The Force is strong with this one (man show)

The Force is strong with Canadian actor Charles Ross.

Ross is the creator of “One-Man Star Wars Trilogy,” a live solo performance of the original trilogy of Star Wars movies.

“It’s me on stage, no costumes, no set, no props,” said Ross.

In just over an hour, Ross covers “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” singlehandedly playing all the characters, creating the sound effects, flying the Millennium Falcon and condensing the Star Wars plots into a SparkNotes version that retains all the magic of the original films.

His show comes to the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Nov. 13, following a stop at Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center on Nov. 12.

The show is written and performed by Ross and directed by TJ Dawe. Ross, who studied theater, has been performing the show since 2002 and said the show is something you don’t have to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate.

“The good thing about Star Wars is, without even being a massive fan, you are drawn into it in some way,” Ross said. “I kind of figured there would be a large group of Star Wars aficionados, but there would also be a group of people that wouldn’t know it as well … so over time this has become more crafted to be a show for everybody, rather than simply for the 1% nerds that know the 1% jokes.”

Actor Charles Ross.

(Courtesy of Rob Swyrd)

Though Ross guarantees those inside jokes are there too. Nothing is off limits since his show is performed with the permission of Lucasfilm Ltd.

“My first ever communication with them was back in 2003, when I was first starting the show in Chicago. They had read some reviews online about it, and they heard good things.”

Ross was invited to San Diego Comic Con to perform a snippet of his show. It was such a hit that in 2005, Lucasfilm Ltd. invited Ross to perform the show at Star Wars Celebration III in Indianapolis for an audience of 35,000 fans.

“It was awesome,” said Ross. “For this particular show, it was the best audience that could ever be.”

His improvisation skills and the accuracy of his impersonations are expert, though he admits the great material helps.

“I have always been kind of partial to Emperor Palpatine. To be able to milk the way the actor, Ian McDiarmid, said all those lines. People really remember the way that he spoke, because he was a Shakespearian actor,” said Ross. “So he can take a relatively pedestrian script and make it so amazing … for my part, he gives me so much to work with. I feel like I am a better actor for being able to pretend to be him.”

Besides “One-Man Star Wars Trilogy,” Ross has developed other one-man film concepts, including “One-Man Lord of the Rings,” “One-Man Avengers” and “One-Man Batman.”

Ross said the shows appeal very much to the inner child.

“I think it taps into something that is familiar about childhood, that we can be anything that we want to be.”

Ross admits his own daughters are not into Star Wars as much as they are into “My Little Pony.” Is he working on his Rainbow Dash impression?

“I am not going to do a ‘One-Man My Little Pony,’” laughs Ross. “It would be funny, but it would appeal to a very small group of people.”

“One-Man Star Wars Trilogy” has delighted audiences in 500 cities across four continents because as Ross said, Star Wars is everywhere.

Actor Charles Ross.

(Courtesy of Rob Swyrd)

“If you connect to your inner kid in some way, this is something that will make a lot of sense,” said Ross. “Our childhood survives.”

For “One-Man Star Wars Trilogy,” audience members are invited to wear costumes, and while kids certainly will enjoy this show, adults can find an equal amount of joy in it.

“For an adult they kinda go, ‘Damn, that’s it. That’s what I used to do.’ Whether you are playing Star Wars or being whatever you wanted to be, you just got into it and you were all in … and that’s how I am. All in.”

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