With George Takei already starring on Broadway, William Shatner is also proposing a musical of his own -- this one on TV and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise.
The series premiered September 8, 1966 and turned in a cult phenomenon. Spanning television and movies for half a century, it wouldn't be inappropriate for Star Trek to make a musical debut next year. Captain James T. Kirk feels the same way. According to The Guardian, Shatner will be damned if he lets the anniversary go by unnoticed.
The 84-year-old space voyager said, "I'm attempting to sell a 50th anniversary show, but so far I've had very little luck. Maybe because Paramount's going to do their own - but I don't know how they can do their own without me. I've never been contacted. I've been actively trying to do a 50th anniversary show ... We had a big company say: 'What about a musical or a music variety show?' That got some traction - but nothing's come of it yet."
Hopefully Shatner has the wherewithal to push it through. If he does, he may have to revisit his old persona as the superstar has rarely watched himself on the series.
It's true, Mr. Shatner doesn't "have the time" to check himself out on TV so if there were to be a stage adaptation he may have to sit and endure what we've all endured for so long -- the iconic and horrendous iteration of what would be a Starship captain.
And yet, that hasn't stopped him from creating his own version of fan-fiction (is it "fan" if you were the embodiment of the concept?) or from directing a 2011 documentary entitled The Captains, which also featured his successor Patrick Stewart.
Regardless, we hope that Star Trek will hit the stage next year and bring to life the final frontier as we've never seen -- or heard -- it before.
Then again, the history of Star Trek stars singing hasn't exactly been stellar. Remember Leonard Nimoy's "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"?
Or any of Shatner's various "musical" offerings?
