Current mood:

excited

Wanted: Young Male Leads for Ontario Festivals for 2006 season
It's not confirmed, but if this is true, both Shaw and Stratford are going to be doing some scrambling for young male leads.

From an article on BroadwayWorld.com:  (and yeah, I will probably  go):

A number of  major roles in the Toronto premiere of The Lord of the Rings have been cast, according to the Toronto Star.

The Tolkien-based  megamusical, which will open on March 23rd, 2006 after beginning previews in  February, reportedly now has a Gollum, Aragorn, Arwen, Saruman, Legolas, Merry,  Boromir and Elrond. However, Producer Kevin Wallace and spokespeople for the  Mirvish organization refused to confirm or deny these reports.

Michael Therriault will  play Gollum, the shrivelled ex-hobbit with eyes on the ring around which the  musical
centers. Therriault currently plays Motel the Tailor in Broadway's Fiddler  on the Roof, and has also appeared  in the Toronto production of The  Producers  as well as in several shows in the prestigious Stratford Festival.

Evan Buliung has been placed in the heroic role of Aragorn; the actor can currently be seen in and Journey's  End and Major  Barbara at  the Shaw Festival. He too has acted at Stratford, and played Edgar to  Christopher Plummer's King Lear.

Carly Street will play his Elvish love interest  Arwen; she is a National Theatre School graduate who has spoken the words of  Shakespeare at the High Park and Newmarket outdoor summer theatres. The dark  wizard Saruman will
be portrayed by Richard McMillan, who also scared the little  children in the audience as Scar in the Toronto production of The  Lion King;  he is also no stranger to the Stratford Festival.

Legolas, the strapping  young elf, will be play by Gabriel Burrafato, who has appeared at the Shaw  Festival, at
Stratford and who currently tours as Magaldi in the national  company of Evita after having been seen  in
Broadway's Bombay  Dreams. The  role of the mischievous hobbit Merry has gone to Dylan Roberts, who can  currently be seen in ShakespeareWorks' The Taming of the Shrew, while the part of the  noble but
ring-corrupted Boromir has been awarded to Dion Johnstone, who is a  Stratford company member and who currently plays Orlando in the theatre  festival's As  You Like It. Finally, Victor A.  Young will appear as Elrond, the stalwart father of Arwen; Young has performed  in Kiss Me Kate at  Stratford and Crazy for You for  Mirvish Productions, among many others.

While the rumors are  only at buzz pitch right now and nothing has been confirmed, theatre wags are  saying that Brent Carver (Kiss  of the Spiderwoman, Parade) might be one of the  actors to headline The  Lord of the Rings; the actor is currently  appearing in Soulpepper's The  Wild Duck.