Star Wars' Musical Journey No Star Wars On Ice, Claims Rolling Stone

Sure, you may think that Star Wars: A Musical Journey sounds like a cheesy cash-in on the classic films of your youth, but the organizers are promising something epic... as well as no R2-D2 cameo.

The show - due to premiere in London this April before heading to the States - features the scores from the six movies, rearranged by John Williams himself and performed by an orchestra in front of a backdrop of re-edited footage from the movies, creating a 90 minute visual narrative accompanying the music. But that's not all that you'll see when you visit the show, according to Rolling Stone magazine:

[Tour producer, Spencer] Churchill said A Musical Journey is bigger than 90 to 95 percent of all rock tours because of the stage, the LED screen, and all the vintage Star Wars costumes that will be displayed within several thousand square-feet of "front of the house" space each night. Churchill can't detail specific artifacts from the exhibition but said, "It will be a lot of stuff. A few of them have never been seen before."

"Let's put it this way," says [Churchill's partner, Greg] Perloff, "We could sell tickets just for the exhibit and people will feel like they've got their money's worth."

This means respecting the movies and the fans, according to Churchill... which, in turn, means that you shouldn't expect to see someone dressed as Darth Vader appearing in front of the orchestra to try and get everyone to boo him:

Certainly you want it to be entertaining without it being kitschy and I think we are doing that completely. It's not a bunch of shtick. It's not R2-D2 going across the stage - that's what it's not going to be.

As long as the 90-minute re-edit of the movies excises Jar-Jar, I'll be happy.

Flick Image by PowerPig.

LucasFilm Says "Star Wars: A Musical Journey" Bound For U.S. [Rolling Stone]