LucasFilm Says "Star Wars: A Musical Journey" Bound For U.S.

After launching at London's O2 arena in April, a live stage treatment of the Star Wars series, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, will make its way to the U.S. But organizers say they're steering clear of a straight forward musical theater treatment or "R2-D2 rolling across the stage," and are instead preparing a recontextualization of the iconic film franchise featuring an enormous LED screen, classic films scenes and, of course, John Williams' landmark score.

First announced in late 2008, Star Wars: A Musical Journey debuts April 10 in London, where 17,000 will be the first to sample the bombastic production. Williams is personally rearranging the neo-romantic space opera's leitmotifs like "The Imperial March" and the "Star Wars (Main Theme)" for performance live by the 86-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. The symphony will perform in front of a 100-foot LED screen displaying a LucasFilm re-edit of all six movies into one 90-minute narrative that syncs to the beat of Williams' new work.

The idea for Journey came during the scoring phase of post-production on Revenge of the Sith according to Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing and a 29-year veteran of the company. "We were really looking for something that would be big and spectacular and reach as many people as possible and still deliver a really fantastic experience," he says.

Williams — the man behind iconic scores for Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and more — was ecstatic to work in a new context according to tour partner Gregg Perloff whose Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment is producing the event.

"This is the first time that LucasFilm has authorized this kind of presentation, so that's a big deal," Perloff said. "When we showed [Williams] our plans he was looking at the technical aspects of it and saying to his manager and agent, 'God, we should do this every night.' Because no one's ever done it. He was so into it. He understands that certain music plays a certain way to a film and that it plays slightly different live — and so he's making sure that every piece is perfect for the live experience."