Kelly Trom
ktrom@mustangdaily.net
Most know him as Captain Kirk, some as Denny Crane and others as the Priceline Negotiator.
On Saturday, William Shatner will talk about all of these roles and more at the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center (PAC). The one-man show will be a multimedia experience complete with stories from Shatner’s life, songs and jokes all jam-packed into 100 minutes and entitled “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It.”
“Whether it is death or love or motorcycles or comedy, the subjects are numerous and they are all about life,” Shatner said. “So each one of them is precious.”
Shatner will talk about his life experiences from the silver screen, the TV screen, onstage and offscreen. It will essentially be a live performance of an autobiography.
“The show has lots of funny anecdotes from the actor’s life,” Cal Poly Arts Director Steve Lerian said.
Shatner has won Emmys, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performances in “The Practice” and “Boston Legal.” But Shatner certainly is not a one-trick pony. Besides acting, he has been a director, produce, author, recording artist, philanthropist and horseman.
With a repertoire that extensive, Shatner’s World should be anything but boring. The show toured two other countries before gracing the United States.
“The idea of this one-man show started in Australia a couple of years ago,” Shatner said. “Some people there asked me to perform, and I thought since it was so far away, that if I failed miserably, nobody in San Luis Obispo would know.”
Shatner did not fail. The tour expanded, and the show was revised and revamped.
“I toured Australia, then I toured Canada and then I re-wrote it and re-staged it to perform on Broadway,” Shatner said. “Since that time, I have been to nearly 40 cities across America.”
The traveling, which might seem exhausting to some, has been one of Shatner’s favorite parts of the show.
“In every place that we have visited, there have been wonderful people to meet and to get to know and that is one of the great benefits of being on tour,” Shatner said.
One of the places Shatner has never visited extensively is right here in San Luis Obispo.
“I have never really stopped off except to meet a sculptor friend of mine who lived there, so I know very little of San Luis Obispo except that it contains a great university,” Shatner said.
Tickets to the show are available for the public as well as Cal Poly students.
Star Trek fan and anthropology and geography junior Sara Hannigan is one student who has watched Shatner in multiple roles, although she prefers him in comedies, she said.
“I think my favorite roles that William Shatner has played includes his role in Star Trek as the fantastic Captain Kirk and also his role as a beauty contestant host in Miss Congeniality,” Hannigan said.
Hannigan is not able to attend the show but is excited that one of her favorite celebrities will be on campus.
“I was surprised that he was coming to Cal Poly, but I’m excited,” she said. “I hear he puts on a pretty good show, and I hope that everyone who did score tickets has a good time.”
Although the show is made up of mostly comedic anecdotes, Shatner will talk about a little of everything.
“My hope is that the people who come to see the show will laugh and in some places cry and even might nod their head in agreement with a philosophic point,” Shatner said. “Most of all, they will be entertained and at the end of the evening they will be very happy, I hope.”
Tickets range from $50 to $90 and are available online and at the PAC ticket office. Saturday’s show is at 8 p.m.