SPOCK’S BRAIN: The Musical!
What would you get if you took the campiest, most off-the-wall episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and turned it into a rock musical?
You’d get something amazing! Not just a send-up, but a hilarious musical romp through the galaxy and a tour de force of the greatest sounds of 1960‘s rock-and-roll. You’d get primitive cavemen, mysterious spacewomen, disembodied brains, mindless bodies, and guitar battles! You’d get antics, zaniness, excitement, and laugh-out-loud fun for Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike!
The full musical includes 20 songs — most of them with completely original music and lyrics, inspired by famous hits of the 1960’s. The dialogue, of course, comes from the original 1968 episode of Star Trek, “Spock’s Brain” — often considered one of the worst and most unintentionally funny episodes of television ever — it must be heard to be believed! Putting them all together results in a musical that everyone can enjoy, no matter how familiar or unfamiliar they are with Star Trek.
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Selected Songs
These videos are from a “staged concert reading” of the musical in the living room of a Boston-area home in 2019. The performance involved gender-blind casting, household props, low-budget costumes and lighting effects, scripts in hands, and lots of acting energy… and it was tons of fun, for the audience as well as for the actors!
There are more songs, and other material as well… if you’re interested, please use the “Contact Us” form on the bottom to get in touch.
Act I
Song 1: I Want You for Your Brain!
Inspiration: Aretha Franklin
A mysterious woman appears on the bridge of the Enterprise. She stuns the crew members — first figuratively and then literally — and they fall unconscious at their posts. She inspects them carefully, looking for the one who can give her what she most desires… an enormous, powerful, spectacular brain!
Song 5: Ice Age Woman
Inspiration: Elvis Presley
Captain Kirk needs to find the woman who stole Spock’s Brain… but on which planet? Having nothing else to go on, Kirk decides to follow his lust… to the ice planet, where he might carry out his fantasy of cuddling up with an Ice Age Woman!
Song 6: Ooga Booga!
Inspiration: The Who
Kirk takes a landing party to the ice planet, where they are immediately attacked by a group of cave men. These cave men are especially dangerous… they come bearing guitars!
Song 8: Man Trap
Inspiration: The Beatles (Helter Skelter)
The crew finds a cave nearby, filled with food and supplies. As soon as they enter, they discover it’s actually a trap to catch men from the surface of the planet. The cave door shuts and the whole room begins hurtling downward!
Song 10: Cat Got Your Tongue?
Inspiration: Nancy Sinatra
In the cave system under the planet’s surface, the crew discovers an advanced technological society run entirely by women who call themselves the “Eymorg”. They are holding Spock’s brain captive! Kirk spies the woman who he had seen on board the Enterprise, but before he can reach her, she stuns the crewmen and takes them as prisoners.
Act II
Song 13: If You Only Had a Brain
Brain and brain… what is brain?!? That’s what the Eymorg leader, Kara, wants to know when Kirk claims she has Spock’s brain. Kirk and his crewmates take the opportunity to explain to Kara what a brain is, and how good it could be for Kara if she actually had one.
Song 14: Ungratefully Red
Inspiration: The Grateful Dead
Meanwhile, back on the surface, the unnamed redshirts who accompanied the landing party are wondering if they’re going to survive this mission. An awful lot of their crewmates went on away missions and never came back… is it a pattern or just coincidence? Might as well toke up to pass the time before whatever awaits catches up with them…
Song 17: I’m Gonna Be Smart
Inspiration: The Beach Boys
The crew has found Spock’s brain! Unfortunately, the only way to get the ancient knowledge of how to put it back in Spock‘s body is for someone to put their head into the Teacher, a device that can transfer skills directly to the user and which looks suspiciously like… a colander?!? Kirk forces the device onto Kara so she can have full command of the ancient civilization’s knowledge while they talk to her.
Song 19: Intrigued to Meet You
Inspiration: The Rolling Stones
By using the Teacher on himself, Dr. McCoy has carried out the difficult surgery to put Spock’s brain back into his body. Spock is himself again! To celebrate, Spock introduces himself to the women of the planet, and “lets loose” as only a Vulcan could.
Contact Us
To get in touch — or just to drop a line to say you like what you see — please use the form below.
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Privacy notice: email addresses are only used for the purpose of replying to requests, and will not be sold, harvested, or given to any third parties.