"Speak Friend and Enter"

It’s been a while since I wrote! Thanks for your patience. That’s the biggest struggle of being a multi-instrumentalist: too many tabs open, and a lack of focus! That’s why I appreciate when people can integrate diverse skills well, as I saw in The Lord of the Rings - a Musical Tale performed at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Theatre. This was my first live show all year (it’s been a busy season!), and it was well worth catching it on the last day of its run here!

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About ten minutes before the show began, the enchantment already started. Characters hopped onto the stage with instruments, singing and jesting. Bilbo Baggins himself appeared, joined by cast members who walked down the aisles greeting the audience and wishing him a happy birthday. This created a mood in the theatre that was intimate, drawing us into the world almost from the get-go, so that when we were introduced to the characters we felt like we had a connection with them. Gandalf came walking down, even some of the evil characters too, and the puppets. We were in Middle-earth before the curtain had even lifted!

The storyline hit the highlights of the trilogy, with Frodo coming of age, Bilbo disappearing and leaving the ring behind, and then a seventeen-year wandering of what is to happen until one day Gandalf arrives with the announcement that Frodo must go on a journey to destroy the Ring. He sets off with his loyal comrade Sam and his cousins Merry and Pippin. Along the way they meet elves and dwarves and others, characters from very different backgrounds, yet all able to come together in the face of a common enemy, Sauron.

The pacing was just right, an impressive mix of fast and slow, like a piece of music, flowing from one scene to the next. Fantasy and reality were blended through puppets like the giant spider and the horses, with on-stage sound effects and shadow puppetry used to tell the history of the Ring. The lighting created a mesmerising blend of natural colours. And the staging was so simple—just two floors of actors and musicians—but it kept us guessing. What instrument would come out next? A flute, a violin, the drums? Where would the conductor turn? The highlights for me were always the ensemble scenes, where groups of people with their instruments echoed the layers of Middle-earth, creating a tapestry of voices. It was refreshing not to have musicians hidden in a pit but right there on stage as storytellers.

What’s wonderful about this piece is that it draws us in. It enfolds us into a world so distant, yet so near. If you came expecting a Broadway musical with songs sung from start to finish, you may have been disappointed, and I can understand why. But what you got instead was something immersive and compelling. It felt like a buffet of dishes I had never tried before, yet somehow home-cooked, with one or two dishes from Middle-earth thrown in. It was quirky, warm, and full of community.

The costumes added to this immersion. When the scene shifted to the world of the elves, the outfits carried hints of Asia—Indian, even Thai influences with flowing sashes. Some of the dance moves looked like they came out of classical Indian dance or even Bollywood, drawing from traditions to retell a familiar story. The world was built not just through sets, but through nuance—quirky handshakes, jumps, and gestures that made Middle-earth unique yet strangely familiar.

Actor-musicians played not only their roles but also their instruments, as if the instruments were part of them. One performer carried a quiver of five woodwinds. Orcs thundered on drums. Others played mandolins, flutes, and folkloric instruments that gave the performance a pastoral, earthy soundscape. The music wasn’t just background, it lived and breathed with the story, as much a character as Frodo or Gandalf.

In typical musicals, actors are said to be triple-threats, singing, dancing, and acting. But here we saw quadruple-threats, including playing instruments. Some of these were very complex, like Arwen, who not only sang but also played the harp, all while the cast danced around her. Looking back at the tunes, what were they actually? As a musician, I recognised a number of modal interchanges—Phrygian, Dorian—modes centred on the minor scale that gave the music an otherworldly sound. These touches made Middle-earth sound alive, strange and familiar all at once.

Why tell an old story again? Because new audiences keep emerging, and new mediums allow us to experience it afresh. The Lord of the Rings has lived as Tolkien’s words, as Jackson’s films, and now as a musical. That in itself is a feat: to retell something iconic with creativity, humour, connection, and empathy.

It left me feeling full, like I had been taken on a quest of my own. And while the show is over, I only wish more people could see it and appreciate it for what it is. It was as if, by being part of the theatre, we had stepped into an enchanting world of friendship with Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits. For one night in Singapore, it was a portal into Middle-earth, by simply choosing to speak, friend, and enter.

P.s. I’m pivoting the content on this space so I can write in a sustainable way - stay tuned!