June 4, 2011 — Tonight FILMEDGE enjoyed a second Saga helping as STAR WARS IN CONCERT returned to Southern California, filling the famous Hollywood Bowl with devoted fans and John Williams' brilliant score compositions gathered from all six STAR WARS films. Hosted once again by actor Anthony Daniels, the human alter-ego of the Saga's golden protocol droid C-3PO, tonight's performance held a very special surprise for the finale: legendary composer Williams himself took the stage at the conclusion of the main program to lead the orchestra in a rousing encore. Williams' appearance was a great gift to attending fans on this final night of the Hollywood Bowl engagement and the last night of STAR WARS IN CONCERT's entire North American tour for the year. It was a special treat knowing the master was in the house and standing at the podium again to conduct one of his greatest score tracks from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

As enjoyed before in FILMEDGE's 2009 experience of STAR WARS IN CONCERT at the Nokia Theater, host and narrator Daniels delivered another stirring dramatic performance as he recounted the heroic and tragic tale of Anakin Skywalker, the boy who grows up to be a noble Jedi Knight in the STAR WARS galaxy, only to fall from grace and nearly bring all to destruction before his sacrificial act of ultimate redemption. Daniels, who knows the STAR WARS Saga first hand having played the droid C-3PO in all six films spanning three decades of production, has a splendid gift for infusing these familiar stories with renewed tension and emotion, backed by a world class orchestra and some of the most evocative, powerful music ever composed for the cinema. The actor flirted with moments of replicating 3PO's fussy quirks and complaints at moments, though clad in a black tuxedo instead of his gold metallic costume, but the voice and physical mannerisms flash back instantly through Daniels. A brief glance at his shiny golden vest under the tux also showed that Daniels still keeps his protocol droid's personality close to his heart after all these years.

The musical program of STAR WARS IN CONCERT remained the same as before, since this carefully choreographed ensemble of orchestral performance, light and laser effects, and a series of thematically-edited film clips must unite in sight and sound to achieve this mega-concert experience. While the narration followed the story line from Anakin Skywalker's isolated youth on Tatooine, the discovery of his power with the Force, his training by and eventual betrayal of the Jedi Knights to become Darth Vader, visually related clips from all six films combined in each audio-visual segment to enhance the storytelling. Often the clever editing and juxtaposition of vastly different characters and events in the films lend a foreshadowing to future events in the narrative thread, or echo those moments from the past which resonate in the story of Anakin's abandoned son Luke Skywalker, who is fated to confront his fallen father and save both his soul and the galaxy which his fall corrupted. Likewise it's fascinating to hear how Williams' themes and motifs composed in the 1970s/80s for the Original Trilogy of STAR WARS films are reflected and refracted through his newer scores for the Prequel Trilogy from 1999 to 2005, especially those score moments centering on Anakin's troubled youth and evil manipulation by Palpatine, who turned perhaps the most powerful Jedi Knight to become a slave to the Dark Side of the Force and servant to a Sith Lord.

The main variable encountered for STAR WARS IN CONCERT was the change in venue for our second sampling, and the contrast between the indoor Nokia Theater to the outdoor Hollywood Bowl venue was considerable through not crucial to enjoying the event. Enjoying a concert under the stars, nestled in the Hollywood Hills in an open-air canyon is the main appeal of going to the Bowl, so the elements always play a factor in any event hosted there. The slight breezes and cool night air didn't hamper the musical presentation at all, though on occasion the audio mix varied much more than experienced at the Nokia: during the confrontation between Jedi Master Mace Windu and the evil Palpatine, their low-register voices got lost behind the orchestra's dramatic cue, while higher register voices like Padme or Leia often punched out over the top of their music passages.

The limiting dimensions of the Bowl stage itself partially obstructed the enormous LED screen as the light rigging and center speaker hung in front of the screen along the top edge. This visual interference was only momentarily distracting depending upon which clips were being screened, but given the upward slope of the seating area, this blocking effect must have been accentuated the further back one viewed the stage. Also, the two sidebar image screens were considerably smaller confined within the Bowl's acoustic shell with its funnel-like dimensions compared to the flat, wide Nokia stage area, but their low-res contributions to the multimedia mural are supplementary in either case. One new wrinkle provided by the Bowl was the ability to project these alternate clips on the facade of the Bowl shell itself, seen above as the Millennium Falcon dodges asteroids across the front arc of the stage while Han, Chewie and Leia are shown in the Falcon's cockpit on the main screen. This extra dimension of film excitement and visual counterpoint enhanced the concert experience dramatically and was a clever bonus unique to the Bowl. The show's laser light beams were a little hit-and-miss in effect given the fog pumped into the air during intermission had a tendency to blow out of the Bowl canyon which dissipated the beams' visibility, but the open sky view above and depth of the seating area added more dimensionality to the lasers as they pulsed and shone overhead. Hundreds of lightsabers glowing in the audience contributed to the fun, festival atmosphere of the concert as well, flashing and swooping with waves of cheering and applause as STAR WARS character favorites like Han Solo, Darth Vader and Princess Leia all had their musical moments in the spotlight.

Topping off the stellar STAR WARS evening, the surprise appearance by composer John Williams elevated the entire event up another notch as the audience's standing ovation for Daniels and the orchestra melded into thunderous applause when Williams was introduced. Williams took the podium and fired up The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, which would have torn the roof off the Bowl if it had one. The obvious highlight of the concert, Williams' encore appearance allowed fans a rare opportunity to express their appreciation for the composer's lifelong body of film score work, and his landmark creations for George Lucas' STAR WARS Saga in particular.

With STAR WARS IN CONCERT now ending its second year of touring venues in North America, fans should monitor the official concert event website for the addition of future performance dates and cities if Lucasfilm and orchestral partners around the globe begin a third year of taking John Williams' epic STAR WARS Saga music on the road again. This is an event every fan, old and new, should experience and enjoy at least once. FilmEdge's second time was just as good as the first, and we'd be happy to make it a trilogy of visits in the near future.

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