It’s all happening here in Boston! Yesterday the Coolidge Theatre hosted a trilogy screening, in honour of Viggo Mortensen – to whom they are today giving the Coolidge Award. It’s always fabulous to see the Lord of the Rings films on the big screen, and to enjoy them with an army of fellow fans. The 442 seat theatre was sold out – and everyone who secured a ticket was in for a treat indeed!
Jesse Hassinger and Mark Anastasio, the Program Manager and Program Coordinator at the Coolidge, welcomed us all before we settled in to watch Fellowship of the Ring. Between that and Two Towers, TORn staffer greendragon (that’s me!) had a chance to say hi to the crowd and to remind them all (as if we could forget!) that The Hobbit is coming! Then, just as we were settling again for Return of the King, Denise Kasell, the Coolidge’s Director, told us all that they had a ‘little surprise’ for us – and in walked the king himself, Viggo Mortensen! (More text after the video)
You can imagine the excitement and delight of the crowd! Mortensen was charm itself, asking how many of us had seen the movies more than five times, and saying, ‘Me too!’ He stayed on stage for a few minutes and ended – gasp! – by SINGING to us all! Yes, Aragorn himself stood there on the stage and sang for us his coronation ditty; and afterwards said, ‘I was more nervous singing that just now than I was in the studio…’
There’s more to come! A full report later in the week will tell you all about the events surrounding this year’s Coolidge Award, including more detail about the fun today. So watch this space! Meanwhile, thanks to the wonderful Coolidge staff – what a long day for them! – and many thanks to all the lovely folks who came up to tell us that they love TheOneRing.net! It’s always a joy to meet like-minded people and to know that you enjoy what we do here. Now I’m off to get my beauty sleep before I go back to the Coolidge for more Viggo-liciousness!
