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ARLINGTON — It is not hard to succeed if you have "the force" and the world’s largest TV screen on your side.
"Star Wars: In Concert," a presentation of clips from the six films in the iconic series accompanied by a live orchestra aggrandizing John Williams’ indelible scores, relied on both at Cowboys Stadium on Friday night — especially if the concept of the force encompasses the passion of the fans of George Lucas’ space operas. The link between the concert stage and the movies was Anthony Daniels, the actor who donned a metal suit to play C-3PO. The debonair host told the saga’s story between film montages that were organized around themes and bore titles such as A Hero Rises, Dark Forces Conspire, A Fateful Love and to showcase Daniels’ character and his buddy, R2D2, Droids.It looked and sounded great. Seeing the familiar clips on the gigantic screen was impressive, and there was nothing to fault in the music led by conductor Mark Watters. The only quibbles might be that the show didn’t really dazzle as much as it could have, and it was a little too much like seeing the movie in a (really large) theater.Laser lights were used very sparingly, for example. The laser light show we see every summer in the Concerts in the Garden series is far better. And other special effects, such as some plumes of fire, came and went too quickly.The fact that the music was heartily amplified, just as it would be in a theater, minimized the impact of the live playing. The shots of the orchestra performing, which were sometimes interspersed with the film clips, were a real plus because they reminded us that the musicians were there with us.Daniels was smooth and actorly in his straightforward delivery of his lines. The audience, estimated at 12,000, did not get any amusing anecdotes or gossip from this charming insider.So the central elements — grand music, epic film imagery and intense nostalgia — were all in place. But, given how innovative and memorable the films were, it just felt like this salute could have learned a little more from its source than it did.
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