I’m sure those who really are concerned know about the touring Star Wars in Concert events that are happening well pretty much everywhere it seems. This past Tuesday they made a swing into the New Orleans Arena, and I, of course, just had to go. For the most part I have to say I was pleased. The music from the films is definitely served well by having the full orchestra treatment. Also, I was just lusting after the screen because that would definitely be the way to watch the films. Most important: I can now only hear the “Imperial March” live; there’s nothing else that can possibly give that song its due from here on out.

Unfortunately, I do have a couple of gripes: the entire thing is just a little too scripted. There was no mention of where they were, nor anything else to connect the audience with that night’s performance. And, come on, these days you can really score a lot of brownie points by saying something to the effect that it’s nice to see such a showing in New Orleans, or anything else to give the people here a little credit all things considered. It was apparent that we were seeing the exact same thing they saw in Houston a couple of days before, which was the exact thing they saw in Dallas the night before, and so on. The second thing is that some of the sequences seemed a bit forced and as a result a little too long. If you think about it, there are really few “whole” songs that can stand up to a live performance. The two parts I thought were a bit stretched were the portions about Anakin and then the Droids. These were more bits that accompanied moments in the films, and not extended pieces, and when they were all patched together the entire thing seemed a bit forced.

Other than these couple of things, I have to say I was for the most part pleased with the experience. I only got a ticket for myself, so I went for floor seats. A word of warning for those getting floor seats, though: watch out for the extra bit of heat you might feel a couple of times. The crowd seemed to enjoy themselves, there was a bit of cosplay, and the local 501st did its usual spectacular job in engaging the fans of all ages.

The display portion of the tour is pretty much what you would expect. In this venue the memorabilia was spread around the second level, so you just had to walk around to see what was there. Many of the things I’ve seen already, but I was especially thrilled to see Amidala’s senate gown from Episode I:

I’d not seen this particular gown before, so I gave it the most of my attention. As always, I am completely blown away by the amount of detail that was placed in making all of the costumes, and this one is a testament to that fact. (One minor gripe I had about the display, though, is that they didn’t do the face markings on the mannequin; all of the other displays of dresses for the Queens of Naboo had the markings, so I don’t understand why this was different. Oh, well, that’s just me being overly nitpicky I guess.) There are a fair number of costumes and props on display, so it’s well worth arriving early to be able to track everything down and get a good look at everything. I also have to give major kudos to the folks who have to pick up and move these things almost every day; you definitely have an unenviable task.

So in the end I have to say that I was pleased, although there are a few things that could have been done just a smidge better. It’s definitely a very unique experience, and one that most Star Wars fans will find exciting.