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George Takei at the Strathmore

WTOP Staff | WTOP_Web_Team@wtop.com

February 20, 2014, 10:21 PM

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Trekkies at the Strathmore "Sci-Fi Spectacular!" is running Feb. 21 through Feb. 23. Opening night was at the Strathmore in Bethesda, but the remaining performances will be at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Ticket and show information is available here.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Kevin Helms and Laura Sharp arrived in style. Helms says his favorite "Star Trek" character is Khan, while Sharp's is Spock.

"Do we have to kill each other now?" Sharp joked.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
"We love anything 'Star Trek'," said Annapolis resident Chris Judy, who is shown here being arrested by an Imperial Storm Trooper.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
"Star Trek" icon George Takei joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on stage, and gave a very special introduction that started with the famous words, "Space, the final frontier..."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
But one of the best parts of the evening was when Takei recalled his first meeting as a young actor with "Star Trek" creators and had to correct the pronunciation of his last name.

"It's Takei, like OK," he remembers telling them. "Although Takei (pronounced Tahk-eye) is OK, too. There's a word in Japanese that it directly translates to - expensive."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
George Takei and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra were joined by soprano Kristen Plumley, who added female vocals to the "Star Trek" theme song.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra also performed other science fiction selections from movies and TV shows.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
The music included theme songs from composer John Williams, like "E.T.," "Somewhere in Time" and "Star Wars."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Conductor Jack Everly kicked off the night with a piece he called "Lost in Syndication," which included music from "The X Files," "The Jetsons" and "The Twilight Zone."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
"Music is an important component of science fiction," conductor Jack Everly said. "It has fantastic powers."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
The creators of "Star Trek" told George Takei that the Starship Enterprise was meant to serve as a metaphor for earth, including all of its diversity, Takei said.

He was meant to represent Asia, while Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) was supposed to represent North America, Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) represented Africa and Leonard Nimoy as Spock was a symbol of people from mixed heritages.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
This is the second time the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has performed "Sci-Fi Spectacular!" The first time was in 2008.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Of course, no science fiction event is complete without a little cosplay. This group decided to combine characters from "Star Trek" and "Star Wars."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
"Who doesn't love a good imperial march?" Laura Sharp asked.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
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