Auditions for hobbit hopefuls

Hundreds of wannabe hobbits have been auditioning for a part in the musical version of The Lord Of The Rings.The budding actors and actresses had just a matter of seconds to impress directors during the auditions at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in central London.They are competing to be one of 20 Hobbits in the £25 million adaptation of JRR Tolkien's classic trilogy which will receive its British and European Premiere in London next June.The show's world premiere and pre-London run has already taken place in Toronto, Canada, where it has won largely positive reviews.When it opens, the London show will have a cast of 50, believed to be the largest employed in any West End show in living memory, as well as around 90 musicians and crew.By 9.30am the queue for the auditions was estimated to have already exceeded 1,000 people although most confessed not to having hairy toes.First in line was recent drama graduate Nicole Scantlebury, 24, from north London, who plans to try and impress the show's organisers with a rendition of the song Funny Honey from the musical Chicago.She said: "Hobbits are fun-loving, they love their food and they love to party and I think I can bring those things to the show."I might need some help though in the hairy feet department but then make-up can do wonders these days."

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ITN | September 18, 2006

Tags:. .UK News. .jrr. .funloving. .tolkiens. .hobbits