Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Did The Actors Actually Sing In The Musical Episode?
From "Riverdale" to "My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," musical numbers in television shows have become more commonplace than ever. "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" was the next to attempt such a feat, and to great success. In an episode aptly named "Subspace Rhapsody," the crew of the Enterprise encounters an anomaly that ultimately causes a rip in space-time. Naturally, this results in an alternate reality where everyone bursts into song.
The plan for this musical episode stretches back as far as Season 1 of "Star Trek: Picard" and finally comes to fruition near the end of Season 2 of "Strange New Worlds." The cast is full of talented singers, some of whom are musicians in their own right. Christina Chong, who plays La'an Noonien-Singh, debuted one of her singles, entitled "Twin Flames," in a previous episode. Before she played Uhura, Celia Rose Gooding earned a Tony nomination for the Broadway show "Jagged Little Pill."
One of the biggest surprises, however, comes from Ethan Peck, who plays a younger Spock in the series. Showrunner Akiva Goldsman was shocked to learn of the actor's talents, on top of his prowess as the half-human, half-Vulcan science officer. "Our composer played with all of them to see what their range was, and we wrote for them. I mean, I didn't know Ethan could sing ..." Goldsman relayed to Variety. "Which is, by the way, kind of what happens when you watch the episode. You're like, 'Wait, Spock is singing now?'"
Star Trek is no stranger to out-of-the-box thinking
Star Trek has the virtue of throwing its characters into surprising situations, and this isn't even the first time that "Strange New Worlds" has done this. Earlier in Season 2, Jonathan Frakes directed the "Lower Decks" crossover episode. The animated series originally hails from CBS and stars Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler. He and Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) are given the live-action treatment in "Strange New Worlds," which does not hold back. This is an apt precursor to the musical episode, which pulls out all the stops.
During the final moments of the episode, the fearsome Klingons have their own musical sequence that is more than surprising. The creatives behind the series did two versions of the song, unsure of which would play best. "We did an operatic [musical number] which was also great because the Klingons have a history with that. And it was also good," executive producer Henry Alonso Myers reflected to Variety. However, the song in the episode won out, and the Klingons do their version of a pop boy band. Myers continued, "The boy band took you by surprise. It was not what you thought was going to happen. I'm delighted by it."
The episode cultivates humorous moments such as these and heartbreaking songs that hammer home themes of loneliness, making it as well-rounded as any musical on screen.