Last weekend saw Anthony Daniels return to the stage as host of Star Wars in Concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and accompanied by the LA Philharmonic he took the audience through the three trilogy, nine-movie saga as SWIC returned for the first time in almost a decade. Tony Frankel from Stage and Cinema was there to see the performance for himself, a show that clearly hit all the right beats.
The film montages combined clips edited by Jeremy Stuart and Adam Witt (including original character concept drawings) to fit the music from all nine Star Wars movies, often interspersing segments from the original series with the three prequels using revised footage. The occasional clip had the sound from the film, usually featuring one of the many legendary quotes. Personally, I found that distracting from the music, but fortunately, it was rarely done.
All this fun is put up against the seriousness that makes Star Wars a piece of nostalgia that spans generations. Williams makes many nods to centuries past in his celebrated Star Wars score: the beefed-up orchestra à-la-Mahler; the sweeping lines of Puccini, the leitmotifs of Wagner. George Lucas pulls from the old stories of heroes, mythology, and good-versus-evil — the same source materials that gave us Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Handel’s operas about Roman Emperors, and Harry Potter.
The result, at least for me, was that I found myself completely immersed. My eyes wandered between the screen and the members of the orchestra, and I marveled at how making these films was such a staggering team effort. I did, a few times, have to shield my eyes from the screen. So amazing was the reconstruction of footage that it was hard to concentrate on the players of the LA Phil, one of the world’s greatest orchestras, showing off why they are considered just that.
Star Wars Music Minute also gave their considered thoughts on the concert.
Xanthe, James, Christina, and Ender review Star Wars in Concert—which we attended at Walt Disney Concert Hall on November 21, 2024. Anthony Daniels hosted the evening, Sarah Hicks conducted The Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Robert Istad directed the CSUF University Singers.
Posts by those in attendance have started hitting social media.
#StarWars in Concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. @LAPhil pic.twitter.com/ANZYJT4U7A
— AJ 🇺🇸 (@SDajd4) November 23, 2024
We had a fantastic time last night at the Disney Concert Hall with the LA Philharmonic and their tribute to the music of John Williams.
This weekend is Star Wars in Concert, featuring music from all nine Skywalker saga movies and selected clips from the movies. pic.twitter.com/kMn2JVtsk8
— Hubert Wong (@Hubert_Wong2) November 24, 2024
We sat right above the orchestra and could see the musicians playing. The program was hosted by C-3PO himself, Anthony Daniels.
There was a talk before the concert by a journalist commenting on the music we would hear.
There is still one more performance tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. pic.twitter.com/dIlfcgUt2H
— Hubert Wong (@Hubert_Wong2) November 24, 2024
Finally, we spoke with Anthony before the event on Making Tracks about his excitement for bringing SWIC back (and his hopes for it heading back out on tour).
Be sure to grab Star Wars Insider #230, out late March 2025 where I chat with Anthony about his SWIC adventures, and his hopes for the future of the show.
