Braga’s ‘Voyager,’ Nana’s Advice, And Lower Decker’s Improv – TrekMovie.com

On Thursday, February 27, Star Trek: The Cruise VIII arrived in Belize City, Belize, giving travelers another opportunity to exit the ship and explore historical and touristy destinations. Once back on the ship, fans were eager to enjoy the last night in port by celebrating “formal night” with a fun mix of Star Trek cosplay and fancy dress. The evening featured a special theatrical showing of the recent Star Trek: Section 31 movie along with more evening activities to give guests the chance to get to know the Star Trek talent. Friday was all at sea, and the day featured a great panel with Brannon Braga while with the nighttime highlight being the big Q’s Costume Party for even more cosplay. Here are some highlights from the last couple of days.

Writing Voyager with Brannon Braga

No one has written more Star Trek than Brannon Braga, veteran of TNG, Voyager, and Enterprise along with two feature films (Generations and First Contact),, so it was a highlight for Trek cruise fans to hear from him with a panel moderated by his Voyager colleague, producer Lolita Fatjo, with an emphasis on their shared experiences as this cruise is celebrating that show’s 30th anniversary. This panel was an opportunity to get a glimpse into the minds of the writers in the Voyager writers room. For example, Fatjo set Braga up with a discussion on Voyager‘s recasting of Captain Janeway from Geneviève Bujold to Kate Mulgrew. Brannon recalled:

“I was a huge advocate for Geneviève Bujold, because I was a big fan of her movies. I thought, wow, we have a movie star playing the captain, this is going to be great. And Rick was the one… I don’t remember what [co-creators] Jeri [Taylor] and Michael [Piller] said… but Rick Berman was the one saying ‘She’s not used to being on television. This is not going to end well. And if you’ve seen the dailes… she looks terrified.’”

The recasting has become a consistent topic at STTC panels as the screening of the Voyager documentary included some very high-quality footage of Bujold as Janeway, possibly the best any fan has ever seen. In hindsight, both Braga and Fatjo admit that Bujold could never have made the role work, and Mulgrew had a lock on the Janeway character from the first time she walked on set.

Chase in the “Hot Seat”

It’s easy to overlook Connor Trinneer’s series “The Hot Seat,” held in early afternoons in the cozy lounge at the forward end of the ship, but this is a mistake as it’s a program that really embodies the slower, more intimate tone that The Cruise has over other conventions. In each session, the former Enterprise star sits down with one of his Star Trek actor friends and asks them pointed questions about their early life and career. Even though his show is named “Hot Seat,” his questions are neither high-pressure nor impatient. Trivnneer takes a very sensitive approach that allows his guests to tell their story at a pace that feels right for them.

On Thursday, his guest was Chase Masterson, who was very open about her past of depression and substance abuse. She made it clear that her motivation for sharing her experience so freely was that she empathized with others who had experiences of hopelessness. With this kind of outlook on life, it’s easy to see why Masterson pours so much of her time into Homeboy Industries and the Pop Culture Hero Coalition against bullying. The former organization attempts to give urban gang members a path out of gang life, while the latter attempts to reduce the draw of gang membership by (hopefully) weakening our current culture of violence.

An audience member prompted Chase to describe what it was like to contact the United Nations to propose bringing them to Comic-Con, and Chase recalled the story, trying to recapture how nervous she was:

“I thought, let’s bring the real heroes to Comic-Con. Let’s make these parallels between justice on-screen and justice in real life. And so, I called them, I said ‘Hi, this is Chase Masterson from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. And we’re doing a thing, a coalition, to end bullying at Comic-Con. And, well, you guys end bullying, with countries.’ And she said ‘The President of the U.N. San Diego Office said, ‘Oh, my God! We’ve always wanted to go to Comic-Con!’”

Ask Mama Nana

For those seeking more life advice, Nana Visitor’s “Ask Mama Nana” was a Q&A session that showed the profound differences in the life outlooks of Visitor and her DS9 character, Kira Nerys. On Friday afternoon, Nana took the stage and fielded a variety of questions. Having built a reputation among STTC regulars and her social media followers, Nana’s fans know her to be someone with a great deal of life experience and a heart willing to share that experience with anyone who asks. Many fans had questions about life stresses, ranging from current events to professional troubles, and Visitor explained that she’d found that curiosity was enabling:

Spock was such a great character. Because think of a Vulcan that doesn’t show emotion. Spock was amazing because, what was his famous word? Fascinating. Fascinating. He was always looking, not to judge, but to understand. And to find your curiosity, even if you find your curiosity about yourself.

Lower Decks improv

Back for a second year in a row, Tawny Newsome and Eugene Cordero offered an improv comedy show, this year’s titled “We’re in Town for Something Else”. At the start of the show, the two Lower Decks stars and improv comedy veterans asked the audience for funny stories about visiting a strange city and then doing something else completely unrelated to the reason for your visit. Tawny outlined the idea as volunteer hands went up:

“The reason it’s called  ‘We’re in Town for Something Else’ is because when we do it alongside the conventions, it’s very cool to be able to go to a city for like, a con, but then be able to this thing that we love on the side. So we actually want to talk to you all about a time that you might have been in town for one thing but then ended up doing something else that was more interesting.”

Audience members lined up to offer stories of tech conferences and unexpected road trips. Newsome and Cordero then spun their stories into a comedy routine that drew on Tawny’s time at Second City and Eugene’s experience at The Upright Citizens Brigade. Since last year’s STTC, Tawny and Eugene have tried out this routine at a number of conventions, and it’s quickly becoming a fan favorite. Historically, Star Trek actors have often been classically trained or had a musical theatre background. but The Lower Decks cast is a sign that strong improv training has been very healthy for the saga.

Belize photos

Formerly home to a Mayan settlement, Belize City is now a modern city built by the colonizers from British Honduras as a way to consolidate their control over the indigenous population. Much of it was destroyed by Hurricane Hattie in 1961, and most landmarks are divided into the categories of being constructed before the hurricane or after the hurricane. Similar distinctions are made for anything built since Belize’s independence from British Honduras in 1981.

Formal Night

After visiting Belize on Thursday, fans were eager to enjoy the last night in port by celebrating Formal Night. Screen-accurate dress uniforms were worn with pride, while some people decided to add their own twists by mashing Star Trek styles with tuxedos or ball gowns and dousing both with a healthy amount of glitter and jewelry. That evening, a special theatrical showing of the recent Star Trek: Section 31 movie was held in the Palace Theatre, while other evening activities continued to offer guests the chance to get to know the Star Trek talent.

Q’s Costume Party

Star Trek: The Cruise VIII departed Belize City shortly after 5:00 PM local time, beginning the two-day trip back to Miami, Florida. Friday evening, after a full day at sea, the ship held its biggest bash of the week: Q’s Costume Party. Cosplay fans entered to be considered for the best costume in the categories of Replicator (most accurate reproduction of a Star Trek character), Mash-Up (the most effective fusion of Star Trek with some other concept) and Out-of-Universe (the best costume from outside the franchise). John de Lancie himself was on deck as the official judge, but the winners were selected by audience applause.

More cruising

Check back for more updates before the week-long cruise returns to Florida. And if you missed them, check out:

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