Live Review: Star Wars: In Concert October 27, 2009

For a girl who geeks out regularly, the night of October 27 was one to remember—the “Star Wars: Live in Concert” tour made its stop in New Orleans, complete with everything needed to bring John Williams’ scores and the entire franchise to life.

Greeted by a display of Star Wars memorabilia from George Lucas’ collection, fans filed into the New Orleans Arena for the show. The stage was set with a full orchestra and choir conducted by Dirk Brosse and backed by a mammoth LED screen which showed clips from all six episodes of the Star Wars series. 

One of the best decisions was bringing aboard a veteran Star Wars actor to narrate the selections and clips. Anthony Daniels, the man behind C-3PO in all six movies, guided the audience from the rise of Empire through the Rebel victory, all the while introducing pivotal characters and plot twists. He even slipped into character at points, provoking howls of laughter from an audience familiar with C-3PO’s stiff babblings. 

Each clip was tied to important events (Anakin and Padmé’s ill-fated love, the rise of the Empire, the formation of the Rebel Alliance) and characters (Anakin, the droids, Han and the Millennium Falcon, Yoda, Luke and Leia). The producers of the concert also included clips based solely on flying, battle scenes, and even the jazz-influenced bar scenes.

While the scenes from the movies provided visual background, the music was the honoree at the show. It has become so memorable that now most fans’ favorite piece is the Imperial March, written to introduce Darth Vader, but also chosen as the encore for the show. At the end of the night, it was clear that the vision of Star Wars belonged to George Lucas, but his space opera  would not have been complete without Williams.