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First Stage 'The Hobbit' logo
Among the bestselling fiction of 1937 are such forgotten titles as Kenneth Roberts’ Northwest Passage and Vaughn Wilkins’ And So—Victoria. Maybe you read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in school? And Gone with the Wind is best remembered for Clark Gable not giving a damn.
But also published that same year was a book that would have greater impact on world culture than any 20th century novel—and it sold only modestly at first. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit established fantasy as a recognizable literary genre; it has been adopted for screen and has seeped into rock lyrics, video games and the imagination of readers worldwide.
The Hobbit will also be on staged in Milwaukee, courtesy First Stage’s production.
The Hobbit’s extraordinary success, compounded by Lord of the Rings, appeared unlikely at the time of publication. It was the work of an Oxford don, a scholar of Anglo-Saxon, and was steeped in his reimagining of Dark Age lore. First Stage Artistic Director Jeff Frank is helming the Milwaukee production and offers the relatability of The Hobbit’s protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, as one reason for the story’s endurance.
“I think all of us harbor in our core the secret desire to be swept up into an adventure where we might find ourselves the hero. Folks connect with Bilbo,” Frank says. “They see themselves and travel along with Bilbo on this unexpected journey. Along the way the book explores what it means to be a leader, to be a friend and what in the end we should value the most. There is as much power in these simple truths as there is in the grand magic and wonder of the world that Tolkien created.”
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Photo by Mya Giuliani
First Stage 'The Hobbit' rehearsal
Leo Madson in rehearsal for First Stage's 'The Hobbit'.
Frank will direct the 90-minute Greg Banks adaptation of The Hobbit with only five actors in a “a fast moving, highly theatrical show that invites audiences into the journey in a simultaneously surprising yet familiar way,” Frank continues. “Audiences will still meet Gandalf, Thorin and the rest of the dwarves as they encounter Gollum, Smaug, the Elven Queen, hordes of goblins, wolves and spiders. We even manage to bring the battle of five armies to life on stage—and with live underscoring throughout much of the show courtesy of composer Fernanda Douglas and our music director/lead musician Natalie Ford.”
Tolkien’s Middle-earth will not be conjured through CGI or techno-flash of any sort but will be set inside the war-ravaged ruins of a library.
“When reason has left us and greed and a lust for power have taken over—the pillars of society have crumbled—knowledge, truth, self-growth, empathy and understanding that our stories have provided us have been lost and must be looked to again,” Frank says, touching on The Hobbit’s deeper themes. Although cast in the form of a medieval adventure, Tolkien wrote of battle from frontline experience of World War I and of social morality in the shadow of Hitler’s growing power.
“This is a production that evokes the essence of the story and the world, inviting the audience to fill out the picture with their own imaginations,” Frank explains. “A toppled and broken bookcase, a couple of ladders, scattered books and planks allow us to create an ever-changing topography over which our band of friends traverse throughout their journey. All the props are things that one might find in such a world. Newspaper rods become swords and bows. A book is puppeteered to cast the shadow of the great Smaug upon the stage. We are actors and storytellers at play, and we invite the audience to join us. For me, that is the reason theater exists and what separates us from the world of film.”
First Stage productions are told from young people’s perspectives; both Bilbos in the two casts are teens, Angel Rivera and Leo Madson. “They have brought an incredible work ethic to the production coupled with the strength and vulnerability that are key to Bilbo’s journey,” Frank says. “They are quite simply doing some of the best work I’ve ever seen from a young performer on our stages. In sharing the role, they have watched and learned from one another, yet have still managed to create Bilbos that are uniquely their own.”
First Stage will perform The Hobbit February 3-March 5 at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St. Recommended for children ages 8 and up. For more information, visit firststage.org.
