EPIC STAR WARS EXPERIENCE
By Janelle Kidd
June 22, 2010
Vancouver fans gathered at General Motors Place Tuesday night and were transported to a galaxy far, far away.
The crowd was greeted by narrator Anthony Daniels, better known as C-3PO. The actor portrayed the protocol droid in all six films and has an intimate understanding of the franchise, having been part of it for over three decades.
Grown from the creative crevasses of George Lucas' mind, the Star Wars saga continues to be an unmatched phenomenon.
One man who truly understood Lucas' vision was John Williams, whose legendary music score was honored tonight. The concert paid tribute to the films which against all odds became a mainstay in popular culture, passed along from generation to generation.
Star Wars: In Concert features music from all six of Williams' Star Wars scores, performed by a live orchestra and choir against a backdrop of a stunning visual montage, broken into themes that correspond with the music.
'A Race with Destiny', 'A Jedi is Trained', 'A New Day Dawns' are included as concert themes, the music builds dramatically and breaks into whimsical romance alongside the edited film footage that runs in sync with the live orchestra.
The popular franchise has spawned an incomprehensible array of merchandise, including a few costumes that were on display in the audience as young and old alike filed into the stadium, green lightsaber-esque glow sticks in hand for a sensational show.
Whatever your degree of fanaticism, most people connect with the iconic music that starts with words rolling across the galaxy. Whether you saw the films in theatres 54 times, were influenced in your viewing solely by the boyish charms of Harrison Ford or fall somewhere in between, generations continue to be drawn in by the space-set films.
The films, the first of which was release on May 25, 1977, are such an iconic part of pop culture history that I am confident everyone who laughed at me for attending is secretly a little jealous deep down. And they should be.
Star Wars: In Concert brings a multi-media experience to audiences around the globe, successfully capturing the thrill, action, drama and emotion of the original films and music, conveying it all on the biggest screen possible - a three-story, high-definition LED super-screen to be exact.
A Star Wars fix and live symphony rolled into one made for a one of a kind experience that ended with an encore as the orchestra was coxed into one more performance by a standing ovation from the crowd. And for those who didn't get their fill, there is always tomorrow night.