On Saturday evening (April 9), The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts morphed into what could have been a set piece for an episode from Star Trek.
The transformation took place for the Vancouver stop of the travelling 100-city North American tour of Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage concert, which launched in Florida earlier this year and celebrates 50 years since audiences first heard of Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise.
Produced by CineConcerts, known for its trademark multimedia symphony experiences, Ultimate Voyage features an orchestra ranging between 40 and 90 instruments playing music from both the television and movie series.
“It’s a celebration of all things Star Trek, and of course the wonderful music that has been written over the years by so many fantastic composers. Music that has really given life and voice to [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry’s vision,” says conductor Nicholas Buc.
As much a feast for the eyes as it as for the ears, the main stage inside The Centre was decorated with props giving it the futuristic look of a 24th-century space station, accompanied by a 12-metre-wide projection screen hanging above.
The performance started off strong, the first song being the theme to Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) written by composer Jerry Goldsmith. As the horn section blared out the introduction, visuals from the Trek universe - like Kirk’s fight against Spock in The Original Series (TOS) episode “Amok Time” - played overhead and parts of the stage glowed different colours to reflect the changing moods.
Michael Dorn, who famously played Klingon Starfleet officer Worf on TNG and Deep Space Nine, provided pre-recorded narration between the musical transitions, such as listing out the senior crewmembers from the various shows.
“Sisko, Dax, Bashir, Odo…” Dorn would say in his signature baritone voice.
The orchestra switched seamlessly between splashy opening numbers to subtle scene-setting background music. Other fan favourites, like the emotional flute solo from the teary fifth-season TNG episode “The Inner Light,” were also covered.
During about the mid-way point of the night, there was a surprise in store for the audience. “Now tonight is very special, because we’ve got a real treat. We have with us one of the Star Trek composers in the house,” says Buc speaking about Ron Jones.
“His music in Star Trek TNG has been hugely popular, and before the intermission we were thrilled by his cliff-hanger ending to the episode ‘Best of Both Worlds,” he says, in reference to the TNG edge-of your-seat two-parter that sees Captain Picard turned into a frightening half-man, half-machine being.
Jones took to the stage to conduct the score he wrote for the video game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Closing out Ultimate Voyage, following a standing ovation by the crowd, was a rendition of perhaps the most recognizable piece of all - the tune to TOS.
The tour officially finishes up next month in Texas, with a final stop in Paris. For more information, visit www.startrekultimatevoyage.com.
