By MICHELLE HERBISON
ONE man will re-enact the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in just over an hour in a unique stage show coming to Geelong this month.
Canadian performer Charles Ross will snap between 44 different characters as he tells JRR Tolkien’s famous story of Frodo Baggins’ journey with the ring to Mordor.
Epic battles, booming effects and uncannily familiar conversations between characters will be all part of the action-packed 3600-second show at Geelong Performing Arts Centre on 30 June.
“The show is me retelling the story of Lord of the Rings with a mind toward the books, using impressions toward the films to tell the story,” Ross explained.
“It’s poking fun, with tongue firmly planted in cheek because everyone takes themselves so wonderfully seriously.”
One Man Lord of the Rings showcases Ross’s ability to mimic voices of a huge range of characters.
“The work does itself for me because I’ve got this obsessive compulsive thing where it repeats in my head. I’ve taken my impairment and made it into a show,” he laughed.
The show follows Ross’s successful One Man Star Wars Trilogy, which since 2002 he has performed in more than 180 cities across four continents.
His performance has won the acclaim of The Lord of the Rings film stars including Sir Ian McKellan, who played Gandalf, Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin).
“Ian McKellan said if you liked Lord of the Rings you’ll like my version. And if you didn’t like it at least mine’s shorter,” Ross laughed.
“Merry and Pippin came and saw it in LA and they loved it. They’re very hilarious when they’re hanging out with each other.”
Ross read the books “probably a dozen times each” as a kid, always enjoying immersing himself in “bits of fake history peppered with absolute twaddle” – a description he felt fitted JRR Tolkien’s famous works.
His favourite character to play was John Noble’s Denethor, the ruling steward of the clifftop white city.
“He’s just a miserable bastard the whole time and that’s where the comedy comes from,” Ross laughed.
