The audio dramas

[JRoss]

Finished the first Star Wars Audio Drama yesterday. I've been listening while I work from home. The first one, which covers A New Hope, is like 5-1/2 hours long. The first half hour is Luke hanging out at Tosche station, racing and learning about the Rebellion from Biggs.

The second half hour is very interesting. It is Leia and Captain Antilles on a legit mission of mercy to Ralitiir, where they come across a dying rebel who gives them the Death Star plans. Leia ends up having to evade an ambitious noble, both on Ralitiir and with her father on Aladeraan.

They go into greater depth about Luke's history with Obi-Wan, there's an Imperial subplot, Han has his dialog scene with "Heater", which is pretty much word for word the Jabba scene that made it into Special Edition.

So, the voice cast is FANTASTIC. Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels are the only cast members from the movies. Ann Sachs plays Leia very well. Like, amazing. The guy who does Han is pretty good at impersonating Harrison Ford. Oh, and Brock Peters plays Darth Vader masterfully. He's not really the same character from the films, but I like him a lot.

Speaking of Peters and Sachs, they play out the scene of Vader torturing Leia. It's so brutal.Like I'd heard that it was terrible, but I thought that was an exaggeration. No, this was straight up CHILLING. I'd really like to know more about Anne Sachs. She hasn't acted for 24 years and there are no pictures.

Another thing that I really appreciated about this radio play is how in-depth it went. It really showed the thinking and the feelings behind every character's motivation from Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker and more. And there were some things that people have called out as illogical but they took great pains to explain why the Empire chose to let them linium Falcon get away and other things like that.

I've started ESB. Can't wait to see how it goes. It's "only" 3-1/2 hours long. There's a brief but awesome starfighter scene at the beginning and then it gets into the movie.

 

[EnsignRicky]

Based on character's and situations created by George Lucas...

Good for you. Me and my dad recorded those and the Empire ones live back in the day off of NPR radio. I can still remember sitting there listening with my hand on the dial trying to keep any static at bay. I played those tapes to death but have long since gotten the CDs. They did a Jedi one many years later, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first two. Kinda seemed obligatory but probably still worth a listen as it was the last thing Brian Daily did before he passed away. Otherwise the first two, especially Star Wars is audio gold. It gave this ten year old kid a chance to enjoy the old time radio that was already pretty much gone before I was even born.

 

[David cgc]

It's funny you should mention these. When I was little, I first saw Star Wars on VHS, but I had no idea there were sequels. I think my very first exposure to Empire Strikes Back was listening to the radio play. In the Wampa scene, when Luke Force-pulled his saber into his hands out of the snow, I remember thinking the six-year-old version of "That seems a little bullshitty." ANH had given me the impression that Force "powers" were all mental. ESP and power-of-suggestion stuff, a "realistic" level of spiritual magic, but not making things move with your mind, the kind of thing that's unambiguously supernatural. Like it was a cheap way out of a tough situation that didn't fit with what had already been established.

I've been remembering that with people's reactions to a more-or-less equivalent scene in TLJ.

 

[Marc]

Good for you. Me and my dad recorded those and the Empire ones live back in the day off of NPR radio. I can still remember sitting there listening with my hand on the dial trying to keep any static at bay. I played those tapes to death but have long since gotten the CDs. T

In Australia is was broadcast on ABC FM on a Sunday morning. Dad's tuner was digital (i,e press a button for a channel not turning the dial) and hooked up to an external antenna so we got a good quality signal and then recorded to open reel tape.

Problem was if you slept in or were out, we missed an episode.

The scenes at Toshi station were originally planned for the film but got cut along the way (iirc Koo Stark was cast as Kami) and I'm sure we're all familiar with the cut scenes that would have explained who the hell Biggs Darlighter was

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I'd really like to know more about Anne Sachs. She hasn't acted for 24 years and there are no pictures.

She came from a theater background, and still works in theater. Her biography from her LinkedIn profile:

Since 1969 I’ve been a theatre professional, working as an actor, writer, director, business owner and coach. I think of myself as a theatrical collaborator.

I graduated from Carnegie-Mellon’s Drama Department, and made my Broadway debut in 1977 opposite Frank Langella in the Tony Award-winning DRACULA. I played dozens of leading roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in our country's fine resident theatres in premieres of plays by Wendy Wasserstein, Jules Feiffer, Horton Foote, Gunter Grass and Eugene Ionesco.

As an ensemble artist at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (known as EST), I collaborated with four other women to write MAMA DRAMA, a play about motherhood published by Samuel French, and performed by professional and amateur groups nationwide. After 30+ years, I am (still!) the voice of Princess Leia on the NPR Radio Series STAR WARS, which has a cult following.

From 1992-2014 I collaborated with my husband, Tony Award winning designer Roger Morgan in our company Sachs Morgan Studio: Theatre Design Specialists. The Studio designs theatre buildings (not stage sets -- buildings). Studio projects range from Broadway to Hollywood, from Disney to the Kennedy Center, and just about everything in between. Our clients say that our projects work for theatre owners, patrons and professionals, and that we design theatres people love.

My newest venture is Theatrical Intelligence®, a system I've developed that uses theatrical production as a model for collaborative leadership that impacts business performance. I think of it as the fun part of being smart! I’m working on a book about it that is taking much too long to write.

Roger Morgan and I have been personal and professional partners since 1970. Our favorite roles are as parents of two grown children, Abigail and Sam; parents-in-law to Dave and Melissa; and GRANDparents to Gabriel and Lucy.

Here's an interview with her from last year, with a number of pictures that span her career, including the Langella Dracula.

 

[Geekgarious]

I must admit that the blind man that she mentions in that interview is me. Talking to her last year led to me writing this essay about the radio dramas.

 

[JRoss]

Awesome comments, all. I liked Koo Stark in Cluedo. Probably my favorite Miss Scarlet.

 

[Campe]

I *LOVE* the radio dramas. Sadly, Rogue One conflicts with some of the details told in the radio drama, so it is most definitely now a Legends story. Its interesting, however, in the book "A Certain Point of View," one of the conversations between Tarkin and one of his lackeys (Tagge? Motti? Can't recall) is told.

While I know that there's no chance that the prequels or sequels will be produced by NPR, I certainly wouldn't mind if someone picked up the slack and did them in a similar fashion.

 

[DarthPipes]

I loved the radio dramas, especially the ANH And ESB ones.

 

[JRoss]

Finished ESB. Man, ow did Brock Peters manage to make Vader calling his shots sound cool? John Lithgow as Yoda. Love it. Not a 1:1 perfect translation, but he had personality.

 

[Ithekro]

I still think Mark Hamill as Yoda would have been funny, as I know he can do that voice. But I imagine talking to himself would not only have gotten weird for the recorders, but also worn out his voice.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I still think Mark Hamill as Yoda would have been funny, as I know he can do that voice. But I imagine talking to himself would not only have gotten weird for the recorders, but also worn out his voice.

I'm reminded of the TNG episode where Lwaxana Troi asks the ship's computer for instructions.

 

[JD]

Hasn't there also been at least one Family Guy episode that was just Stewie and Brian, who are both voiced by Seth MacFarlane?

 

[JRoss]

So I just finished all three. Have to say that Ann Sachs is a fantastic Leia. Brock Peters should have won an award for his Vader, and it's a shame his performance is not more well-known. But oh,

LANDO WAS PLAYED BY A WHITE GUY IN ROTJ.

There was enough money in the budget to hire Anthony Daniels, Ed Begley Jr and Ed Asner? Not to mention that the guy they used to play Lando was well-ish known at the time. There had to be a suitable actor who would work at his rate or lower.

 

[Marc]

There was enough money in the budget to hire Anthony Daniels, Ed Begley Jr and Ed Asner? Not to mention that the guy they used to play Lando was well-ish known at the time. There had to be a suitable actor who would work at his rate or lower.

Maybe those 3 were pretty cheap to hire in the very early 1980s

But it wouldn't have just been a case of the rates for the actors but whether a) they were interested but more importantly b) were the available at the time of recording.

 

[JRoss]

RotJ was produced 10 ears after the ESB drama. This was in 93. I know that Asner loves voice work. Seems like he never turns down a cartoon role. Begley and the Lando guy would have actually been at the peak of their fame.

Not to be one of those "actually" guys or anything. I get what you're saying. The availability thing might explain it, but I just have a hard time imagining that there were no Billy Dee Williams soundalikes available for cheaper than what they paid this guy. He literally sounds like Han. Like they always have to address him as Lando every time he speaks because otherwise nobody would be able to tell.

It's so bad that litterally any black man, even Jaleel White,would have been better than the guy that they got. Character doesn't have to sound exactly tlike the screen actor. Brock Peters sounds nothing like James Earl Jones, but he makes the role his own. And I was able to tell whom he was supposed to be.

 

[PhotoBoy]

I can’t remember if I noticed Lando was recast in the ROTJ radio show. I think I was always so irked that Mark Hamill wasn’t voicing Luke that any other changes seemed minor in comparison.

Fun fact: Natalia “Admiral Nechayev” Nogulich played Mon Mothma in the ROTJ radio show.

 

[JRoss]

Oh, that's cool. But you really didn't hear the difference with Lando? Huh, maybe it's me. I'm intensely interested in voice actors. Growing up I was into Billy West and Jim Cummings when my friends were all talking about Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis.

 

[PhotoBoy]

It’s been so long since I listened to the ROTJ radio show that I just can’t remember if I noticed or not. I may well have done but my only real memories of it now are that it didn’t really add many new scenes and that Mark Hamill wasn’t playing Luke. I must give it a re-listen at some point!

The only one I’ve really revisited a lot is the first one because it adds so many extra scenes that add to the story and characters. On the subject of recasting black characters, I’m pretty sure Wedge was voiced by a person of colour in A New Hope and was changed to a white guy in Empire.

 

[JRoss]

Huh. I'll have to check on that. Seeing as Wedge was played by two people in the same film (and for whatever reason Lucas decided not to fix it with Special Edition), I'm not too torn up over that.

Of the three ANH is definitely my favorite, even if it is basically six hours long. A standout for me, from RotJ, is Brock Peters "Darth Vader's master, yes. But not Anakin Skywalker's!"

Oh, and I am now doing the other official audio dramas. The ones from Dark Horse comics. I finished Dark Empire I, the first Tales of the Jedi and am now on the second Tales of the Jedi.