Still Trekkin’: William Shatner back for 11th voyage at Champlain Valley ‘Star Trek’ set

TICONDEROGA, NEW YORK – William Shatner awoke early Saturday, July 13. He was in his hotel lobby by 8:30 a.m., ready for a full day of talking with fans attending a weekend of events featuring the man who first portrayed Captain James T. Kirk on the television show “Star Trek” nearly 60 years earlier.

“I’m a little bit tired,” he acknowledged as he interacted with fans at a question-and-answer session at 4:30 p.m. at Ticonderoga Elementary School, a couple of miles from the “Star Trek” Original Series Set Tour site that hosted the weekend’s events. When he saw the schedule for the weekend, Shatner said his reaction was “My God, that’s overwhelming.”

But after a few events Friday, during a busy day Saturday and before a handful of activities on Sunday, the 93-year-old actor reported “I’m OK.” That’s in large part because he’s fueled by the adulation of fans inspired by him and the show he’s so closely associated with.

When asked by a fan for his favorite project he’s worked on, Shatner said “Being here tonight is my favorite thing.” He mentioned the one-man Broadway show he did, “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It,” which was followed by a tour that included a stop in 2016 at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland.

“It was so good,” Shatner said of that show. “It was such a pleasure to get the audience response immediately,” as opposed to the delayed reaction from film and TV work.

Even more audience response came this weekend in mid-July, when roughly 650 fans paid hundreds and even thousands of dollars to inhabit Shatner’s world.

‘What the future could be’

The Champlain Valley town a short drive from the Vermont border is where Ticonderoga native James Cawley opened a meticulous re-creation of the original “Star Trek” set in his hometown in 2015. The set is where the annual “Trekonderoga” event takes place, drawing stars of the science-fiction show’s multiple incarnations to the tiny community. The most recent “Trekonderoga” in May featured LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Walter Koenig, who starred with Shatner in the original series.

Shatner has made 11 appearances in Ticonderoga. His 12^th is planned for dates to be announced in November. Tickets are already on sale, with packages including a Shatner autograph ($150), a photograph with Shatner ($160), a chat with Shatner on the bridge of the “Star Trek” set ($499) and an all-inclusive package ($1,500).

The decades-long reach of “Star Trek” goes so deep that the latest weekend’s agenda featured not just appearances by Shatner but by performers such as Sandy Gimpel, who spoke with and signed autographs for fans. Her connections to “Star Trek” consist of two brief, wordless appearances on early episodes of the show in the mid-1960s, as an alien known as a Talosian in “The Cage” and a salt vampire in “The Man Trap.”

William Moore of Syracuse, New York, stood at a vendor’s table at Ticonderoga Elementary School, clutching a stuffed tribble that he planned to buy. A tribble is a living ball of fluff featured on one of the most-famous episodes of the original series, “The Trouble with Tribbles,” written by Vermont resident David Gerrold. The tribble Moore bought, like the ones on the show, cooed when it was content and shrieked when agitated. Moore wore a gold shirt matching that of Shatner’s Captain Kirk on the show.

Moore, who also bought a “Star Trek” poster, said he and his brother were making their first visits to Ticonderoga to see Shatner. “We don’t know how many more years William is going to be here, so let’s do it,” Moore said the brothers told themselves.

Like many fans of the show, Moore said he and his brother were inspired by the optimistic, science-forward view “Star Trek” presented.

“We’re both engineers,” Moore said, “and this is a glimpse of what the future could be.”

Work on “T.J. Hooker,’ ‘Boston Legal’

Shatner, of course, has done more work than just his famous “Star Trek” association. He starred on the ‘80s cop show “T.J. Hooker” and won an Emmy in 2005 for his role on “Boston Legal.” Northern New York native Mark Valley, who co-starred with Shatner on “Boston Legal,” was in the audience for one of Shatner’s Q&A sessions with fans July 13.

In that session, Shatner returned to the topic of his one-man show when another fan asked him for the role that impacted him the most. Shatner mentioned a specific night of his one-man show, when the encroaching COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 threatened to turn his appearance at a theater in London into an empty hall. Instead, 3,500 people showed up to see him, moving him to tears.

“That night was so intense. There was such a transference between actor and audience,” Shatner said, adding that when those spiritual connections happen between actor and audience it creates magic.

Another fan asked Shatner how he remains patient with so many devotees who want to get autographs and pose for photos with him during weekends like this one in Ticonderoga.

“Every actor should think of this – you’ve paid your money. You work hard for your money,” Shatner told the crowd. “I owe you for that money.”

He gets rewarded by the money those fans pay, but also, he said, by the love they give.

“Who gets to hear that? (People saying) ‘We love you.’ It’s overwhelming,” Shatner said. “It’s so touching for me. I traveled 3,000 miles to be here with you because I’m moved.”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck atbhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.