.org.