Orchestra transfixes Trekkies with music of their favorite shows

Sam Morris

Star Trek Convention attendees Barron Toler, left, and Eric Hall share the stage with Las Vegas Philharmonic musicians who played orchestral versions of music from the “Star Trek” series Saturday.

By Kristen Peterson (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008 | 2 a.m.

A frisky Capt. Kirk and a lady Klingon are getting cozy in the back of the Barron Room at the Hilton Center, trying to form a Klingon-Federation alliance.

The rest of the nearly 1,300 audience members speckling the convention hall are transfixed by the orchestral performance of the music of “Star Trek.”

“This is phenomenal,” says Patricia Reynolds of Nashville, who is dressed in full Klingon gear — bushy eyebrows, bumpy forehead, wild curly hair bouncing onto her elaborate costume. “When you can silence an audience of these geeks, you’ve created magic.”

Magic, indeed.

Like Reynolds, who was dressed as Lt. Uhura the day before, most everybody in this vast hall Saturday night has heard the varied themes hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times, note for note.

But not quite like this, not as concert music.

Many fans are so enamored of the show that they don’t think about what happened musically, says Ron Jones, who composed music for TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

But the orchestral music of “Star Trek,” performed by members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic under the direction of Richard McGee, has them mesmerized.

McGee, who often promotes, and educates audiences about, movie scores as a rich source of today’s serious music, is in his element — and not just symphonically.

McGee and his wife, Joan, an oboist for the Las Vegas Philharmonic, are ardent “Star Trek” fans. It’s something the audience picks up during the conductor’s plot discussions and continuous reiteration of the brilliance of “Star Trek” composers. Many of the movie and TV scores “stand alone as concert pieces,” he says.

The more than 20 composers who created works for the TV shows and movies include Academy Award-winning composers Jerry Goldsmith (“The Omen”), James Horner (“Titanic”) and Leonard Rosenman (“Barry Lyndon,” “Bound for Glory”).

Goldsmith derailed his plans as a concert hall composer to work in film so that he could make a living writing music. He composed music for more than 200 movies, including “Planet of the Apes,” “Islands in the Stream” and five “Star Trek” films.

“Star Trek” crowds are a very special crowd and they’re very appreciative of all that goes into ‘Star Trek,’ ” says Mike Edmondson of San Diego.

This could explain the stillness in the vast hall.

Unlike in traditional concert halls, there are no candies being unwrapped, there is no whispering and no snoring — even though some were up for the 8 a.m. “Deep Space Nine” salute breakfast and spent the day attending lectures, autograph signings and a costume contest before settling in for the 10 p.m. symphonic performance.

Aside from the intergalactic flirtation in the back of the hall and a few conventiongoers ducking out early, the only stirring is a scrolling “Live Long and Prosper” across a pin attached to a woman’s lapel.

About 11:30 p.m., the orchestra performs the big finale, Alexander Courage’s “Star Trek Main Theme,” for the fans wearing Vulcan ears, Klingon wear and Starship crew uniforms.

A couple of dozen fans crowd around McGee after the show to discuss details of the “Star Trek” themes and to collect his autograph. One woman affixes a “Peace in Our Galaxy” pin to his lapel.

Another offers to make Vulcan ears for McGee for next year’s performance, telling him, “You know everyone would just flip.”

“Who would think that science fiction fans would be so interested in a classical type of product?” says David Goldstein, from New Jersey. “But you realize that it’s the fabric that moves the story forward. The fight scenes in the TV show, that’s all music.”

Of the three concerts at Las Vegas conventions, this was Goldstein’s favorite.

Jones, who conducted the orchestra through “Star Trek: The Next Generation Suite” and led the orchestra through the world premiere of “Ascent,” a dedication to the life and work of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, also enjoyed the evening.

When asked what it was like to conduct the music he composed nearly 20 years ago, the “Family Guy” composer, flanked by fans, explained: “It’s like water skiing behind a 747 in the nude. It’s a very visceral thing.”

Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at kristen@lasvegassun.com.