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STAR TREK DAY (with live Q&As)

Who: Mica Burton, Sonequa Martin-Green, David Ajala, Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, Wil Wheaton, Cirroc Lofton, Alexander Sidding, Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman, Terry Farrell, Ira Behr, Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers, Akela Cooper, Davy Perez, George Takei, Rod Roddenberry, Kate Mulgrew, Robert McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, Connor Trineer, Mike McMahan, Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes
What: Online celebration of all things Star Trek
Where: CBS All Access and startrek.com
When: Tuesday, September 8, free, select shows streaming at 3:00 am on CBS All Access, panels beginning at 3:00 pm on startrek.com
Why: With so many small and large indoor and outdoor gatherings shut down during the pandemic, one of the industries taking the hardest hit is conventions. On September 8, CBS All Access and startrek.com are adapting by having a major online edition celebrating the Star Trek universe. The pop-culture phenomenon created by Gene Roddenberry continues to impact society and technology fifty-four years after the original series kicked off a three-season run on television in 1966, spreading to the big screen and the internet, with numerous live-action movies, prequels, sequels, and animated tales.

The first episode of Star Trek, The Man Trap, aired on NBC on September 8; this September 8, CBS All Access will be streaming twelve hours of shows from all over the Trek map, followed by eight live discussions on the official Star Trek site, all free. The event will be hosted by Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton and feature panels dedicated to Discovery, Deep Space Nine, Strange New Worlds, Voyager, Enterprise, Lower Decks, the original series, and The Next Generation and Picard, with more than three dozen ST veterans participating, including George Takei, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, Robert Picardo, Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Patrick Stewart, and Jonathan Frakes. May they all live long and prosper.

ON BROADWAY: FROM RENT TO REVOLUTION

on broadway

Rizzoli Bookstore
1133 Broadway at 26th St.
Monday, May 23, RSVP only, 6:30
212-759-2424
rizzolibookstore.com
www.broadwaycares.org

Before word of mouth, before the reviews, before the public sees the cast and sets and hears the dialogue and music, a Broadway show attempts to define itself — and sell tickets — by establishing a look, a unique brand, via posters, billboards, and advertisements. For the last twenty years, SpotCo, originally known as Spot Design, has been at the forefront of this business, working on campaigns for more than three hundred clients, including eight Pulitzer Prize winners and the last eight winners of the Tony for Best Musical. The company’s history is celebrated in the new coffee-table book On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution (Rizzoli, April 2016, $45), which explores SpotCo’s branding of such shows as Rent, Chicago, The Vagina Monologues, Doubt, Avenue Q, Hair, Once, Kinky Boots, Fun Home, and Hamilton. “What separates SpotCo’s oeuvre from what has come before and makes it so astounding is that as a whole it has no recognizable visual style, in a business that was long thought to rely on exactly that, no matter how hackneyed and clichéd,” author and graphic designer extraordinaire Chip Kidd writes in his foreword. “The only thing that unites them all is an unwavering sense of intelligence and the apparent belief that their audience is comprised of people who can think, intuit, and take a chance on something they haven’t quite experienced before.” The book also features text by SpotCo founder Drew Hodges and producers, composers, illustrators, playwrights, artistic directors, photographers, and actors (Harvey Fierstein, Cherry Jones, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patrick Stewart, Sting) detailing the various campaigns, in addition to an introduction by former company maid David Sedaris. On May 23, the Rizzoli Bookstore will host the annual Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS charity event while also celebrating On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution; the evening will include a red carpet entrance for numerous stars of the Great White Way, an auction of original art, and more.

WAITING FOR GODOT / NO MAN’S LAND

Didi (Patrick Stewart) and Gogo (Ian McKellen) joke around while waiting for Godot in Samuel Beckett masterpiece (photo by Joan Marcus)

Cort Theatre
138 West 48th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Extended through March 30, $40 – $147
www.twoplaysinrep.com

For the past five months, British thespians Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have been having a blast in New York, as they perform two existential masterpieces in repertory on Broadway and travel all over the city in their bowler hats, posting fabulous pictures on their twitter sites. Sir Ian and Sir Pat are now entering the last week of two marvelous productions, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land, running at the Cort Theatre through March 30. The two men, who have previously starred opposite each other as frenemies in the X-Men movies, first teamed up for Godot in London in 2009; they had such a good time, they decided to bring it to Broadway. It was director Sean Mathias’s idea to add Pinter’s 1975 drawing-room romp, and the two plays work extremely well together, like a pair of old friends enjoying each other’s company. In Waiting for Godot — the last word of which you will forever pronounce with the accent on the second syllable after seeing this show — McKellen is Estragon (Gogo) and Stewart is Vladimir (Didi), two homeless men who are expecting a man named Godot to arrive. In between Gogo’s concern for his boots and Didi’s frequent trips to relieve himself, the drifters engage in such surreal dialogue as E: “He should be here.” V: “He didn’t say for sure he’d come.” E: “And if he doesn’t come?” V: “We’ll come back tomorrow.” E: “And then the day after tomorrow.” V: “Possibly.” E: “And so on.” V: “The point is —” E: “Until he comes.” V: “You’re merciless.” E: “We came here yesterday.” V: “Ah no, there you’re mistaken.” E: “What did we do yesterday?” V: “What did we do yesterday?” E: “Yes.” V: “Why . . . Nothing is certain when you’re about.” Indeed, nothing is certain in the two-and-a-half-hour, two-act play, even when the pompous Pozzo (Shuler Hensley) arrives, led by his apparent human slave, Lucky (Billy Crudup). What’s it all about? That’s something that theatergoers and critics have been contemplating and arguing about for some fifty years, getting little help from Beckett himself. The beauty of Godot is that it is about everything and nothing, perhaps the most entertaining and perplexing Rorschach test ever conceived. It’s really about whatever you want it to be, including, very simply, exceptional theater.

Spooner (Ian McKellen) and Hirst (Patrick Stewart) rehash the past in Harold Pinter classic (photo by Joan Marcus)

Much is left up to the audience to figure out in the absurdist black comedy No Man’s Land as well. After meeting in a pub, the wealthy, impeccably dressed Hirst (Stewart, wearing a wonderful pair of bright blue socks and a fashionable toupee) brings home the somewhat less erudite but scholarly Spooner (McKellen) for further conversation and top-shelf liquor. The two men discuss life and love, aging and infidelity, poetry and memory, occasionally joined by Foster (Crudup) and Briggs (Hensley), who may or may not be Hirst’s sons or servants. (The four characters are named after great cricketers — not that that lends insight into who they are or what they actually represent, other than that Pinter is playing yet more games with his story.) Stewart and McKellen, in roles originated by a pair of other sirs, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, respectively, are utterly delightful as the two gents. Are they old college friends? Romantic competitors? Two halves of the same person? As in Waiting for Godot, the significantly more acerbic No Man’s Land is open for vast interpretation as well, although it provides far more clues. Both plays are splendidly directed by Mathias (Bent), who honors the spirit of each play without getting overly fancy or dramatic, and feature exemplary sets and costumes designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis that evoke heaven, hell, and the way station in between. Over the past dozen years or so, McKellen (King Lear, Dance of Death) and Stewart (A Christmas Carol, Macbeth) have appeared on the New York stage separately, but there’s nothing quite like seeing them together on Broadway, in a pair of stellar productions that allow them to have just as much fun as the audience.

NEW YORK COMIC CON

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny will talk X-FILES and take pictures with fans at New York Comic Con

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th St. (11th Ave. between 34th & 39th Sts.)
October 10-13, $30-$50 per day, four-day pass $85
www.newyorkcomiccon.com

New York Comic Con continues its exponential growth this year by focusing on the small screen more than ever. The eighth edition, taking place October 10-13 at the Javits Center, includes presentations on a wide range of television programs, including Game of Thrones, Haven, Falling Skies, The Following, The Walking Dead, Robot Chicken, Archer, Bob’s Burgers, Doctor Who, Teen Wolf, Futurescape with James Woods, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Person of Interest, Sleepy Hollow, The League, and others, with the shows’ stars, writers, and producers on hand for screenings, discussions, and Q&As, all free with the price of admission. There are lots of autograph sessions and photo ops as well, but some of them will cost you a pretty penny; it’s $220 to get your picture taken with Patrick Stewart and William Shatner together, or with Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, who will be talking up The X-Files on Sunday afternoon. Below are our recommendations for this year’s convention; please note that many of the guests will be signing autographs on multiple days.

Thursday, October 10
Autographing Highlights: Zoë Bell, Marissa Jade, Miss Zukie, Kathy Najimi, Joe Quinones, Greg Pack, Greg Rucka, Jamie Tyndall

Women in Comics, with Claudia McGivney, Megan Kociolek, Amy Chu, Becky Cloonan, Emily Weisenstein, Erica Schultz, and Laura Pope-Robbins, 1A15, 3:15

Welcome to the Brass Screen: Steampunk TV and Film, with Bruce Boxleitner, Matt James Daley, Thom Truelove, Trevor Crafts, and Leanna Renee Hieber, moderated by Diana Pho, 1A17, 3:45

Bill Plympton’s Cheatin’ & Kickstarter, with Adam Rackoff, James Hancock, and Bill Plympton, 1A08, 4:15

Carmine Infantino: A VisualLecture Retrospective, with Arlen Schumer, 1A08, 6:45

NYCC Thursday Night Kickoff with Comedy Mutant, featuring Brian Posehn, Janeane Garofalo, Mike Drucker, and Myq Kaplan, Main stage 1-D, 8:00

Friday, October 11
Autographing Highlights: Kristin Bauer, Andrea Cremer, Mick Foley, Joel Grey, Dean Haspiel, Darlene Love, Greg Pak, Raphael Sbarge, Stuart Moore, Veronica Taylor

Hatsune Miku Live Party 2013 in Kansai Special Film Concert at NYCC, 1A23, 11:15 am

He’s Back! Celebrate Chucky’s 25th Anniversary with the Creators & Cast, with Brad Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Don Mancini, Fiona Dourif, Harry Knowles, and Jennifer Tilly, Main Stage 1-D, 12:15

Game of Thrones with Jerome Flynn, 1A23, 12:30

B. J. Novak’s One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, with B. J. Novak and Lev Grossman, 1A22, 1:30

Will.i.am’s Wizards and Robots, with will.i.am, 1A23, 1:45

The Walking Dead 10th Anniversary Panel,” with Charlie Adlard and Robert Kirkman, Empire Stage 1-E, 2:45

[Adult Swim] Presents Robot Chicken, with Breckin Meyer, Clare Grant, Keith Crofford, Matthew Senreich, and Seth Green, Main Stage 1-D, 5:00

Oldboy, with Mark Protosevich, Michael Imperioli, and Pom Klementieff, Main Stage 1-D, 6:00

Spotlight on the Fifth Beatle: The Story of Brian Epstein, with Bruce Cohen, Dave Marsh, David Kahne, Vivek J. Tiwary, and Andrew C. Robinson, 1A01, 6:30

The Cyanide and Happiness Show! with Dave McElfatrick, Kris Wilson, and Shawn Coss, 1A10, 8:00

William Shatner and Patrick Stewart will be together again at New York Comic Con

Saturday, October 12
Autographing Highlights: Gillian Anderson, Julie Benz, Bruce Boxleitner, David Duchovny, Boomer Esiason, Hulk Hogan, Jerry “the King” Lawler, Stan Lee, Andrew McCarthy, William Shatner, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Billy West

Archer Discussion and Q&A, with Adam Reed, Aisha Tyler, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Judy Greer, and Lucky Yates, Main Stage 1-D, 11:00 am

Fifty Years of Doctor Who, with Barnaby Edwards, Deborah Stanish, Graeme Burk, JK Woodward, Ken Deep, Robert Smith (TBC), and Andre Tessier, 1A23, 11:15

Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski, with J. Michael Straczynski, 1A14, 12:15

IFC’s Back to Back Comedy Event: Comedy Bang! Bang! and The Birthday Boys, with members of the Birthday Boys, Reggie Watts, and Scott Aukerman, 1A06, 2:30

Beauty and the Beast Screening and Fan Q&A, with Jay Ryan, Kristin Kreuk, and Matt Mitovich, Main Stage 1-D, 3:45

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Jeph Loeb, Main Stage 1-D, 5:00

Showrunners, with Des Doyle, Greg Plageman, Ronald D. Moore, Ryan Patrick McGuffey, and Terence Winter, moderated by Tara DiLullo Bennett, 1A23, 5:30

AMC’s The Walking Dead, with Andrew Lincoln, Chad Coleman, Danai Gurira, Lauren Cohan, Melissa McBride, Norman Reedus, and Steven Yeun, moderated by Debra Birnbaum, Main Stage 1-D, 6:30

Wikia (Live) Cosplay Contest, 1A06, 8:30

Sunday, October 13
Autographing Highlights: John Barrowman, Anthony Daniels, Chip Kidd, Gareth David-Lloyd, Simon Fraser, Andrew McCarthy, William Shatner, Gary Sohmers, Patrick Stewart

Sunday Conversation with Dan DiDio, 1A06, 10:45 am

Defiance: A New Earth — with New Rules, with Grant Bowler, Jaime Murray, Julie Benz, Michael Nankin, and Stephanie Leonidas, Main Stage 1-D, 11:00

Person of Interest Special Video Presentation and Q&A, with Amy Acker, Greg Plageman, Kevin Chapman, Sarah Shahi, and Taraji P. Henson, Empire Stage 1-E, 12:15

The Following Special Video Presentation and Q&A, with Connie Nielsen, James Purefoy, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Williamson, Marcos Siega, Shawn Ashmore, and Valorie Curry, Empire Stage 1-E, 1:30

Chozen Screening and Q&A, with Bobby Moynihan, Grant Dekernion, Hannibal Buress, Method Man, and Tom Brady, Main Stage 1-D, 1:30

The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, with J. W. Rinzler and Jason Fry, 1A23, 2:45

William Shatner Q&A, 1A22, 3:45

Gillian Anderson & David Duchovny Talk X-Files, Main Stage 1-D, 4:00

WIZARD WORLD COMIC CON NYC EXPERIENCE

WALKING DEAD stars will be at Basketball City this weekend for Wizard World

Basketball City, Pier 36
299 South St.
June 28-30, $40-$55
www.wizardworld.com

First an East Coast edition of the immensely popular San Diego Comic Con pulled into the Javits Center, where it now annually sells out well in advance. Now a version of Wizard World magically arrives, flying into downtown’s Basketball City on Pier 36 this weekend. The three-day celebration of all things fantasy and science fiction features an all-star lineup of heavy hitters participating in Q&As and/or signing autographs and posing for photos (for between $40 and $80 each), including Patrick Stewart, Stan Lee, Henry Winkler, Anthony Michael Hall, Denis O’Hare, James Marsters, Michael Rooker, CM Punk, Wil Wheaton, Ray Park, Pam Grier, Norman Reedus, and others, with a major focus on The Walking Dead. Among the special programs are a retrospective of National Cartoonist Society Hall of Famer Stan Goldberg’s career, a meet-and-greet and Q&A with Lee, “Vampire Lore and Other Urban Myths and Legends” with Dr. Rebecca Housel, “Drawing and Composing Covers for Dramatic Effect” with Neal Adams, “Will Eisner’s A Contract with God at 35” moderated by Danny Fingeroth, “Mastering the Universe” with animator Tom Cook, and the Official Wizard World Comic Con Costume Contest and Party.

TED

TED tells the story of a different kind of threesome

TED (Seth MacFarlane, 2012)
Opens Friday, June 29
www.tedisreal.com

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s first feature film, Ted, is a cuddly, foul-mouthed, raunchy delight. Mark Wahlberg stars as John Bennett, a man-child whose best friend is his teddy bear, brought to life by a Christmas wish twenty-seven years ago when John was eight. But Ted (a motion-captured MacFarlane in Peter Griffin voice) is no sugar-sweet bear; instead, the rotoscoped stuffed pervert spends his days and nights doing bong hits, inviting hookers over, and convincing John to hang out rather than pursue any kind of real career. None of this sits well with John’s longtime girlfriend, Lori (a wonderful Mila Kunis, her large, emotional eyes dominating the screen), who is growing tired of being the third wheel and is seriously considering delivering an ultimatum to John to choose between her and Ted. Meanwhile, Ted is being stalked by a creepy guy named Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) whose creepy son (Aedin Mincks) wants Ted for himself. Ted has no right to be as good as it is, and don’t be fooled by trailers that make it look like a silly one-joke comedy sketch. It turns out to be a warm, endearing story filled with heart, centered around two strong relationships that are handled with grace and charm by MacFarlane, who cowrote the surprisingly strong script with Family Guy cohorts Alec Sulkin and Wellesely Wild. Even when the film goes awry — which it does several times, particularly in a throwaway scene with Norah Jones and a tired subplot involving Lori’s boss’s (Joel McHale) annoying pursuit of her — it always rights itself, balancing comedy, romance, and tragedy with laughs and tears. The film also features American Dad Patrick Warburton as John’s macho coworker, Jessica Barth as Ted’s sexy coworker, and Patrick Stewart as the humble narrator who bookends the heartwarming tale with yet more four-letter words. And there’s a special treat for fans of Sam Jones and the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon.

EPIX OUTDOOR SCREENING ON THE INTREPID: THE CAPTAINS

Old Captain Kirk (William Shatner) battles it out with young Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) in Epix documentary THE CAPTAINS

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th St.
Saturday, July 30, free, gates at 7:30, film at 8:45
www.intrepidmuseum.org
www.epixhd.com

As far as we’re concerned, there is only one Star Trek captain, and his name is James T. Kirk, played by the ever-lovable William Shatner. Sure, we have a soft spot for the inimitable Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and we also got a kick out of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) of Star Trek: Voyager. We never got quite as involved with Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) of Star Trek: Enterprise. In the Epix HD original documentary The Captains, writer-director-producer Shatner goes in search of all the other starship captains — each of the aforementioned leaders, in addition to Chris Pine, who played the young Kirk in J. J. Abrams’s recent Star Trek big-screen reboot — and he’ll do whatever it takes to get them to talk about their part in the continuing adventures of the Starship Enterprise and beyond. The film will be screening for free on Saturday night, July 30, on board the Intrepid, where Shatner will be on hand to introduce the movie and give out prizes. The first one thousand people to show up in costume — the Intrepid strongly advises against bringing anything that even resembles a weapon — will receive a commemorative Captains poster. The best costumes will vie for T-shirts and the opportunity to take a photo with Shatner. Epix is in the midst of Shatnerpalooza, offering online HD screenings of the first six Star Trek films in addition to such other stellar Shatner fare as The Intruder, Big Bad Mama, Pioneer Woman, Broken Angel, The Outer Limits, Disaster on the Coastliner, and William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet. (What, no Kingdom of the Spiders or the Esperanto classic Incubus?)