If You Held A Gun To My Head (5 of 10)

...or, If I Could Only See 10 Fringe Shows...

what would they be and why?

The Hobbit
Rhino Productions
MCTC Whitney Mainstage

I have to admit, I'm coming late to the whole "Middle Earth" mania thing. Never read the books. That was my younger brother's obsession. But Peter Jackson's trilogy of films has won me over. His enthusiasm, and that of his collaborators, for this story is infectious. So I was already predisposed to want to see this "prequel" - pardon the blasphemy, Mr. Tolkien - to the "Lord of the Rings" cycle. But this particular production has me intrigued for a number of other reasons. Someone from Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater is constructing the dragon, so that should be great fun to see. The show itself is in one of the larger venues in the Fringe, so the epic has room to breathe and go all out. And yet it's only three people. One for the Hobbit, and only two other guys to play all the other roles. I love the theatricality of that kind of highwire act on stage. Just the thing to tide me over til the next DVD comes out, while I'm waiting for the end of the trilogy (and no, I still haven't read the books, so I have no idea how it ends, so don't go saying "The butler did it" and spoil the surprise)