Lloyd-Webber + Wookies = Star Wars: Musical Edition

Geeks come in all flavors. There’s the obvious computer geeks, math geeks and sword and sorcery geeks. But any culture or cultural phenomenon large enough to allow degrees of appreciation has its overzealous types—hence sports statistic geeks, Shakespeare geeks, musical geeks and Star Wars geeks. Those last two might not seem extremely compatible, but the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Musical Theatre Guild begs to differ. Their production of “Star Wars: Musical Edition” combines Lloyd-Webber and Wookiees well enough to amuse most people, but the show’s true audience is geeks.

The brainchild of Rogue Shindler and Jeff Suess, “SW:ME” is basically the same story as “Star Wars: A New Hope” with parodies of Broadway and Disney songs to move the action along. The original score by John Williams also appears, but clearly plays second fiddle to the well-crafted satires. The other significant difference between the film and the play is the special effects. The production opening night was obviously limited not only by constraints of the medium, but a less than hefty budget. However, the costumes were well crafted, and the staging was innovative and appropriately complex, utilizing revolving backdrops and a partial model of the Millennium Falcon.

The show starts with a medley involving the whole company, but quickly moves into more familiar areas. Droids C3PO and R2-D2 (the former played well by Eleanor Pritchard, the latter played convincingly by a toteable robot toy) escape to Tatooine, but not before singing “Two Little Droids in Deep.” They befriend Luke Skywalker (Todd Radford, who had Luke’s whininess down cold), who expresses his discontent with his home planet in “Tatooine,” a hilarious parody of West Side Story’s “America.” The crew seeks out Obi-Wan Kenobi in order to give him a message from Princess Leia (Amy Schonsheck). Kenobi (David Jedlinsky, who gives the role both humor and gravity) identifies himself with a great takeoff of “I, Don Quixote” from Man of La Mancha and offers to train Luke in the ways of the Jedi—otherwise known as the “Music of the Knight.”

While the songs themselves are amusing, the production’s greatest problem presents itself immediately—almost none of the players can sing convincingly. Jedlinsky is the highlight, and Schonsheck and Pritchard perform well enough. However, Radford is often flat, and Rob Speer, playing Darth Vader, has the unenviable job of singing behind an often unmicrophoned mask. Even when he’s audible, his voice sounds less James Earl Jones and more Kermit the Frog.

The play also falters with its overly self-referential humor. C3PO wondering why Tatooine looks so familiar was a sly poke that had us geeks chuckling. However, the more obvious jabs, such as Han Solo (an appropriately cocky Jamez Kirtley) musing aloud about hiding from Stormtroopers in those “human-sized smuggling compartments I just installed yesterday” are too over the top. Chewbacca (Derek Herrera) also vacillates from amusing to annoying—how many times can a Wookiee flip Stormtroopers the bird?

Overall, though, the humor and drama of Star Wars is brought out effectively in the play. A small ode to TK421, the only named Stormtrooper, lampoons the movie wittily but affectionately. More surprising is the opening song of Act II, “Don’t Cry For Me, Princess Leia,” sung by Leia and the ghosts of her recently destroyed home planet. Not only is the tune well-performed, but it also moves far beyond the movie’s depiction of anguish and loss and provides a different view of Leia.

“Star Wars: Musical Edition” is less a Rocky Horror Picture Show campfest and more a labor of love. The show may not be for everyone, but should appeal to anyone who has ever wondered how the Rebels would sound singing tunes from Aladdin, or wanted to see a Stormtrooper kickline. You know, the geeks.

MIT Musical Theatre Guild presents "Star Wars: Musical Edition" at the Sala de Puerto Rico on the second floor of the MIT Student Center through Feb. 8. Curtain is at 8p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2p.m. on Sunday. For tickets contact (617) 253-6294.