Karen: Today we're taking a little break from the episode reviews so I can share with you a fantastic experience I had this last Sunday, April 3rd. My husband and I went to the Mesa Arts Center to see and hear Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, a live concert experience featuring the music of Star Trek! This is a touring show, which started in January of this year and sadly is coming to a close this month. You can find the schedule at this link. If you can find a venue near you, I highly recommend that you go. The music was performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Justin Freer. Interestingly, Freer was mentored by composer Jerry Goldsmith, who was responsible for the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Karen: We were seated close, in the orchestra section, row G, and had a wonderful view of the very large screen on which all the TV and film clips were shown. We could also see the performers easily, although during the performance they were partly occluded by the set design, which looked somewhat like the Next Generation bridge. During the show, the lighting would change colors from purple to blue to orange and so forth with the different musical pieces. It was a very unique and beautiful staging.
Karen: The show featured music from every TV series and many of the films, It was broken into two hours, with a 20 minute intermission. The show interwove both chronological themes, starting of course with the original Star Trek, but also featured themes such as exploration, the captains, lifeforms, close bonds, and so on. Michael Dorn, the actor who played the Klingon Worf on both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, narrated the program. Sometimes entire scenes were shown with dialog and sound effects; other times, montages of clips were shown, mixing different shows, casts, and eras. All of it flowed well. Some of the more memorable music for me included 'Main Title', 'Klingon Battle', and 'Ilia's Theme' from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 'The Ancient Combat/2nd Kroykah' from the 'Amok Time' episode of classic Trek -with full scene shown!-, and 'The Inner Light Suite' from Next Generation.
Karen: If I had any criticisms, it would be that the music could have been louder. It seemed a bit restrained in volume for my tastes. I spoke with a friend in California who saw the show there and he echoed my sentiments, so I don't believe it was just a problem with my venue. Also, while I enjoy the film clips, I'd like to have less dialog, so I could enjoy the music more. But honestly, we had a great time and I would tell all Trek fans to run out and see this show! Trek, in its many incarnations, has had some beautiful music. Composers like Alexander Courage, Gerald Fried, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Jay Chattaway, and many others have contributed so much to Trek with their compositions. The Czech National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Freer, and Cineconcerts have done them proud.
| From Row G at the Mesa Arts Center before the show (no photography allowed during the show) |
Karen: The show featured music from every TV series and many of the films, It was broken into two hours, with a 20 minute intermission. The show interwove both chronological themes, starting of course with the original Star Trek, but also featured themes such as exploration, the captains, lifeforms, close bonds, and so on. Michael Dorn, the actor who played the Klingon Worf on both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, narrated the program. Sometimes entire scenes were shown with dialog and sound effects; other times, montages of clips were shown, mixing different shows, casts, and eras. All of it flowed well. Some of the more memorable music for me included 'Main Title', 'Klingon Battle', and 'Ilia's Theme' from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 'The Ancient Combat/2nd Kroykah' from the 'Amok Time' episode of classic Trek -with full scene shown!-, and 'The Inner Light Suite' from Next Generation.
| Photo from Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage website |