5 reasons Star Trek must do a musical episode
By Mike Poteet
#4 – Arguably, Star Trek has already done a musical episode
“What?” you say. “No it hasn’t!” But it has!
The sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced the holographic character of Vic Fontaine.
Played by Gidget’s Moondoggie himself, 1960s teen heartthrob and accomplished jazz crooner James Darren, Vic is a self-aware hologram who plays to crowds of DS9 crew and faux Las Vegas vacationers in packed holosuites.
Vic lends his golden pipes to several episodes in DS9’s lastl two seasons. (His rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight” in the series finale makes me misty just thinking about it.) But his first episode, “His Way” (the title’s a nice nod to Frank Sinatra’s classic hit), is really only a few measures short of being a full-fledged musical.
Like such Broadway shows as Mama Mia! or Movin’ Out, “His Way” features not new songs but pop standards.
We hear full performances of “You’re Nobody ‘til Somebody Loves You,” “Come Fly with Me” (twice!), “Fever” (in which Nana Visitor gets to strut her stuff as a torch singer), and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” We also even hear Sisko and Odo sing a few bars of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”
Five standards from the great American songbook in a 45-minute (sans commercials) show? Sure sounds like a Star Trek musical episode to me!
And as in any good Broadway book musical, these songs are more than ear candy. They advance the plot (Odo learns to play piano during the first “Come Fly with Me,” and confronts his feelings for Kira during “Fever”) and develop the show’s themes (the title alone of “You’re Nobody…” speaks volumes about Odo’s emotions).
What’s more, the DS9 creative team considered “His Way” a Star Trek musical episode.
At least, screenwriter Hans Beimler did.
In a 1998 interview with Cinefantastique quoted on the Memory Alpha wiki, Beimler says:
"I think of “His Way” as the first musical on Deep Space Nine. Musicals are very difficult to make work, and I know that because Ira and I did Fame together, the television series. It was a learning experience in terms of how difficult it is to tell a good story in a musical. When you hit it, it feels great, because it combines all the elements. There’s nothing like a musical to make it happen."