Brent Carver is Gandalf in 'Rings' musical

TORONTO, Ontario, July 26 (UPI) -- One of Canada's own will head the cast of the $27 million "Lord of the Rings" musical being developed in Toronto.

With the announcement of Brent Carver as the wizard Gandalf, only three of the 55 roles remained open, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The yet-to-be-named actors in the roles of Galadriel, Gimli and Bilbo will mostly likely come from the pool of 4,000 actors who auditioned during the past four months.

Director Matthew Warchus hailed the hiring of Carver in a release, calling him "one of the greatest actors of his generation."

Carver won a Tony Award for "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and has several Gemini Awards, the CBC said.

The show is scheduled open Feb. 2, 2006, at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre.