‘Star Wars’ concert storms into the Orleans

Anthony Daniels has had little contact with the galaxy called Las Vegas. But even limited exposure reveals a lot about his celestial life.

The man inside "Star Wars" robot C-3PO remembers shooting a TV commercial in the Valley of Fire for a Kellogg's breakfast cereal named after his alter-ego. (The ad is on YouTube; not much of the outdoor footage made it.)

On another visit, he remembers a Luxor roulette dealer offering the predictable "May the Force be with you" quip, but then taking his money anyway.

A less direct Vegas tie is his contribution to the "Star Wars" slot machine, which he volunteers over the phone in that universally known British android voice: "Congratulations! You have won a bonus round."

The 64-year-old actor says he is "hugely grateful" for the life the golden robot has given him. "Very few people have been a breakfast cereal, that's for sure."

It's safe to call Daniels the voice of the "Star Wars" franchise; the only actor to be in all six of the movies and most of the spin-offs, including the ongoing animated series "Clone Wars."

That makes him a logical narrator for the orchestral "Star Wars: In Concert," which plays the Orleans Arena in two shows Saturday. The traveling road show offers a full orchestra and choir performing John Williams' memorable scores in front of a giant LED screen full of movie montages.

"I personally come onstage as me, Anthony Daniels. The reaction I get every night, it just makes me grin like an idiot," he says.

"The concert has actually helped me to see 'Star Wars' the way maybe other people see it," he says. "To see the majesty and the sweep of the story. And to realize that I can't see it the way other people see it, having been in it. But thousands of people face me every night in the audience and prove their genuine affection and love for the story. A little of that affection comes toward me, and it's kind of nice."

Touring U.S. sports arenas like a rock star is, "out of all reason, the best thing I've ever done with 'Star Wars,' " Daniels says, maybe the best twist yet on the strange road that started with an audition he had to be talked into back in 1976.

"Who knew back then it was going to be this amazing thing, that would carry me literally around the world many, many times?" he says. Many of the actors filming it "thought it was a silly film. We kind of doubted. ... Nobody believed in it except George Lucas."

The concert retelling of "Star Wars" is "all about destiny, and it was George's destiny to make this great thing against all the odds," he says. "It was my destiny for me not to want to be involved, to be forced to meet him, to take the job, and to end up 30-something years later in Vegas."

Daniels' concert narration reshuffles the movies to tell the saga in chronological order. He may be the narrator, but the music is the star.

Williams' symphonic music was "basically half of the movie, I think," he says. "It tells you how you feel. It gives you the emotional strength and drama of the scene, way beyond any of the rather hokey script and occasionally strange acting.

"John's music is almost subliminal," he adds. "You hear it, but you don't realize it's telling you the story."

Daniels is such a committed pitchman for the franchise, one can only smile when he drops a subtle hint: If seeing an orchestra for what will likely be a youngster's first time "encourages a kid to try out an instrument seen on that screen, that would be a wonderful byproduct, wouldn't it?"

Daniels recently suited up again as Threepio to work on Disneyland's update of the "Star Tours" ride for next year. He doesn't plan to hand over the character to another actor anytime soon. But for these shows, the costume is only as close as the lobby exhibition traveling with the show.

"I prefer the lounge suit, I will admit."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.