Star Wars in Concert: A Review

Okay, I'm a super nerd. I admit it. I paid $75.00 to go see the Star Wars Orchestra play John Williams music set to laser lights & video clips & shed a few tears. The seats were amazing. 3rd row floor, no one in front, so it felt like 1st row. The show however seemed to be lacking a little. Now, like I said, super nerd, so to many I'm sure it was absolutely fantastic. To me the show didn't seem to have the emotional depth it could have. The clips were randomly spliced together & some of them just seemed out of place. The repeats of scenes throughout seemed lazy as well. With 6 movies to pull clips from I found it strange they had to repeat so many. Watching the chase scene from Coruscant in AOTC while listening to "Astroid Field" from the Empire Strikes Back soundtrack just didn't work. There are certain moments that are so one with the music to replace them with other scenes just doesn't work. You find yourself waiting to see a particular moment only to find that moment confused by some other scene that just doesn't quite fit. There are other scenes that would work there, but not the one they chose. The laser lights were great & did seem to be placed perfectly with the score as well as the use of the pyro when scenes of Mustafar appeared. Some of the "chapters" were dead on. For example "Bother & Sister", perfect. The emotion was there, the depth, & the score all combining into a truly moving experience. Others just seemed to fall short. The giant metal arms with cameras on the end that swooped up & down between the audience & the stage seemed odd. Everyone on the floor, as well as the rest of the crowd I imagine, had their view obscured several times throughout the performance. Anthony Daniels did an outstanding job of storytelling & you felt that you just might be in that Ewok hut when C3PO was telling the tale in Jedi. Overall, I enjoyed myself. If I had to rate it I would give it a C or 3 out of 5 stars. The prop replicas were really built up & once you got there you realized there wasn't going to be a museum type showcase of things. Under 20 items scattered about with backdrops to stand in front of. One of Amidala's dresses, the Chewbacca, Vader, C3PO, Imperial Officer, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Trade federation soldier, & Royal Guard costumes, a few helmets, a handful of minor character weapons, and a Yoda prop replica. The most exciting "prop" there was John Williams original penciled sheet music. Where were the lightsabers? How about models of the Falcon? X-wings? Nothing from Luke, Han or Leia. Not even anything from Anakin. No Jedi robes or Han in Carbonite. Even the Merchandise tables were lacking. Anything wearable I wanted didn't come in my size. L or XL were my only options. When will these companies catch a clue that some of us don't share any resemblance to the Simpson's "Comic Book Guy"? They did have a few things in children sizes. T-shirts were $35.00, hoodies $65 & $75, programs $30. The cheapest thing you could purchase was a $10 keychain that resembles a lightsaber that lit up. No John Williams exclusive Star Wars in Concert figure? Come on guys, you're missing the boat. Again, I say, I know, I know, super nerd. I had a great time & am glad to have gone, I just think it could have been quite a bit better than what we got. Still, I love Star Wars and am glad to see new types of entertainment arise from it. Next time, just try a little harder. May the Force be with you.