When Lucasfilm didn’t strike back
Actor behind Star Wars show tells the tale of getting George Lucas’s approval
Charlie Ross has played the Sydney Opera House, London’s West End and did a five-month stint off-Broadway.
But probably the B.C. native’s biggest triumph was getting Lucasfilm and Star Wars creator George Lucas to approve the one-man show that’s part homage and part spoof of the legendary original trilogy of films. The show comes to the Bluma Appel Theatre from Wednesday to Saturday.
“I didn’t ask (Lucasfilm). They actually found that I was doing the show. I was in Chicago doing the show in 2003 and eventually the media just started getting big enough that they were able to go like ‘What the hell is going on?’ ” Ross recalled.
“But they were nice, they were very nice and they were not confrontational at all. I didn’t know what to expect at all and I was scared.”
Ross first started regularly performing One Man Star Wars in 2002 after developing it a year earlier in Toronto with long-time friend and collaborator T.J. Dawe.
“When I originally (started) . . . I thought, ‘I’ll do this for three months and it’ll be done.’ But it just kept going and I’m like, ‘Oh crap, one of these days I’m just going to get smashed down into the dirt,’ ” Ross said.
“When (Lucasfilm) did contact me, they wanted a copy of the script and a copy of the show on video, which I sent to them immediately. I think they were able to appreciate where the show was coming from, but also it’s just a solo venture. I don’t have any merchandise, I’m not franchising the show out . . . it’s just me.”
Lucasfilm told Ross he could continue with its permission if he handed over 35 per cent of the show’s gross, something he did more than willingly.
The one firm rule Ross has is no more corporate gigs after having the worst experience ever with a group of middle management types in the U.K. several years ago. Someone in the company hired him, believing the insurance company’s CEO was a Star Wars fan.
“The people who were there, these middle management folks, were like children; they were petulant, bored, horrible human beings,” Ross said, adding he wanted to stop but realized he probably wouldn’t get paid the very generous appearance fee.
One Man Star Wars Trilogy, which Ross has performed a couple of thousand times in 11 countries over almost 15 years, has been very good for the University of Victoria theatre school graduate.
“I continually ask myself, ‘Why the hell am I here? How the hell did I get here?’ It sounds like I’m bragging, but I’m honestly just confused sometimes that we’ve been able to go to these places,” Ross said. He describes his show — the closest he’s ever come to steady job — as “fully analog.”
“I don’t use a lightsaber. No costume, no sets, just me. It could be a lame prop show . . . (but) I feel like it’s more effective without props and it makes (the show) a lot more portable. I think that’s what’s allowed it to have a shelf life like this.”
While the success of The Force Awakens, the first of a new movie trilogy, has revived the public’s affection for the franchise, Ross said that love has never really gone away.
“Star Wars never seems to die. I can’t think of a year where I didn’t do at least a dozen separate gigs. I love it, I love it,” he said.