Melbourne-born actor/singer/all-round dramatic powerhouse of stage and screen Rarmian Newton has plenty of high-profile credits to his name. His new performance as legendary hero Frodo Baggins may well be his biggest yet.
The Lord Of The Rings: A Musical Tale really sets out to do what it says on the tin, providing a fresh take on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original trilogy of fantasy novels in a live stage musical production that isn’t short on ambition. Notably, the creative choices behind the new musical distinguish it from the iconic cinematic universe of Kiwi director Peter Jackson’s early-2000s film adaptations, making something uniquely its own – and truly to be seen to be believed.
Calling in between shows, the musical beginning its Melbourne leg of performance dates after a triumph run in Perth, Rarmian tells me it’s his first time performing onstage in his hometown.
Lord Of The Rings – A Musical Tale
- Performing until 22 June
- Comedy Theatre
- Get your tickets here
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“It’s been just lovely,” he tells me, “to feel the vibrance of Melbourne, as a theatre city. The audience has been receiving it really well. It’s been fantastic. To be fair, most people don’t know what to expect when they look at the show, they don’t know what to seek. Since we’ve hit Melbourne, it’s the perfect amount of time for word-of-mouth from the other cities to get here, and now we’re really roaring!”
The challenge across the show’s Australia run, so far covering a month in Sydney and three weeks in Perth, has been getting audiences to trust the show to take them on a worthwhile experience. The high-octane novelty of being completely original is also one of the largest barriers in getting bums on seats, even with the pop-culture residue of the beloved trilogy of films.
The vital difference of this new show is what keenly sets it apart from anything else on the stage right now, and it’s obviously a great source of enthusiasm for Rarmian, whose voice virtually leaps out of the phone during our conversation.
“It’s taken us a while to get the real recognition it deserves,” he admits, “but as soon as we opened in Melbourne, it was, like, massive. It’s changed, it’s as if they’ve heard about us? We’ve been able to provide what we knew would happen.”
Rarmian explains the story of the new musical is taken directly from Tolkien’s original books, and underlines that the show does a better job than the films of bringing that literary world to life.
“I think when audiences expect to see the big things that happened in the film, you get all those things – but then you also get, like, a certain depth to the story. A lot of it is about protecting nature, protecting culture; protecting the things that are important to the small folk… That’s what the hobbits represent.”
As such, the show’s runtime is an epic three hours – though even that is sparse, given the expansive source material – but Rarmian assures that The Lord Of The Rings – A Musical Tale places its key focus on the heart of the story.
“Yeah, we’re condensing a hell of a lot of material,” he confesses, “but the actual point of the story is the thing that is in the writing, you know? There are a couple of characters that are omitted from the story, there are some things that didn’t happen, like the battle at Helm’s Deep, things are condensed or merged into one. But at the end of the day, even though you miss some of the details, it’s as if we’re focusing on the heart of the story. The heart of what Tolkien meant.”
With an ongoing role as an extended guest arc on the Amazon Freevee reboot of Neighbours, and an upcoming appearance alongside Sir Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart in Renny Harlin’s latest feature Deep Water, it’s fair to say Rarmian Newton has some top-tier credits to his name.
But whether they will be able to hold a candle to Middle Earth’s greatest hero? That remains to be seen.
The Lord Of The Rings: A Musical Tale is performing at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre now, until Sunday 22 June 2025. Get your tickets here.
