William Shatner Speaks About His One-Man Show In NJ: [AUDIO]

By Sarah Cooke for Patch.com

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — William Shatner is, of course, best known for his role as Captain James Kirk in Star Trek. But the iconic actor has had an interesting and widely varied life and career outside his work as a Starfleet officer. And now, he brings his experiences to the stage with his one-man show, Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It (coming to Montclair’s Wellmont Theater on Oct. 14).

Learn more and purchase tickets here.

Patch recently caught up with Shatner and asked him about what inspired him to launch a one-man show. Listen to his reply below.

Patch: What would you say is the message of the show?

WS: I would say it’s about saying yes to life. Saying yes to the opportunities that life offers you, no matter who you are or what you do. I’m here to attest that life is over very quickly, and the opportunities come and go. And I urge you, in the show, to say yes. I offer examples of how your passions can lead your life. Thusly, I talk about gorillas, motorcycles, love, music, death, horses – a wide variety of subjects that offer laughter and tears.

Patch: How does being the only one on stage compare to working with a cast?

WS: It’s like being alone in a room, versus being at a crowded party. There’s no mistaking it’s a one-man show when you’re doing it – unless you’re looking in a mirror, and then you might mistake it for a two-man show.

With a one-man show, you can’t blame anyone else for its failure. That’s a responsibility. Each night, the show needs your fullest attention, no matter what the fatigue factor might be.

Patch: In the show, you talk about your own history and experiences from your life, so it’s personal in that way. What has that been like for you?

WS: Well, it is about the things I know about, and the things that have happened to me. Some of the thing that have happened to me have a sense of adventure about them. Hitchhiking across the United States, living in a camper when I was broke, riding a stolen motorcycle, learning about meditation. There are a number of these adventures, and they’re funny, and sometimes they’re touching.

Patch: We’ve got to sneak in one quick Star Trek question. Are you excited for the upcoming CBS series, Star Trek Discovery?

WS: I don’t have anything to do with the show, but one of my passions is science fiction. I have a book out now called Zero-G, a fun, adventuresome read about the FBI of the future. As for Star Trek, it looks like the adventure continues!

Sarah Cooke is a writer for Marvel.com, and the co-founder of She-Fi.com, a site that explores comics, science fiction and fantasy from a woman's perspective.

File Photo: Wikimedia Commons