Readers of Fantha Tracks might not be aware of the eclectic melange that is the George Lucas Super Live Adventure, and that’s perfectly understandable. A unique experience very much of its time (and place), the show which toured Japan from April to September 1993, playing to thousands per night across 198 performances, featured moments from Lucasfilm productions including Indiana Jones, Tucker: The Man And His Dream, American Grafitti, Willow and of course Star Wars. Filmed by Matt Singer, that footage is now online, allowing people of the 21st century to see how – as we approach the 50th anniversary of Star Wars – Lucasfilm celebrated the first two decades of the company.
Super Live Adventure was produced by Feld Productions, led by Kenneth Feld, the impresario behind Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, and Monster Jam. With fight choreography by legendary Broadway and Hollywood stunt coordinator BH Barry, the result is a bizarre hodgepodge of Lucasfilm’s most memorable moments, such as Indiana Jones fighting a real tiger and the 10-minute tap-dance routine from Tucker: A Man And His Dream.
“It was such a strange show,” JD Roberto told The A.V. Club by phone. “The idea was that any movie that Lucas had either directed or produced was going to be cobbled together with a very loose narrative about a young Japanese girl searching for something.” That girl was an audience plant in search of the Force within her, as she helps Indiana Jones fight Belloq and hears about an automotive revolution from Preston Tucker. This is all before she meets Darth Vader, rescues Luke Skywalker, and saves the galaxy (and the audience). One of the first people she would meet was Madmartigan, Val Kilmer’s character from Willow, played by Kucan, whose big stunt was decapitating Kael with a broadsword, a beat that freaked audiences out.
Audiences ate it up. Across 198 performances, the show held residencies in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and more. “You had an audience of 8,000, 10,000 people,” said Roberto. “We had fans who would come. Show after show after show, hold up signs, wait outside the door, follow the show from city to city. There were some super fans there. The guys who played Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones had people lining up with gifts outside the stage door.” People returned so frequently that Kucan remembers looking out into the crowd and seeing fans performing all the steps to the American Graffiti number.
The massive production required a stage over one acre wide and five stories high, 150 cast, crew, and staff members, two Bengal tigers, two horses, and four dogs, according to TheRaider.net. “There were more than 400 costumes and 1,616 costume pieces[…]Over 140 musicians recorded the original music score, including the 76-piece London Symphony Orchestra, 17-piece big band, and an 18-piece rock ‘n’ roll band.” There was a gigantic inflatable jukebox, Jabba the Hutt, and the Millennium Falcon, which would land on the stage.
