Emotional ranting aside, it’s unlikely that snarky critics were actually responsible for Lord of the Rings falure to connect with Toronto theatre audiences. “Despite some innovative stagecraft, The Lord of the Rings, in the version critics saw at least, was a hollow, lifeless affair with no real emotional pull to the storytelling, the music or the acting. The story itself proved confusing to anybody not familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy of books. Not even the lengthy synopsis in the program was of much help.”