INTERVIEW | Georgia Louise, The Lord of the Rings.

Georgia Louise in rehearsals. 

Written by Emmie.

A new production of the 2006 stage musical The Lord of the Rings is heading to The Watermill Theatre in Newbury this summer. Presented in association with Kevin Wallace for KWL and Middle Earth Enterprises, the adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s trilogy will begin performances on July 25.

The Watermill Theatre is delivering an immersive staging of the production, taking place not only across Watermill’s auditorium but in the gardens too. The new production will be directed by Paul Hart with design by Simon Kenny. Set on Bilbo Baggins' eleventy-first birthday when Bilbo gives Frodo a gold ring, the musical follows Frodo on the daunting and perilous task of journeying across Middle Earth to save them all from the Dark Lord Sauron. Audiences will join an ensemble cast and large-scale puppets on the story about the power of friendship and the common good.

Ahead of the production, we have an interview with Georgia Louise who will be playing Galadriel in this exciting new production of The Lord of the Rings at the Watermill Theatre.

The cast of The Lord of the Rings, Watermill Theatre

Hey Georgia, the last time we spoke you were playing Sandy in Grease and now 2 years later you are in rehearsal for The Lord of the Rings at Watermill Theatre! How are rehearsals going?

Hey! Rehearsals are going really well. There hasn’t really been a day so far where I haven’t cried at the music. I’ve always wanted to be in an actor muso show, but with not being a muso (maybe not for long heheh) I never thought I’d get to be in one! Normally you don’t hear the music until the sitzprobe, so it’s so unique and special to hear the instruments from day one. 

If you could sum up the last couple of years for you, with the pandemic, working on Tammy Faye etc - how has this impacted you as a professional actor?

The pandemic was hard and terrifying and creatively horrible for a very long time. It was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and especially as an actor you just felt so useless. I just kept wondering what skills I had to survive or contribute to this, and then the most positive thing that came out of it was I started teaching online singing and acting lessons, which I truly love doing and still do now as my out of acting job. 

Tammy Faye was the most incredible, special, magical job. Working at the Almeida felt like a real milestone in my career, I never thought I’d get to work at a venue like that. The cast was just STACKED, I couldn’t believe I was a part of it. I feel so lucky I was in a show that when I tell people I was in it they freak out, that’s really cool. Also, I met Elton John, like WHAT?!

Louis Maskell as Frodo in Lord of the Rings, Watermill Theatre

So, working on The Lord of the Rings at the Watermill Theatre - apart from being one of the greatest trilogies of all time, what made you audition for this production?

It’s one of my favourite musicals and my dream role, need I say more? When it got announced I cried, I couldn’t believe I was going to get to see one of my favourite shows, I never thought I’d actually be in it! In my self tape I did my slate introduction in Elvish, I was that desperate. 

I tried to be very cool in my audition, that lasted a good 10 seconds before I was rambling about the show and the Watermill and how I’d seen Amélie 5 times, I know we have a shared love for that show. Magic. 

Most people will know these iconic characters but tell us a little bit about Galadriel and how you have been developing the royal Elf?

Galadriel is a badass. Like an absolute warrior queen. I’ve been watching Rings of Power and pulling from that version of Galadriel a lot because I’m very interested in her fighter spirit. I think it’s easy to play an Elf super chilled and spacey, I like the rumbling undercurrent of her being able to fight at any moment and the power to understand and resist the mishandling of power. 

I’ve also been spending a lot of time looking into female warriors like Joan of Arc and Boudicca for inspiration. 

Have you found yourself rewatching the films in preparation for this production?

So confession, I knew the LOTR story because of the musical. Horribly stagey of me, I know, so I watched them for the first time last year. They’re amazing. I shall be rewatching just for fun more than anything, but a rewatch would also help with the lore because this is a very intricately woven story. 

Watermill Theatre is an intimate space, but this production also incorporates the gardens too. Would you say this was more of an immersive experience and is it something which audiences have seen before at this theatre?

I would definitely say so. The space itself being small and there being a cast of 20 immediately makes it immersive anyway as we’re going to be in and around the audience a lot.

I won’t give anything away, but we’re telling this story from a slightly different perspective than the original.

The score of this show is BEAUTIFUL - is there a particular song you are really drawn to?

I’m sorry it’s so predictable for me to say but Lothlorien. It’s been my favourite song for like 15 years. It’s just stunning. 

Also, what our orchestrator and musical supervisor has done with these songs is honestly musical wizardry, so every song just sounds absolutely incredible. 

If you could play any other character in this show, who would you play and why?

Ooh probably Gollum! He’s so complex and funny and heartbreaking. Just big big goblin energy. 

What is something about The Lord of the Rings that resonates with you.

The importance and power of friendship, how that can conquer anything. That really resonates with me. 

If people haven’t booked their tickets yet, why should they come and see The Lord of the Rings at the Watermill Theatre?

It’s Lord of the Rings, one of the greatest stories of all time, told by 20 incredible actor musicians, in a setting that is LITERALLY like the shire. It couldn’t be more perfect! Everybody involved in this piece is so passionate about it, it’s being handled with so much love and care and we can’t wait to share it with audiences and show everybody just how spectacular this musical is.

The Lord of the Rings is performing at The Watermill Theatre from 25 July - 15 October.