. . . And the Trekkers Boldly Go to Universal

You say you’ve always wanted to be on “Star Trek” and perhaps run your own starship? Travel to distant stars, meet strange aliens, work side-by-side with the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise?

Then come to the Universal Studios tour.

Universal? Not Paramount, owner of the “Star Trek” universe in all its myriad manifestations? You read correctly.

Having licensed the name from Paramount, the Universal Studios tour on Thursday opened its “Star Trek Adventure,” a participatory attraction wherein 29 people from an audience of 2,000 can act in a 7-minute “Star Trek” video--learning lines, wearing costumes (the style worn in the feature films “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock”) and working on three rotating sets. Within an hour, their efforts are taped, edited and played back to the audience. The credits even contain the names of the volunteer actors. Copies of the finished product are then available for $35.

For the 10 a.m. premiere Thursday, Universal invited die-hard “Star Trek” fans (and got 5,000 requests for tickets). Showing up at 5 a.m. to be first in line were Judy Kerkhoff and her son Shawn of Panorama City.

“With this attraction, I expect to relive what I watch at 11:30 p.m. every night,” she said with a grin, referring to the “Star Trek” reruns on KCOP Channel 13. Shawn was picked to be a Klingon “dragon dog,” the pet of the Klingon captain.

Larry Marchessi of North Hollywood, who was in line at 7 a.m., also got picked to perform as a member of the “landing party” from the Enterprise. He summed up the feelings of most of the eager fans in line: “Millions of fans around the world now have the chance to really get involved in ‘Star Trek’ for a few minutes.”

While the audience filed in, backstage a tightly wound, low-key chaos reigned as the 29 soon-to-be-actors milled around the dressing room.

Kim Fellers, one of the stage managers, smiled thinly as she organized the dressers. “We’ve been working 20 hours a day for a month to get this ready,” she said.

To help the novice Trekkers get into the mood, there was an extra bit of spice: Nearly all the stars from the original TV show were on hand along with Gene Roddenberry, creator of “Star Trek.”

Even Roddenberry was excited.

“I’ve worked with them (Universal Studios) all along on this project, but I never thought it would be this splendid,” he said. “I made sure the attraction reflected ‘Star Trek’s’ galaxy-wide affection for all life forms. This is incredible!”

William Shatner, a.k.a. Captain Kirk, laughed as he looked around the bridge set.

“These sets look vaguely familiar,” he quipped. “This sort of puts us in the same category as the shark (from “Jaws”). And it’s great publicity for our movies. “

While the 29 amateur actors got dressed and rehearsed, the audience watched a 7 1/2-minute compilation tape of clips from the old and new versions of the show, with a voice-over by Shatner ruminating about the good ol’ days and wondering about the future.

The audience response to all the characters was noisy and affectionate, but when Jerry Green, the director/emcee for the stage show, came on with Roddenberry, the fans hit the roof and continued to bounce around as the rest of the original “Star Trek” crew were brought on: DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei. (Leonard Nimoy was out of town directing “The Good Mother.”)

There were a few glitches during the production that followed--the major one being that the audience couldn’t hear the actors well--but the taping on the whole went smoothly.

The adventure’s basic plot has the Enterprise and a Klingon Bird of Prey being mysteriously sent to a planet to investigate a strange blue force field. The Klingons get in trouble, the Enterprise crew saves them, and then some superbeings, who have been manipulating the situation from the outset, announce their approval of everyone’s behavior.

Emcee Green said the superbeings were there “to give a universal sign of peace, which is of paramount importance. . . .”

And after the show? Was the voyage worth it?

Chris Fasciano of Whittier, who played the well-received Klingon captain, voiced his approval as he slipped out of his sweaty and makeup-smeared Klingon head gear and costume.

“You know, you think you’ll never be a real part of it, but after 20 years, I finally got my chance! It was a lot of fun to do. The more mistakes we made up on stage, the more the audience laughed. You have fun, and the audience has fun too. The props, the script, the way they rehearsed it--I think even the general public would enjoy this.”

Gene Napoleon of Brooklyn, who also played a Klingon, agreed. “If my mom could see me now! It was great doing the role. I’ve watched the show for years, so it’s great to see how it’s really done.”

John Evans and Vonnie Hutchinson of Los Angeles found the show better than they’d expected.

“Especially the special effects and when the characters beamed out right before our eyes. I think even non-’Trek’ fans will enjoy how they put it together,” Evans said.

“And then,” Hutchinson added, “they just might become ‘Star Trek’ fans.”

That surely is what Paramount executives are hoping for by letting Universal in on their universe.