Interview: GEORGIA LOUISE on playing Galadriel in THE LORD OF THE RINGS at The Watermill

Photo credit: The Watermill

Join an ensemble cast and large-scale puppets on an epic journey celebrating the power of friendship and common goodness to conquer unimaginable evil in The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale at The Watermill in Newbury this summer. We spoke to Georgia Louise who is playing Galadriel in this new intimate yet ambitious production.

Georgia, what first attracted you to this project?

I’ve been obsessed with the musical since I was 11 years old, I found clips of ‘Lothlorien’ on YouTube and was completely hooked. When it was announced that the show was being revived at the Watermill, I cried and then when the self tape came through, I cried some more! I couldn’t believe that I’d get to sing my favourite song for a tape and I told myself that even if I didn’t get it, I got to sing ‘Lothlorien’ and that was cool enough.

I also just love actor-muso shows, the intimacy and invention that often comes with shows that use actor musicians. There’s just something incredibly special about them and the Watermill is like the gold standard for actor musicianship so I feel very lucky to be involved in this process, whilst occasionally having a crisis about playing a cymbal literally twice whilst somebody next to me plays the most complex, intense violin part like it’s nothing!

Were you a fan of the books or the films previously? And if not, are you now?

My way in to LOTR was the musical, and the films and books came after that. I only watched the films for the first time last year and absolutely loved them, and I’m reading the books currently for context and research for the show, and also watching Rings of Power as Galadriel is heavily featured.

The production uses The Watermill’s auditorium and gardens. Can you tell us a bit about how that will work?

I won’t give the Shire’s secrets away, you’ll have to come to see it to see how it all works, but what I will say is that we’re really making use of all of the beautiful surroundings that the Watermill has to offer!

You were recently seen in the Almeida’s production of Tammy Faye. What was that like?

Just the best. The cast, the show, the theatre, everything was just perfect. It was the first original musical that I’ve been a part of, and it’s so cool going into day one with no idea of what the show sounds like. Sometimes with well-known material, you start rehearsals with the cast recording in your head and end up having to unlearn things you thought you knew because they’re not actually score accurate, so starting with a completely blank slate is great because you have no preconceived ideas as to what the show is or should be.

Getting to meet Elton John was so special, being directed by someone as prolific as Rupert Goold and getting to delve into a script written by James Graham, I pinched myself every day.

We got to perform at the Oliviers and I was just losing my mind the whole time! I’m unapologetically stagey so every corner I turned, I was internally screaming and trying to stay so cool on the outside. It was a dream come true. The whole job was.

What has been your favourite project to work on to date?

Definitely Tammy Faye and also Preludes. The Preludes group chat is STILL going strong four years later which tells you everything you need to know about that team! We really became a family because the content of that show was so heavy, we had to make sure that backstage we were having fun. There was so much love put into that show onstage and off, and it’s the job that most people geek out to me about which is really cool. We got to do it again in 2021 which was so magical. The pandemic and what the arts struggled through during that period of time made it even more poignant for us and the audience.

And what would be your dream project to work on?

It was The Lord of the Rings so now I guess I need a new one?! I loved creating a track in Tammy Faye so I’d say something new again probably because it’s just so fun to craft something from the ground up. But I’m also partial to dreaming about getting to do Julie Jordan in Carousel, I’d really love to do a legit show.

There is also a director inside of me that is desperate to do something like Floyd Collins or Carrie. Maybe one day!

The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale plays at The Watermill in Newbury from 25 July-15 October, with further information here.