Well, once again our team has squandered vast amounts of your tax dollars on illegal wiretaps and buggings to bring you the latest Trek gossip.
It seems the Paramount exec.s have issued a new directive, to look for new niches in which to exploit old franchises. One of the first new projects to get underway is a musical adaptation of Star Trek.
But this won't be some schlocky Disney-on-ice rinky dink production. Somebody came up with the money to lure William Shatner away from his hit comedic turn in a series of Web t.v. commercials to go back to his live theatre roots, this time with a musical twist. Yes, the lucky few to get tickets to the Broadway stage production will see the most celebrated captain of all, James Kirk, in an all new musical adventure.
The following is from a satellite intercept of a fax sent via cellular phone in the Malibu area on March 7th, 1999. It appears to be a draft of some sort of press release related to the project. All names and phone numbers have been deleted for no particular reason.
The show, tentatively titled "Star Trek: The Dead Ones" is set in the Nexus, where Kirk wanders about meeting various characters that have been killed off in the course of the succesful series and nine box-office hit movies. With simple sets and limited special effects, the show is sure to recreate for the audience the ambience of the original series. Set designers were even able to locate some of the cardgoard used on the original sets in 1966, and were able to incorporate pieces of it in several of the hairpieces worn by star William Shatner in the show.
Shatner will also have a chance to showcase something besides his acting talents, singing no fewer than 18 songs in the course of the nearly three hour production. With a unique "spoken word" style of interpreting lyrics that brings his dramatic abilities in to harmony with his musical talent, showgoers will find all of Kirk's ballads truly unforgettable.
Joining Shatner will be Ricardo Montalban as the torso and head of Khan Noonian Singh, who will be wheeled out on stage for a duet with General Hospital's Jack Wagner, in the role of Kirk's son originated by the late Merrit Butrick. Also joiing the cast is Brent Spiner as Noonien Soong, portrayed in the Next Generation series as a creator of androids but transformed by the Nexus in to a guitar-playing fount of down-home wisdom.
Shatner took the role because he said he's always liked to take risks in his career. "I took a controversial series like Barbary Coast, and turned it in to the hit show of the 70s. Then, I went out on another limb, playing the quirky cop nobody had ever seen the likes of, on T.J. Hooker. That's a series the critics are still talking about, all these years later. So going on to a musical as the spirit of the dead Jim Kirk seems like a logical progression. I'm sure this is one they'll be talking about for years to come, too."
So plan your trip to New York this summer, to catch Broadway's only intergalactic adventure, "Star Trek : The Dead Ones". The last appearance of William Shatner in the role of James T. Kirk. Really. We promise this time. Cross out hearts and hope to die.
<<end transcript satellite intercept>>
Posted by Ronbo via /\o/\ the web.
P.S. : Special thanks to Scoopguy for being brave enough to carry the REAL Trek news that nobody else dares to handle!
Posted on Mar 8, 1999, 12:23 PM from IP address 209.110.236.241