popular thinking

BOSTON GETS STAR WARS CRAZY: "Aww, Star Wars...nothing but Star Wars..." So singeth Bill Murray as Nick Winters in that classic Saturday Night Live skit from January 1978. Well...

Nick Winters got his wish.
Then again, so did millions of Star Wars fans.
After six movies, countless books and billions of dollars in merchandise, the Force lives on - documented and displayed prominently in Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, which makes its worldwide debut Thursday at Boston's Museum of Science.
"It takes wing from the movies and lodges itself firmly in the Earth's atmosphere,'' said Anthony Daniels, also known as C-3PO.
Daniels, who also narrates a companion planetarium show and Millennium Falcon ride at the museum, just as easily could have been describing the hold Star Wars still has on pop culture.
Just look around town.
Charles Ross brings his Off-Broadway hit, a one-man tribute to Star Wars, to The Wilbur Theatre for one week in November.
At the same time, MIT's Musical Theatre Guild sets the "first'' three Star Wars films to Broadway show tunes in "Star Wars Trilogy: Musical Edition.''
And author Michael Rubin visits the Hub next weekend to promote his new book, "Droidmaker: George Lucas & the Digital Revolution.''
You may even have seen George Lucas himself - if you paid your way into last night's black-tie gala at the Museum of Science.
We got a sneak peek last week.
Here is an overview of all things Star Wars around Boston.

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, Museum of Science, Science Park. Exhibit opens Thursday, ends April 30, 2006. Call 617-723-2500 or go to www.starwars.mos.org
Admission by timed ticket: $17-$20, (field trips, $3 per student).
Additional events: Millennium Falcon hyperspace ride, $5; Planetarium show, "Far Far Away: The Worlds of Star Wars,'' $4.50-$9; "Special Effects'' film, $4.50-$9; Nov. 4, "Puppets to Pixels: The Digital Transformation of Yoda,'' discussion with Rob Coleman, animation and development director at Lucasfilm Animation Ltd, $10; Nov. 5, "The Building of a Dream,'' presentation by Jerry Greene and his R2-R9 droid, free with exhibit admission.
"There's some fabulous cool stuff that I thought I'd never get to see,'' said museum president Ioannis Miaoulis.
The 10,000-square-foot exhibit space includes many of the actual costumes, props and models used during "Star Wars'' filming, thanks to Lucasfilm. You'll see a full-size replica of the Millennium Falcon cockpit, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, costumes for Darth Vader, C-3PO, Obi-Wan Kenobi and many other characters, including Wampas and Wookiees.
Scattered throughout are interactive engineering design labs that put the theme to use, whether it's building your own magnetic levitation machines that mimic the Landspeeder or creating your own model version of R2-D2.

Charles Ross' One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, Nov. 8-13, The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. Performances at 8 p.m. on Nov. 8-11, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Nov. 12, 5 p.m. on Nov. 13. Tickets are $38.50. Call 617-931-2787 or go to www.onemanstarwars.com or www.broadwayinboston.com
Canadian native Ross first performed his one-man re-enactment in Toronto in 2001 and has been wowing audiences since. He does all of the characters, all of the voices, all of the fight scenes and all of the music from Episodes IV, V and VI himself - all in an hour. And yes, Lucasfilm has approved.

Star Wars Trilogy: Musical Edition, Nov. 11-13, Nov. 16-20, La Sala De Puerto Rico, The Stratton Student Center, MIT, 84 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Shows at 8 p.m. on Nov. 11-12 and Nov. 16-19, 2 p.m. on Nov. 13 and on Nov. 20. Tickets are $6-$12. Call 617-253-6294.
MIT's Musical Theatre Guild has taken Episodes IV, V and VI and retold them as musical satire, with original lyrics set to classic Broadway showtunes by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, Frank Loesser, Cy Coleman, Elton John, Danny Elfman and Claude-Michel Schonberg. If you're looking for Jedi ballads and tap-dancing stormtroopers, this is the show for you.

"Droidmaker: George Lucas & the Digital Revolution,'' discussion and book signing by author Michael Rubin, 2 p.m. Saturday, Barnes & Noble, 98 Middlesex Parkway, Burlington. Call 781-273-3871.
Rubin, a Brown University graduate who joined the computer division of Lucasfilm in 1985, writes a detailed examination of what went on inside the company.
"I have a totally new appreciation for this guy,'' Rubin said of Lucas. "The man is a cultural icon, but the things I love about him have little to do with this movie.''