Vintage “Star Trek” episodes seem tailor-made for one particular genre of theater: melodrama.
“I’m definitely a Trekkie,” Iron Springs Chateau co-owner and manager Jolene Howard said. “The old episodes are so campy and cheesy; they’re perfect for melodrama.”
And being that melodrama is also Howard’s favorite style of theater, it was only natural she’d use the sci-fi show to inspire her own script. “Star Quest … or … To Boldly Go Where No Joke Has Gone Before” opens Friday at the Manitou Springs chateau and runs through Oct. 1. Dinner and show tickets are available.
The melodrama, set on Star Date 2460.1, tracks the adventures of Captain Smirk and Mr. Spork as they guide starship U.S.S. Entertainment to the space station Trelane on the far edge of the galaxy. The day goes off-kilter when the crew is discovered missing. The starship fleet must solve the mystery and decipher what alien life lives nearby on Planet Na Noo Na Noo. All this and they must avoid being trapped on the new planet lorded over by the evil Empress Buttercup.
Starring in a melodrama is pure joy for Howard, who started performing in them in 2010.
Iron Springs Chateau will mount “Star Quest…or…To Boldly Go Where No Joke Has Gone Before” on Friday in Manitou Springs. Courtesy Jolene Howard
“It’s unlike any other kind of character,” said Howard, who’s also co-directing the show with her husband. They co-own the chateau along with another couple. “You can play with the audience. The fourth wall doesn’t exist. If they boo at you, you can boo back at them. You can make up improvs. You can laugh while you’re on stage. It’s just such a fun environment to be an actor in.”
In standard melodrama fashion, a sing-along intermission is included as well as an olio filled with song and dance following the show. “Who’s Got Talent,” a parody modeled after the TV talent show “America’s Got Talent,” will feature chateau cast members as celebrity judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel. They will rate performances by a cheerleading team, a synchronized swimming society and fitness fanatic Richard Simmons.
This isn’t Howard’s first play. She’s also written a couple of murder mysteries and one previous melodrama. The two genres are very different, she says.
“Murder mystery is immersive for the audience — they’re part of the show,” Howard said. “You have to think about how you need to drop evidence as you’re writing characters’ lines. How are you going to kill someone off and do it in a way that’s funny? All of mine are comedy. In melodrama, you start with stock characters. You have to have what’s the problem or the plot, like any other play, but there are a lot of jokes that are embedded.”
