Hidden Agenda
I must say that the show was absolutely incredible. I had mixed feelings about the event based on the apprehension that what done so well on the big screen could not possibly be done justice in a 2 hour slot - I was wrong. The Star Wars in Concert COMPLIMENTS the George Lucas movies. It was very professional and tasteful - far from anything that would remotely be regarded as "tacky.”
The showing of Star Wars: A Musical Journey is first and foremost a celebration of John Williams’ score. As the lights dimmed, the event started not with music from the movie, but the 20th Century Fox ditty that accompanies the studio logo before each movie. Then to audience cheers, the curtain dropped and the famous theme tune kicked in. Behind the stage housing the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was a giant screen brought over from America. Across it was emblazoned the immortal opening text: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...” Once the theme had finished being played, British actor Anthony Daniels who played robot C3PO, the only actor used in all six movies, walked on stage. Playing the musical accompaniment was the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (rather than the London Philharmonic, who recorded the original score), led by Belgian conductor Dirk Brosse.
Daniels’ script had a good dose of comedy too. His ironic introduction of C3PO as a “masterpiece of engineering, an amazing droid” only came to a stop when conductor Brosse turned and looked at him in mock disgust. The audience was happy to contribute as well, with one especially droll cheer belted out when Daniels announced that Anakin had turned into Darth Vader. The loudest cheers were reserved for Han Solo and Yoda.
I was truly impressed as he made it all follow through. The show itself focused on the characters and followed them through the 6 movies to show their development. I really liked this as it gave a different perspective away from the special effects which trump the digitally re-mastered box sets. This is what I mean when I say the show compliments the movies. The humor employed by C3PO was well received and perfectly timed. The lighting and movie screen backdrop was very well put together making for quite an exciting and engrossing spectacle. What I especially enjoyed about it was that it was told as one continual story which included some recorded narrative by James Earl Jones.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who is either a Star Wars fan or someone who has an appreciation of classical music – I am indeed both.... I believe John Williams would be very impressed with the musicians who were immaculately dressed and filled the stage being 86 in number. The acoustics for the arena were amazing and the conductor transferred his charisma to the stage.
Fittingly, the evening ended with images of John Williams recording each of the six movie scores from 1977 to 2005. Meanwhile, Daniels played to the crowd, right to his final muttering of: “May the Force be with you, always.”