STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away—41 years ago, to be exact—“Star Wars” thundered onto the silver screen and Hollywood was never the same.
The Sun Valley Summer Symphony and its fans may never be the same following Sunday night’s performance set to the entire two hours and five minutes of the 1977 blockbuster.
The crowd hit galactic proportions with an estimated 10,000 people turning out to see Luke Skywalker take on Darth Vader with the help of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s brass, string and percussion players.
That’s the most ever to turn out for a performance by the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, said Mike Fitzpatrick, director of communications for Sun Valley Resort.
That’s more than the entire population of Hailey. And it’s about twice the population of Ketchum, Sun Valley and Bellevue combined.
It’s more than the 7,500 estimated to turn out for “Pixar” and more than the 8,000 estimated to turn out for the 2016 pops concert featuring movie blockbuster film scores conducted by Philly Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski.
In fact, it was so anticipated that some people reportedly began laying blankets out on the Pavilion lawn at 4 a.m. Suinday morning.
But who had time to count?!
The crowd was glued to Jedi Maestro Alasdair as he led his Jedi Knights through a performance that, while symphonic, was certainly unconventional.
Neale took the stage in a Darth Vader costume but quickly turned his light saber into a baton, happy in the knowledge that the symphony had been one of the first to secure the rights to perform the piece in concert.
The symphony performed the opening credits, even the 20th Century Fox bit.
And the audience cheered as the familiar brass fanfare accompanied the text, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”
Neale wore head phones, as he did during the Pixar concert in 2014, when he had to make sure every last click was accounted for so that he would have the orchestra performing precisely in time to the movie.
The strings sawed away furiously during the battles. And, every time the back row picked up their horns, the audience knew the forces of good were about to take front and center.
Perhaps the most iconic moment was when Neale shot his hand up right as the forces of evil exploded on the screen above.
“A lot of people have their eyes fixed on the screen but it’s really fun to watch the orchestra play underneath,” observed George Sedlack.
Musicians didn’t have to play continuously—they got occasional breaks while Hans Solo jabbered away: “Look, your worshipfulness , let’s get one thing straight. I take orders from just one person: Me.”
Or that memorable line from Princess Leia about Chewbacca: “Will someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?”
The lucky musicians in the front even got to watch galactic battles at times.
But, soon, they were back to the big fight and the big win. And it was all over. Except, it wasn’t.
The symphony played on as the credits rolled. And this was one instance where the audience didn’t leave during the credits.
After all, this was still part of the concert they’d come to see.
And, in the end the stars aligned and The Force was with us:
- A beautiful summer evening.
- An iconic movie that had 70-year-olds cheering on right alongside seven-year-olds.
- A symphony that didn’t miss a beat.
- And a crowd of thousands taking part in something as one.
As the rolling credits neared the end, they mentioned Dolby Surround Sound and advised the audience to alert someone if the movie soundtrack was not up to their expectations.
There was no need for that. Repeated ovations, coupled with whistles and boisterous cheers, told the story.
Alasdair Neale was so giddy he hopped a few times.
“Oh my Lord,” sighed one woman, exhausted.