Reflections in the Light

Shatner's World: We Just Live in It

2012-02-17T11:31:00.002-05:00

Visiting with Captain Kirk is Out of This World
By Lauren Yarger
When notices appeared for William Shatner's upcoming one-man Broadway show, I realized that if I had a bucket list, seeing Captain Jim Kirk in person definitely would be on it.

I had fallen for the dashing captain of the Starship Enterprise some time back in college where a bunch of us would gather one night a week in the dorm lounge for reruns of the popular television series. I had missed the original series broadcast, not being a big fan of sci-fi at that time, but I branched out a lot in college and along with consuming new and sometimes unidentifiable foods in the cafeteria, I agreed to watch "Star Trek" with my new dorm mates.

I found the show's bizarre aliens amusing, but it didn't take long to see that there was some real intelligence behind everything, from the interracial/international crew, which was new for its time, to the design of the starship, which ran on computers (with hard floppy disks-- again unheard of at the time) and warp drive. Crew communicated on devices not unlike today's smart phones and soon I was hooked, but more because of the dashing Kirk than the technology or smart story plots.

One episode finds Kirk stranded on a planet while The Enterprise is under attack while orbiting. Using his I-phone-like communicator, Kirk barks out the order, "Don't worry about me. Save my ship!" That did it, I was a follower of Captain Kirk and William Shatner, the dashing, if sometimes overacting guy who played him.

Now, more than 30 years later, he's still a lot of fun to watch in action, this time as he reflects over his 50-year career and a life full of ups and downs in Shatner's World: We Just live in It playing a limited engagement at the Music Box Theatre. It's a fun trip down memory lane by an obviously nice guy, who ended up in the right place at the right time more than once, and who isn't afraid to laugh at himself.

I attended Wednesday, before the official opening last night, and started smiling as the packed crowd began applauding when the house lights went to half. Obviously there were a lot of other Captain Kirk fans in those seats with me too. With such a long-running career, they also might also have been fans of characters Shatner has played on other shows, like "Boston Legal," "T.J. Hooker" or "Rescue 911," which was probably the first reality TV series.
Interestingly, Shatner, directed on stage by Scott Faris, doesn't spend a lot of time talking about "Star Trek," but shares stories about his earlier years growing up in Canada, as "the worst student ever at McGill University," hitchhiking across America and generally failing at everything until finding work as an actor. He understudied Christopher Plummer at the prestigious Stratford Shakespeare Festival and has never looked back.

The one-hour-and-40-minute presentation is really entertaining and fun if you're a Shatner fan. I particularly enjoyed a story he shared about having to kill a rat in his camper. The difference between frightened real person and the unfaltering confidence of fearless, alien-battling Kirk have never been so defined or funny.

At the end, the crowd was satisfied: a standing ovation with more than one hand raised in a Vulcan salute. Live long and prosper, Bill.

Shatner's World plays through March 4 at the Music Box, 239 West 45th St., NYC. A 15-city tour is planned following the Broadway run. For information and tickets, visit http://shatnersworld.com/.

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--Language

TheaterMania Will Present Drama Desk Awards at Town Hall June 3

2012-02-14T16:06:00.000-05:00

Liev Schreiber and Audra McDonald announce the 2011 Drama Desk nominations.

TheaterMania will present the 57^th Annual Drama Desk awards this year at Town Hall on Sunday, June 3 at 8 pm.

The collaboration was announced by Gretchen Shugart, CEO of TheaterMania.com, which will present the awards ceremony with Robert R. Blume and David S. Stone in association with Renee McCurry.

TheaterMania.com, which has been involved with the Drama Desk Awards for the past 10 years, has engaged Joey Parnes Productions to produce and general manage the production.

"We are thrilled to take an active role in presenting the 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony and show,"Shugart said. "TheaterMania's mission has always been to support theater large and small and since New York is our home, it makes sense that we celebrate this sensational theater season with the best talent on and off Broadway. We hope to provide a simple, elegant evening that will be fun and entertaining for the industry at the theater district's legendary Town Hall, while giving the public a peek inside through our various media channels."

Parnes is a veteran Broadway producer and general manager who served as coordinating producer for the TONY Awards from 2001 to 2008 and formed Joey Parnes Productions in November 2011 after being interim executive director of the Public Theater since early 2011.

"The Drama Desk organization is thrilled to have the support of TheaterMania.com in producing the 57^th Annual Drama Desk Awards,” said Isa Goldberg, president of the Drama Desk. “Their generous partnership takes our awards event to a new stage, while propelling the significant role of the Drama Desk Awards in the theater community.”

The date and venue of the Nominations Announcement News Conference will be announced shortly, as well as the date and venue for the Nominees Cocktail Reception.

The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics' organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition between Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway shows.

TheaterMania.com is a leading source for theater information and tickets nationwide. Founded in 1999, TheaterMania.com has connected the theater community to the public as the leading online resource for consumers to find shows, save money, and buy tickets nationwide using its website, iPad magazine and iPhone app. TheaterMania.com publishes comprehensive show listings, editorial content, and video coverage for over 40 markets and widely distributes free email newsletters and special offers to over 650,000 registered subscribers. In addition, TheaterMania.com creates online marketing programs for performing arts organizations,

and provides technology to power ticketing, fund raising, and CRM through its proprietary software, OvationTix.

There's an App for That, Broadway Fans

2012-02-14T15:43:00.000-05:00

The Broadway League has launched the IBDBapp for iPhone, iPad, and iPodTouch based on the League's popular Internet Broadway Database website www.ibdb.com.

IBDB provides a comprehensive database of shows produced on Broadway over the last three centuries, including all "title page" information about each production. IBDB also offers historical information about theatres and various statistics and fun factsrelated to Broadway.

The app is IBDB on-the-go for iOS devices including iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The app contains most ofthe features found on IBDB.com, such as advanced searches and photos andvideo for current shows. To download, search IBDB at the iTunes stores.The app is free.

The new IBDB app complements the Broadway League’s other online services:
The ILoveNYTheater app where consumers can purchase tickets at all price points to every current and upcoming show, direct from the theatres' official ticketing offices in real time without broker markups. The ILoveNYTheater app also provides up-to-date show and theatre information including theatre locations and show running times,a performance schedule for the current week, a guide to hotel and dining options in Manhattan's Theatre District, social media connections, news from The Broadway Fan Club, and more. The free app is available at the iTunes store by searching "Broadway" under apps to find and download ILoveNYTheater
.
Both the IBDB app and the ILoveNYTheater app have corresponding mobile sites accessible on the browser of any smart phone, giving theatregoers an important in-hand tool when visiting the Theatre District.

The Broadway Concierge & Ticket Center® offers customer assistance with show ticket representatives via an onlinechat component. Local and out-of-town theatregoers can visit www.ILoveNYTheater.com on their PC to chat with a BC&TC representative and get info about shows, theatres, performance times and more, before purchasing their tickets on line or in person at the Times Square Visitor Center on Seventh avenue between 46th & 47th streets.