Last updated at 17:31 20 June 2007

The stage version of JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings finally opened in London with a standing ovation for its cast of singing orcs and dancing hobbits but mixed reviews from the critics.

The £25m production is the most expensive in West End history.

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The show debuted in Toronto last year and received a critical mauling.

After a major re-write, a shortened running time and six weeks of previews to fine-tune the performances, it opened officially at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

The production boasts pyrotechnics, acrobatics and myriad special effects to recreate Middle Earth.

It features a £1m revolving stage which conceals a series of hydraulic lifts.

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Such features impressed some critics, such as Sam Marlowe of the Times, who described it as a "wonder", and Michael Billington, of the Guardian, who said he "couldn't see how it could be better done".

But others were ferocious in their criticism.

Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph said despite the producer and director's efforts to overhaul the Toronto effort, the show was a "thumping great flop", hated more by his 14-year-old son - a fan of the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films - than by him.

Paul Taylor, of the Independent, criticised the interplay of the score with the drama and said the story-telling was "rushed", while Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail slated the production as "corny".

But a host of celebrities, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Dame Judi Dench, Kevin Spacey, Richard E Grant and Brian May, were kinder.

Dame Judi said: "For anyone who is a Tolkien fan, it is just a terrific treat.

"I have never seen the films but I am a great fan of Tolkien's writing.

"It has wonderful choreography and the cast worked so hard. "

The show stars Laura Michelle Kelly, best known to West End audiences as Mary Poppins, as the Elvish queen Galadriel.

Newcomer James Loye plays the hero, Frodo Baggins.

The production played for six months in Canada and left critics there unimpressed.

The Toronto Star renamed it "Bored Of The Rings" while Variety called it: "A saga of short people burdened by power jewellery."

For its West End incarnation, the running time has been cut by 40 minutes but it's still a lengthy three hours.

The London production has not been without its mishaps.

Actor Adam Salter, who plays a ranger, was taken to hospital after his leg became trapped in the set machinery during a preview performance.

Audiences at first believed his screams for help were part of the show.

What the critics said:

Although some critics were kind to the new all-singing all-dancing version of Tolkein's classic, for the most part they were scathing.

Just as they panned the version put on for Lord of the Rings fans in Toronto, British critics remained uninspired by the spectacle.

"British adults will find it hard to suppress open laughter at this show's Portentous Moments. Corny is hardly the word. There's more corn here than in Kansas."



Quentin Letts, Daily Mail

"Overblown, over-orchestrated and now over here."



Bill Hagerty, The Sun

"Despite the drastic cuts to material the story-telling is rushed. Some of the ordeals seem to be over almost before they've begun, so it's hard for the adventurers to register weight.

The evening's stand-out performer is Michael Thierrault...as the slimy perverted Gollum...This show is unlikely to blow you away."



Paul Taylor, The Independent

"As the show boomed along, there were moments when I thought this was a union of a Sixties hippy craft fair and scenes from Doctor Who."

Paul Callan, Daily Express

"I'm sorry to report that it remains a thumping great flop. I took my 14-year-old son. Unfortunately, he hated it even more than I did...Its run, I fear, will be nasty, brutish and short."



Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph

"I had a perfectly good time at Drury Lane and, if Tolkien's trilogy is to be a stage spectacle, I don't see how it could be better done."

Michael Billington, The Guardian (four stars)

"Snobbery and cynicism be damned. This show is a wonder. Go with an open mind, an open heart, and wide-open eyes, and prepare for enchantment."

Sam Marlowe, Times (four stars)