As a London-based stage actor in 1975, Anthony Daniels had a low opinion of the science fiction film genre.

Little did he know his most famous acting role would be playing the wildly popular sci-fi character C-3PO of the "Star Wars" films.

Daniels had been acting in London's West End production of Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" when his agent told him a filmmaker named George Lucas wanted to audition Daniels."I was a serious actor. Why would I want to play a robot?" said Daniels via telephone.

He decided to pass on the offer.

"My agent told me I was being stupid, and that I should go see him," said Daniels. And so he did, and his acting career became deeply intertwined and identified with the "Star Wars" saga.

Today, more than three decades later, Daniels is still intimately involved with "Star Wars." His latest evolution is that of narrator of the "Star Wars in Concert" national touring show, which comes to Arco Arena this weekend after its opening Thursday in Anaheim.

As narrator of the two-hour music and multimedia extravaganza, Daniels, 63, will be the evening's anchor. It will be a mixture of music and story, with a big emphasis on John Williams' iconic score from all six "Star Wars" films.

The music will be married to scenes from each film. The scenes have been arranged chronologically for this show. They will be displayed over giant screens nearly three stories high. The recutting of the saga for the show was closely supervised by Lucas.

The chronological arrangement will be of interest to die-hard fans. For newcomers to the franchise, it will be a logical introduction to the epic tale.

"This is a new reading and a new look at it," Daniels said. "John Williams has rearranged the music so it all makes sense."

Daniels, who will narrate in a suit and not the droid costume, said the retelling of the story has been done in a very simple way, with many of the details cut out.

Acting has been a passion for the soft- spoken London native since he was a child. But in the 1950s and '60s, being an actor was considered a risky field, and his parents insisted he pursue a more stable career. That led Daniels to law school, but after two years there, he was convinced law was not his calling.

Instead, Daniels stayed true to his first passion and enrolled in drama school. He credits his formative years as an actor working on BBC radio dramas as laying the foundation for his portrayal of C-3PO.

"I was lucky that in drama school I had a very good radio drama teacher," he said.

That schooling led to Daniels being accepted into the BBC Drama Repertory Company.

Radio drama training seems tailored-made for portraying a droid with a metallic face.

"Acting for radio is a particular skill, because you do not have a face or a body, or gestures - you have to create everything with your voice."

It took Daniels six months to research robotic voices to craft his role as C-3PO.

"I came up with a slightly mechanical voice with a slightly strange intonation, so that it is not entirely human-speak," he said.

Ironically, although Lucas was charmed by Daniels' voice, once editing began he grew less keen on using it. Lucas searched for the right actor to do voiceover for C-3PO, but he never found one. In the end, Lucas realized Daniels' voice was the right fit.

In retrospect it is hard to imagine the golden protocol droid without Daniels' jaunty, mild-mannered voice.

And it is even more difficult to think of the "Star Wars" saga without hearing Williams' epic score.

Conductor Dirk Brossé will lead 84 orchestral musicians and 60 singers to flesh out the score for the show. Brossé said he believes much of the dramatic power of "Star Wars" comes directly from Williams' music. And he believes the music stands on its own.

"I think the magic of Williams' music is that you can play this music in a concert setting, and it works just as well," Brossé said. "While the music was composed to the picture, you can take away the picture and still enjoy the music as concert music. This is what makes John Williams one of the most important composers of our time."

Williams is also known for his landmark scores for "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Daniels, a longtime classical music fan, said he believes the show will serve as an introduction to classical music for many.

"Audiences may not realize it, but when they see this they will have been inducted into classical music, because there is everything in Williams' score, from Shostakovich to Holst.

"One of the things I'm keen on is encouraging people to come to the arena and see that it's OK to see a classical concert - that you don't have to be a super brain or wear a tux or even understand music," said Daniels.

So, now that it has been decades since the fateful day Lucas called his agent, does Daniels feel any differently about the sci-fi genre?

"My involvement with 'Star Wars' has sparked my interest in sci-fi," he said. "I do like it, but not so much the fantasy sci-fi. I prefer films like "Mad Max" and apocalyptic movies ... where things have gone haywire."

In the final accounting it's only fitting that Daniels be the narrator of "Star Wars in Concert."

After all, it is C-3PO who speaks the first lines in "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope," as part of the original trilogy, and the last line in "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," the last film of the prequel trilogy.

Call arts critic Edward Ortiz at (916) 321-1071.