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CNN Live Saturday
Theater Troupe Stages Lightning Speed 'Star Wars'
Aired December 28, 2002 - 18:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You may not think about special effects and "Star Wars" when you think about live theater, but as David Daniel shows us, somebody did. Finding a way to put all three of the first "Star Wars" movies on stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STAR WARS")
ALEC GUINNESS, ACTOR: The force will be with you, always.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID DANIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There may not be a better known trio of movies than "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," but you've never seen that trilogy quite like this.
The dialogue is familiar, but where are the spaceships, the special effects, Harrison Ford? What in the galaxy is going on here? We asked the Jedi master himself.
GEORGE LUCAS, DIRECTOR, "STAR WARS": It's a wonderful show. It's a theatrical production where they do the entire trilogy in 30 minutes. It's pretty intense. It's very funny, extremely funny.
DANIEL: No Lucas or Spielberg style razzle-dazzle here. "Star Wars" trilogy in 30 minutes depends on low-budget lunacy and light speed dialogue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL: By necessity, some of the action has been trimmed and most of the performers play several roles. Don't blink or you'll miss bad guys Gran Maul Tarkin (ph) and Darth Vader turn into C-3PO and Chewbacca, and the dialogue that remains is verbatim from the movies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL (on camera): Naturally, many of the folks who fill this Los Angeles theater night after night are huge "Star Wars" fans who know the dialogue as well as the actors do. Others, believe it or not, have never seen a "Star Wars" film and they seem to enjoy themselves as much as the diehards.
(voice-over): Some on the cast can't help wondering what their big screen counterparts would think of the small stage shenanigans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You bet, I'm working on getting Mark Hammil here.
DANIEL: Creator Patrick T. Gorman and his troupe have performed their light-speed trilogy from Southern California to Scotland, even for Lucas himself.
PATRICK T. GORMAN, CREATOR, "STAR WARS" THEATER: It was probably as nerve-wracking an experience for an entire cast, as well as myself, as one could ever have. Because you never know, you're taking this guys work that he's done, obviously put so much care and love into, and then we've turned it into Wiffle ball bats and fat guys.
DANIELS: Lucas loved it, so do critics and audiences from the inspired impersonations, to the bargain basement special effects.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole point of it, it has to be fun. It has to look like fun to the audience. We have to look like the little junior high school kids who, you know, when into our garages picked up a bunch of props and then are jumping around the furniture and playing.
DANIEL: On the contrary, with rave reviews and packed houses, the galaxy appears in good hands.
David Daniel, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 28, 2002 - 18:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You may not think about special effects and "Star Wars" when you think about live theater, but as David Daniel shows us, somebody did. Finding a way to put all three of the first "Star Wars" movies on stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STAR WARS")
ALEC GUINNESS, ACTOR: The force will be with you, always.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID DANIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There may not be a better known trio of movies than "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," but you've never seen that trilogy quite like this.
The dialogue is familiar, but where are the spaceships, the special effects, Harrison Ford? What in the galaxy is going on here? We asked the Jedi master himself.
GEORGE LUCAS, DIRECTOR, "STAR WARS": It's a wonderful show. It's a theatrical production where they do the entire trilogy in 30 minutes. It's pretty intense. It's very funny, extremely funny.
DANIEL: No Lucas or Spielberg style razzle-dazzle here. "Star Wars" trilogy in 30 minutes depends on low-budget lunacy and light speed dialogue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL: By necessity, some of the action has been trimmed and most of the performers play several roles. Don't blink or you'll miss bad guys Gran Maul Tarkin (ph) and Darth Vader turn into C-3PO and Chewbacca, and the dialogue that remains is verbatim from the movies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL (on camera): Naturally, many of the folks who fill this Los Angeles theater night after night are huge "Star Wars" fans who know the dialogue as well as the actors do. Others, believe it or not, have never seen a "Star Wars" film and they seem to enjoy themselves as much as the diehards.
(voice-over): Some on the cast can't help wondering what their big screen counterparts would think of the small stage shenanigans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You bet, I'm working on getting Mark Hammil here.
DANIEL: Creator Patrick T. Gorman and his troupe have performed their light-speed trilogy from Southern California to Scotland, even for Lucas himself.
PATRICK T. GORMAN, CREATOR, "STAR WARS" THEATER: It was probably as nerve-wracking an experience for an entire cast, as well as myself, as one could ever have. Because you never know, you're taking this guys work that he's done, obviously put so much care and love into, and then we've turned it into Wiffle ball bats and fat guys.
DANIELS: Lucas loved it, so do critics and audiences from the inspired impersonations, to the bargain basement special effects.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole point of it, it has to be fun. It has to look like fun to the audience. We have to look like the little junior high school kids who, you know, when into our garages picked up a bunch of props and then are jumping around the furniture and playing.
DANIEL: On the contrary, with rave reviews and packed houses, the galaxy appears in good hands.
David Daniel, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
