The music of 'Star Wars' takes center stage

The scene inside the Sony Pictures soundstage was as impressive as most movie sets: a massive, futuristic stage, banks of remote-controlled lights, and more than a dozen technicians controlling laser effects, sound and smoke. But the rehearsal wasn’t for any movie. It was a recent technical run-through for "Star Wars: In Concert", a traveling stage show opening Thursday that seeks to bring an arena rock mentality to composer John Williams' movie music.

It's an odd mash-up — among the most influential and widely seen movie series ever made with classically trained musicians who rarely play to more than 1,000 people.

The concert has its U.S. premiere Thursday at Anaheim's Honda Center and then moves to Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.

'Star Wars: In Concert' coming to a galaxy near you -- specifically, New Orleans Arena

The Force is strong with this one: "Star Wars: In Concert" -- a touring multimedia event putting the music of John Williams in the spotlight -- is coming to New Orleans, and it's bringing along old Goldenrod himself, Anthony Daniels, who played C-3P0 in all six "Star Wars" films.

The traveling event -- which kicks off a worldwide arena tour Oct. 1 in Anaheim, Calif. -- is built around a live orchestra and choir playing Williams' "Star Wars" scores. It will be accompanied by images from the films, projected onto a three-story-tall movie screen erected over the stage, and an in-concert light show.

Daniels, wearing a tuxedo as opposed to his C-3P0 costume, will be onstage to narrate.

"We've taken the key themes from the music and cut together all the images that fit with each theme, so you can really get a sense of how the music played into the images," said "Star Wars" creator George Lucas in a news release. "The whole soundtrack is a testament to John Williams' creativity and his extraordinary ability to enhance the emotional aspects of the films."

Traveling with the show will be a museum-style exhibit of "Star Wars" costumes, props, artifacts, production artwork and specially created behind-the-scenes videos from the Lucasfilm Archives, many of them leaving Lucas' Skywalker Ranch for the first time.

Arena officials are expecting the usual "Star Wars" audience -- that is, a varied collection of fanboys, fangirls, wookiees, stormtroopers and astromech droids -- but they're especially targeting families, an arena spokeswoman said, describing it as a one-of-a-kind, family-friendly event.

"Star Wars: In Concert" -- which had its world premiere in London in April -- is scheduled to play at New Orleans Arena on Oct. 27.