Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to perform Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December
In a major coup, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will perform the score to Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December in a series of special screenings before the cinema release of The Last Jedi.
The concerts will take place at the newly refurbished Palais Theatre in St Kilda, with the forecourt to play host to family events where fans can “nerd out”, says MSO senior manager of special projects Andrew Pogson.
Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in The Force Awakens. Photo: Lucasfilm
“We wanted to have a way for fans to be able to experience the show in a super deluxe version, and remind themselves of how it [The Force Awakens] goes before the following week to go and see the new film,” Mr Pogson said.
The timing of the concerts – just days out from the release of The Last Jedi on December 14 – was a “world exclusive”, Mr Pogson said, with the only earlier concert being the world premiere from the New York Philharmonic in October.
Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn in a scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Photo: Disney/Lucasfilm
“We are actually the only orchestra in the world that is allowed to do it in conjunction with Episode VIII. We’ve had great support from Disney Australia to be able to secure it for the [Australian] premiere here.”
Disney, which owns the rights to the Star Wars franchise, recently gave the MSO the green light to play the John Williams score alongside the film after two years of negotiations.
In recent years the orchestra has added film scores to its annual program as a way to attract new audiences. Last month it performed Jonny Greenwood’s score to There Will Be Blood. It will stage the first two Harry Potter films, also with John Williams scores, in November, and the third in 2018.
As for plans to perform the original Star Wars films from the 1970s and ’80s, Mr Pogson said: “Watch this space”.