By Marc Fortier
Staff writer

Five-time Academy Award winner John Williams wrote the scores for “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and more. But it’s the music from the six “Star Wars” movies for which he is best known.

Now, for the first time, fans of the sci-fi saga can see the best of the “Star Wars” movies, combined with the best of Williams’ music from those films as part of the new “Star Wars: In Concert” tour, which makes a stop in Manchester, N.H., this week.

“You’ve got the greatest hits of “Star Wars” set to the greatest music of John Williams,” said Gregg Perloff, one of the show’s producers. “We’ve taken the best scenes from all six films — they could be battle or love scenes — and put them together in basic chronological order.” (For “Star Wars” buffs, that’s episodes 1 through 6, not 4 through 6 and then 1 through 3, as the films were actually released.)

The production features a full symphony orchestra and choir, accompanied by specially edited footage from the films, all displayed on a $4 million, three-story-tall, high-definition LED super-screen — the largest ever put on tour, according to Perloff.

The live music and film elements are synchronized in order to create a full, multimedia, one-of-a-kind “Star Wars” experience.

“The show plays really well to not just “Star Wars” fans, but the general public and symphony fans,” Perloff said. “We’ve made it a grand arena production, with big time special effects — pyro, flash pots, lasers…”
Serving as the show’s emcee and narrator is Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C-3PO in all six “Star Wars” films.

“He helps to weave together the whole saga,” Perloff said.

One great thing about the show is that you get the whole “Star Wars” story in one shot. It would take you more than 13 hours to watch all six films back-to-back, while “Star Wars: In Concert” has a run time of just two hours — including the 20 minute intermission.

So far, the show — which opened Oct. 1 in the U.S. — has been getting a great response, Perloff said.

“The crowds in each city have been different,” he said. “In some cities, you have adults in costume; in others, nobody.”

One thing Perloff has seen are a lot of fathers and sons. Many times the fathers are fans of the original “Star Wars” films, while the sons are into the “Clone Wars” cartoon show.

“What’s really gratifying about it is that at a lot of shows, you have people in the 20 to 30, or 50 to 60 age range,” he said. “This is a wide range. You’ve got people from 4 to 80 coming to the show. It appeals to every segment of the population.”

Perloff warned, though, that this is not a show for really young children. It’s big, it’s loud, and it has all the elements of the original “Star Wars” films.

“It’s not a Disney show,” he said. “It’s for ages 4 and up.”

Accompanying the concert is an exclusive exhibit of “Star Wars” costumes, props, artifacts, production artwork and specially created behind-the-scenes videos from the Lucasfilm Archives.

Many of these pieces are leaving Skywalker Ranch for the first time. The exhibit features many classic fan favorite artifacts, as well as several new and never before seen items.

For example, for the first time ever, pages from John Williams’ original, hand-written sheet music for “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” will be exhibited for the public.

Also on display will be various never before seen props from the films, including blasters and helmets from Coruscant, Tatooine and other iconic “Star Wars” locations.

“People are just going crazy for the exhibit,” Perloff said.
For more information on “Star Wars: In Concert”, go to www.StarWarsInConcert.com

If you go
What: “Star Wars: In Concert”
When: Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m., Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, N.H. and Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., TDGarden, Boston
Tickets: $32.50-$74
Info: 1-800-745-3000 or Ticketmaster.com