ROAD TRIP: Biggest star of 'Star Wars' might be the music

At the midnight premiere of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” 10 years ago, I clapped a little too long when the 20th Century Fox logo appeared, so the guy next to me shushed me when “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ...” came on screen.

As a “Star Wars” fan, I eventually learned the drill: Cheer during the Fox fanfare, then fall silent when the words come on screen. This isn’t so we can concentrate on the three-paragraph scroll about the Trade Federation or the Clone Wars or the Rebellion.
It’s so that the only sound in the theater is the music of John Williams.

That will be the case again when Star Wars in Concert, featuring a hand-picked orchestra performing Williams’ famous music, is presented at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Tickets are $35, $55 or $75, and available at ticketmaster.com.

Like all “Star Wars” fans, I’m also a John Williams fan. The two are inseparable. It’s a well-known anecdote that in 1976, George Lucas played a rough cut of “Star Wars” for his film-school friends, including Steven Spielberg. Most of them hated it. The reason, in retrospect, is that the two key components of the film’s brilliance weren’t in place yet: The editing and the music.

Actually, it’s not entirely accurate to say the movie and the music are inseparable. True, no one would want to watch a “Star Wars” movie that only had images, dialogue and sound effects. However, listening to the music alone is pleasurable. (Not that you’ll just be staring at brass players if you attend the Sprint Center concert; a three-story-tall screen showing clips from the movies will dominate the venue. And, perhaps gratuitously, C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels will provide narration.)

In 2002, I had a “Star Wars” experience that doesn’t come along too often: I listened to the “Episode II — Attack of the Clones” soundtrack before I saw the movie. I reviewed the album for my college paper (in fact, I put out an entirely “Star Wars”-themed section for my last issue as entertainment editor; who knew if I’d have such an opportunity to abuse my power again?).

I wrote that when you listen to the soundtrack, “you realize that while you haven’t seen the film yet, you’ve already felt the film.” I added that the Anakin-Padme love theme is “a direct line to your tear ducts” and “Most compelling is the final track ... The way this music leads into the end credits is particularly tantalizing. It’s tempting to listen to it over and over again and wonder what that final image is going to be.”

Did I think Anakin was going to turn into Darth Vader before the Clone Wars began? Perhaps. The point is that such praise smacks of hyperbole when put in the context of the not-so-believable romance between Padme and Anakin (first she wants nothing to do with him, then she can’t live without him), but it’s valid when it refers to only the music, with the plot points left to one’s imagination.

I think Episode II is mediocre and Episode III is downright disappointing (one of the hardest things I’ve had to write was a C-plus review of “Revenge of the Sith”), but the previews for both movies were excellent, because they put the music in the forefront. The “Clone Wars” animated TV series works because each episode is 22 minutes of action and music (composed by Kevin Kiner, based on Williams’ work, of course), along with — let’s face it — better scripting than the prequel movies.

I suspect Star Wars In Concert will be another example of Lucas’ saga at its best. We don’t have to worry about stilted dialogue or Galactic Senate exposition because this is the galaxy far, far away boiled down to its addictive core: The images ... and the music.

If you go
What: “Star Wars In Concert”
When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City
Tickets: $35, $55 and $75
Web site: ticketmaster.com, starwarsinconcert.com