‘Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy to Screen With Live Orchestral Accompaniment

September 2nd, 2014

Nina Corcoran

Sci-fi nerds, rejoice. For the first time ever, Peter Jackson’s entire Lord of the Rings trilogy will be screening in America with live orchestral accompaniment. The Oscar-winning series, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, will see its live debut in New York City at Lincoln Center in April 2015. Mark your calendars.

As the New York Times reports, conductor Ludwig Wicki and the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will perform Howard Shore’s original score live while all three of the epics unfold on the screen behind them. As of right now, there will be two full performances, both of which take place at David H. Koch Theater between April 8-12. The first set of performances will occur over three successive nights; the second will consist of afternoon and evening screenings over the course of a weekend.

If sitting through 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring, 2002’s The Two Towers, and 2003’s The Return of the King seems tiresome, just imagine how exhausted all 250 musicians and singers will be. Then again, the 21st Century players have already performed live accompaniment for West Side Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fantasia, and various Star Trek scenes. Oh, and they performed the LOTR trilogy in 2011 at home in Switzerland. Maybe this won’t be so tough, after all. Buying tickets? That will be tough, for sure.