Thanks for the reminder, JMT!

I'm definitely not a music fan by any means. I mean I like to listen to all forms of music but for some reason I don't like to sit and watch anyone sing or play an instrument.

I'd rather hear them on the radio!

With that in mind, I went to "see" the George Lucas Star Wars Symphony at the Orleans arena last Saturday.

I say "see" because I wanted to see what Mr Lucas would do to make a symphony more enjoyable than just sitting there and listening to it.

Well! He did a spectacular job! The visuals were wonderful!

And the music was wonderful too but I would have been equally satisfied by the music if I merely listened to it on my iPod thing.

So .. first .. The Visuals....

I arrived about 45 minutes before the show-time and enjoyed seeing all the Star Wars stuff that was on display and I have to admit that I recognized most of it but not all of it.

I personally enjoy the video presentation that showed how all those elaborate scenes were actually created. For you movie making newbees, they use a green screen process that allows them to show thousands of troopers where only five really are or fantasy flights through outer space where no man has ever gone before ... and stuff like that.

But the most enjoyable part of that 'stuff' on display was watching the kids and moms and dads who were dressed as R2-D2, and 3-PO, and Luke, and Hans and the princess and even a very few Darth Vaders - all getting the very rare chance to meet for real those army guys outfitted in white plastic uniforms (I forgot their names) and other characters they've only seen in a darkened theater or now at home on their 54 inch TV screens.

Many kids were young enough to actually believe it was all 'for real' and that Jaba the Hut would be showing up at any second to drag them to Planer Toon-er-roony!. (He did not!)

SO the visual stuff was interesting, but the moms and dads and their little Star Wars characters made it much more entertaining.

SO with about five minutes before show-time, I entered the arena and was immediately impressed by the impressive layout. This was definitely another George Lucas production!

It was dimly lit but you could see that the very large Symphony orchestra guys and gals were already seated silently in what I sort of recall were black tuxedos. It appeared to me that they were seated silently at attention. (No movement whatsoever!)

And directly behind that silently stralthly seated somber tuxedo suited group was a huge screen that must have been 40 feet tall and 60 feet wide.
At the moment is was shaded in shadows but it was a harbinger of what was yet to come.

A mood had been set even before we had reached out seats.

And then without further ado the maestro entered and took to the podium and raised a baton!

And the magic started! Wow! It started with a heck of a BANG!

The screen came to life with a most impressive and brightly presented STAR WARS logo and the huge crowd went a bit crazy with applause but slowly gave into silence to listen to the Star Wars theme that every knows just about as well as that guy up there on that stage with that little stick in his hand.

And it was a great start and a great introduction to what was yet to come for the next one-hour and forty-minutes.

CP-30 came out in his human form and did a commendable job as the evening's Master of Ceremonies taking a few seconds to introduce the next scene that would be projected on that huge screen while the maestro prepared for the next rendition.

And familiar scenes were cast on that screen that fit perfectly with the music ... and since I know nothing about music other than how to listen to it ..... that's about all I can say about the music.... BUT .....

A lot of that music was music I was unfamiliar with. I can ID the theme song whenever or wherever I heard it and I can tell when Darth Vader will be making an appearence simply by listening to the 'tune', but a lot of the music was what I call 'background music' which, to me, never seemed to 'get off the ground'.

But two of the big numbers - the theme song and the rip-roaring bar/cabaret song where Luke first meets Hans and all those alien creatures - brought down the house.

Visually - it was wonderful. Something that you'd expect from George Lucas and his cast of imagineers.

The music was wonderful too, but (and as you already know) I'd rather hear it on the radio while driving off to see someone whose lively-hood doesn't depend upon singing or playing a musical instrument for a living.

Thanks will, it sounds like a good time.

I've never seen Star Wars. I've seen bits and pieces here and there. I know so little, I easily get it confused with Star Trek in many areas.

I remember the first time I saw an orchestra. It was on a field trip in my very early school years. At the end of the concert, they played some tunes from my favorite cartoons. Once I realized that it took an orchestra to make the music and sound effects from Rocky and Bullwinkle, Bugs Bunny, and others I had a great appreciation for the making of music.

OTOH, no matter how much I enjoy or despise a given song or genre, I don't give rats tail what the musicians viewpoint is on politics, environment, social matters, etc.

I think that I would have enjoyed the music and visuals. I'm glad you did.

Thanks for the report.

I, like JMT, have never watched Star wars or any of the trilogy movies. But this still sounded like a fun night out! Thanks for reporting back to us all Will! After reading your report, I would pay to see this even without knowing the whole story line of Starwars!