Star Wars: In Concert

Star Wars: In Concert was here last weekend at the new Cowboys Stadium, and the stormtroopers were invited to attend. I went along as a handler, and for the first time, I truly had to handle! (Usually, I'm just telling a little kid not to hit the stormtrooper with his plastic lightsaber or to leave his gun alone.)

The guys changed down in a dance room that presumably is used by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. (There was a big photo of them in the room.) While they were changing, Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, came in with his wife to say hello. They were there to attend the concert. We all thought that was very nice of them to think of the 501st Legion and stop by.




We rode up in the service elevator.



The doors opened and the hordes descended upon the group. Ordinarily I stick with my husband when he's in costume, but this time I stuck to Vader like glue. He's always the most popular. My pictures of this part of things aren't very good, but they capture well just how crowded things were. The crowds were too close for comfort, to be honest!







When it was time for the guys to go change back into normal clothes before the concert started, I had to lead them through the crowd. Everyone wanted Vader to stop for photos. Good thing I used to be a teacher, because my teacher voice and authoritative tone came in handy for telling people that he wasn't stopping for photos and please let him through! After getting that group through, I had to go back two more times to pull stormtroopers through the crowd. I've never worked so hard as a handler before!

I did stop to take a photo with R2-D2. Wayne Orr was brave enough to bring his R2 into the madhouse.



After everyone was changed, we went down to the concert. They gave us great seats! We were dead center in the first set of seats behind the floor. The acoustics were surprisingly decent, considering it was a symphony playing in a huge stadium. However, I had to laugh when I saw people walking in with beer and nachos. That's a symphony first! Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO in the movies narrated between musical numbers.








We didn't actually see the end of the show, as the guys had to go put their costumes back on for more photo ops. After that, once Steven was dressed normally again, he and I wandered through the Star Wars prop exhibit that was on display. I took a picture with the ewoks, of course.