Star Trek Is Getting A Musical And It Looks Hilarious
Star Trek the musical will be showing Off-Broadway for a limited time.
In the almost 60 years that Star Trek has been around, the science-fiction space adventure franchise has made a gigantic dent in our culture. It all started with the airing of the first-ever episode in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, featuring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, James Doohan as Scotty, and George Takei as Sulu. And now, the franchise is continuing to influence society with the upcoming Star Trek Off-Broadway musical. Yes, that’s right. Musical.
Despite Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan being more than 40 years old, Khan, the super-intelligent and ruthless villain, is still making headlines, only this time, it’s for a more hilarious reason. According to trekmovie.com, Khan!!! The Musical!: A Parody Trek-tacular is coming to the Player’s Theater, an Off-Broadway production house in New York City.
The Star Trek musical was co-written, including lyrics, and composed by musician Brent Black who says that The Original Series inspired him, but it was The Next Generation that led to the breakthrough for the story. The musical takes place in 2366, and Data the Android is presenting the musical through a holographic image. Black claims that seeing how Data learns things through trial and error in The Next Generation is what inspired him to have the android present the musical through a simulation that occurs inside the Star Trek universe.
In the Star Trek musical, an older Captain Kirk is going through a mid-life crisis when his nemesis Khan escapes from exile, coming after Kirk for his revenge. The plot of the musical follows Kirk and Khan as they go through constant adventures of pursuits and near captures, with the story occasionally being interrupted by songs, Vulcans tap dancing, the discovery of Kirk’s long-lost son (who is apparently a William Shatner impersonator?), and mutant space chickens.
The entire Star Trek musical follows the idea that Data has written the musical himself after studying classic Broadway musicals, which means that the floor was open for Black to add many a reference to classic musicals and Broadway tropes within the show. Black appreciated how when Data was learning, he often took things too literally or a bit too far, and the writer/musician saw the comedic opportunity for Data to take the Star Trek musical as far as it could possibly go, turning Khan!!! The Musical!!: A Parody Trek-tacular into a wacky, bizarre, and outrageous adventure.
Black explained how he has been interested in writing a Star Trek musical based on the wrath of Khan for a long time and how much he appreciates the Star Trek universe. He said that the reason he likes Star Trek so much is because of how the franchise imagines a universe where humans have set aside their differences and come together to make the world a better place.
Black appreciates the diversity that the show has always had, making it a series far ahead of its time in the ’60s. He said that he has aimed to keep the original vision that series creator Gene Roddenberry had when the show was first created and hopes that the whimsical Star Trek musical he has made maintains that original vision.
Star Trek the musical will have a one-month run in New York starting on May 4.
