My Fair Leia? MIT troupe turns epic into a musical
CAMBRIDGE -- Luke Skywalker needs a tissue. His lip is bleeding after an overzealous kiss from Princess Leia. The stormtroopers have the giggles. And Han Solo can't seem to remember his lines. But soon, the chaotic rehearsal underway on the fourth floor of MIT's student center will coalesce into ''Star Wars Trilogy: Musical Edition." Not only does the show adapt George Lucas's three earliest ''Star Wars" films for the stage, it does so in song, with full orchestration.
In this ''Star Wars," presented by the MIT Musical Theatre Guild, Han and Leia tango, there's a burlesque version of ''The Imperial March," and ''When You're Good to Mama," from ''Chicago," becomes ''When You're Good to Jabba." Melodies from ''My Fair Lady," ''Evita," ''West Side Story," ''Jesus Christ Superstar" -- they're all here, as are references to everything from ''The Jetsons" to Joss Whedon's ''Firefly." And, yes, Han Solo sings ''Don't cry for me, Princess Leia."
''It's completely tongue-in-cheek," says Rogue Shindler, who wrote ''Trilogy" with longtime friend Jeff Suess. ''Jeff and I are big fans of the art of song parody."
The two first started setting ''Star Wars" lyrics to popular Broadway songs while they were in high school; by their junior year of college, they had quite a collection. ''We wondered if we put the songs in order if we'd have enough to make a musical," says Shindler, now 29.
In 2003, MTG put on a version of the show that covered the first film, ''A New Hope." ''The week after we closed," Shindler says, ''it wasn't, 'OK, that was fun,' it was everybody asking, 'When are we gonna do ''Empire Strikes Back"?' "
Well, you can't have ''The Empire Strikes Back" without ''Return of the Jedi," thought Shindler and Suess. And so ''Trilogy" was born. Between the orchestra, the production staff, and the cast of 32, at least 70 people are now involved in the show.
Neither of the musical's creators attended MIT. Though most of the participants in the theater group are students or alumni, affiliation with the school isn't required. And yet it seems the perfect venue for a ''Star Wars" musical.
''Everyone here has at least seen the movies," says producer Jax Kirtley, who went to MIT and now works at the Museum of Science. And science fiction can inspire MIT students in their own work, she says. ''There are people at MIT who looked at the movies and went, 'Can I do that?' "
The movies also have personal appeal. Sophomore Matthew Ciborowski, who plays Luke, says there's more in common than you might think between an MIT urban studies major and a budding Jedi.
''If you negate the fact that he's from a different galaxy and time," Ciborowski says of his character, ''he's a college-age kid trying to figure out what the heck he's doing in his life -- whether he values friends more, his family more, his personal satisfaction. The choices he has to make are remarkably similar to the choices I have to make -- except I don't have droids."
Says Shindler, ''['Star Wars'] appeals to the type of person who understands the basic principles behind it. A large percentage of those people go here. There's spaceships, lasers, and all that jazz. . . . It's also a particularly good theatrical environment because people have the technical aptitude to make really cool costumes and set pieces beyond the scope of other collegiate or community theater venues."
Indeed, the costumes, most of them created by MTG, are quite elaborate. Greeata, a dancer from Jabba the Hutt's palace, is covered in individually applied green warts. Chewbacca's head is designed to keep its wearer as cool as possible, with mesh beneath the fur. And Chewbacca himself (a.k.a. Edmund Golaski, an MIT grad who majored in mechanical engineering) built a vacuum-form machine in his garage to cast the body of C-3PO.
''How far we go is up to us," Kirtley says. ''Last time, C-3PO was quilted. If someone is inspired, the costumes get detailed."
But at this rehearsal, the first complete, off-book run-through, they're not up to costumes yet. There are almost two weeks till the show's premiere; heads are still being painted and costumes stitched by people seated on the floor. Areas are taped off to help performers visualize the set, which is also a work in progress.
In the rehearsal space, at least, things are starting to come together.
''Wonderful girl. Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her," says Timothy Abrahamsen with perfect Han Solo-style smarminess.
''Certain are you," sings Kenny Kamrin, operating the Yoda puppet. His voice strays from Yoda to Kermit, then back again.
Music director Stephen Peters provides accompaniment on keyboards, standing in for the orchestra. When the musical was in its early stages, he says, someone proposed having just a piano to accompany the songs. ''I found myself shouting out, 'No, no, no! With John Williams music, you have to have strings and brass!' " he says. He wound up orchestrating the whole show.
Then it's time for Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader to duel; unlike some of the dancing, the fight choreography is in good shape.
''Assuming nothing goes wrong in the next 10 days, I will believe in the Force," Ciborowski says. ''Looking at the script last May and how far we've come, it's been an incredible process."
If Kirtley's right, he has nothing to worry about. ''Operatic Wookiees, tap-dancing stormtroopers," she says. ''How can you go wrong?" 