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

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An exclusive preview for Rolling Stone gave an indication of the production's hair-raising potency, from the thundering drums of the "20th Century Fox Theme" to the Wagnerian "Star Wars (Main Theme)."

"This'll be the biggest, baddest sounding orchestra that anybody's ever heard," said Spencer Churchill, tour producer for Another Planet. All that power comes with a hefty back end — Churchill said A Musical Journey is bigger than 90 to 95 percent of all rock tours because of the stage, the LED screen, and all the vintage Star Wars costumes that will be displayed within several thousand square-feet of "front of the house" space each night. Churchill can't detail specific artifacts from the exhibition but said, "It will be a lot of stuff. A few of them have never been seen before."

"Let's put it this way," says Perloff, "We could sell tickets just for the exhibit and people will feel like they've got their money's worth."

"There's not one thing that can tell you what's under this roof while it's all happening," said Churchill, and that is part of the problem of the project. Star Wars has the most demanding fans in history, and some reacted derisively to news of A Musical Journey. The producers feel the pressure to satisfy them as well as a general audience.

"It's a different way of looking at the familiar," says Perloff. "It requires a great deal of thought as to, 'How do you make the live experience of this meet what the films are?' We can't have a third-rate production. We have so much respect for the films and John Williams' music that we want to elevate the audience to a certain standard.

"We're not going to fall victim to cheap gags, which you certainly could do in this case."

"You do have to walk that fine line," says Churchill. "Certainly you want it to be entertaining without it being kitschy and I think we are doing that completely. It's not a bunch of shtick. It's not R2-D2 going across the stage — that's what it's not going to be."

Tickets will range from $35 to $75, with more show dates throughout Europe and America to be announced.

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