Canadian theatre veteran Brent Carver is playing the wise wizard Gandalf in the $27-million Rings musical. (Michael Peake, SUN)

The Hobbits wore T-shirts and track pants, the Black Riders were conspicuously horseless and the roaring waters of the River Bruinen existed only in the imagination of those gathered to catch a glimpse of the upcoming stage production of The Lord Of The Rings.

The creators of the $27-million theatre spectacle, the largest stage production ever mounted in Toronto, weren't kidding when they said yesterday's first look at a half-dozen scenes inside a cavernous and chilly Eastern Ave. rehearsal space was just a taste of what's to come.

And coming it is. With preview performances beginning Feb. 2 at the Princess of Wales Theatre, leading up to the March 23 gala opening night, The Lord Of The Rings is taking shape quickly. To say expectations for the show are high would be like suggesting that Gandalf guy is pretty good at magic tricks.

"At first, I thought it was impossible," director Matthew Warchus said of the task of mounting a theatre adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's dense three-volume work, recently adapted into an Oscar-winning movie trilogy by Peter Jackson.

"The reason I said yes was this could be full of all of the things I love about theatre ... put them altogether in one show, and how can you say no to that?

"And maybe the audience will, unusually, be made up of people going to the theatre for the first time."

Yesterday marked the first time the cast has performed scenes for an outside audience. A small army of media crowded into the production's rehearsal hall, where a circular rotating stage has been built to mimic some aspects of the massive and elaborate set being built at the Princess of Wales.

The selection of scenes included a duet between a weary Frodo (James Loye) and his faithful companion Sam Gamgee (Pete Howe); Frodo and Gandalf (Canadian theatre veteran Brent Carver) musing on the sad life of Gollum (Michael Therriault) and the forming of the Fellowship of the Ring, just before they leave Rivendell on their trek to Mount Doom.

Also performed were a touching duet by lovers Arwen (Carly Street) and Aragorn (Evan Buliung), and the scene at the River Bruinen in which the Black Riders pursuing Frodo are swept away in a torrent of water.

Of course, the riders were just performers on stilts and the swirling waters of the river will be realized in the final production as one of its many special effects, most of which are being kept under tight wraps.

The giant rotating stage, for instance, will be able to morph and change shape as dictated by the action, although no one will divulge exactly how this will be accomplished.

Ditto for two of the production's most spectacular special effects: The giant spider Shelob, who snares Frodo in her web, and the demon-like Balrog, easily the most fearsome enemy faced by the Fellowship.

"I can say it's big, and I cay say the people will feel the effect of it in the auditorium," Warchus said.

Although The Lord Of The Rings is a musical, audiences won't see chorus lines of furry-footed Halflings doing high kicks.

The songs performed yesterday were in the spirit of the many pieces of music found in Tolkien's works, sharing more in common with ancient Gaelic songs than Andrew Lloyd Webber-style razzle-dazzle.

And where a traditional stage musical might have a big dance number at a climactic moment, The Lord Of The Rings has chase scenes and epic battles.

"The scale is huge, and it's quite easy for it to be overwhelming," said actor Loye, who moved from London, England, to Toronto to accept the role of Frodo.

"It's going to be as different (from the movies) as the cartoon was to the film," Loye said. "It's exciting. It's happening in the moment. And hopefully people will feel that."

Perhaps no one in the cast of performers can claim a more direct personal -- or at least geographical -- connection to Tolkien than Pete Howe, the newcomer from England who plays Sam Gamgee.

"I grew up in Birmingham and lived 100 yards from where Tolkien used to live, and used to play in the woods where supposedly some of his inspiration came from," Howe said.

A huge fan of the books and films, Howe, like most of the cast and creators, realizes that many people who see the show will make direct comparisons to the movies. And he says they'll be happy with what they see.

"I think everyone's going to come away very satisfied," he said. "The movie kind of relit people's imaginations. We're using the stage to do the same thing."

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Gala opening March 23

Princess of Wales Theatre

Tickets at ticketking.com