Alien Voices Audio Books

By: Anna L. Kaplan
Date: Tuesday, November 16, 1999

Leonard Nimoy and John De Lancie have teamed up to laucnh their new audio book, STAR TREK: SPOCK VS Q, with a major promotional push at the Las Vegas Hilton's Star Trek: The Experience on November 19. Alien Voices--the science fiction, multimedia, production company formed by De Lancie and Nimoy--caught the attention of Hollywood insiders and fans alike when it entered into an agreement with New Line Television to develop sci-fi telefilms. Nimoy, of course, played the much-beloved Spock from the original STAR TREK, and has had a long and successful career as an actor, director, writer and producer. De Lancie, best known to TREK fans for his portrayal of Q on THE NEXT GENERATION, DEEP SPACE NINE and VOYAGER, has received acclaim for his work on stage and screen, as an actor and director.

The two met when de Lancie directed a program for National Public Radio. Explained De Lancie, 'We did INVASION FROM MARS, Howard Koch's and Orson Welles' adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS. We put together a cast that was essentially STAR TREK people, sci-fi actors. We did it as a live show that went out to NPR for Halloween. Leonard was the lead. The thinking was: it's a sci-fi show, wouldn't it be great to have sci-fi actors? For those who wouldn't know the difference, they were just also a bunch of really good actors. Afterwards, I talked to Leonard and said, 'Did you have a good time?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'You know, we could do this on our own, and we don't have to wait around for people to hire us.''


The two created Alien Voices, and began to adapt and perform classic science fiction novels as audioplays. To date, Simon and Schuster has released five titles, all of which feature Nimoy and de Lancie, along with other TREK actors. The current Alien Voices audiobooks include adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD, Jules Verne's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, and H.G. Wells' THE TIME MACHINE, THE INVISIBLE MAN, and THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON. Actors from every incarnation of STAR TREK have been featured. Among the DEEP SPACE NINE cast members participating have been Armin Shimerman (Quark), Nana Visitor (Kira), and Andrew Robinson (Garak.). Actors from VOYAGER have included Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway), Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres), and Ethan Phillips (Neelix). THE NEXT GENERATION's Dwight Schultz (Reginald Barclay) has contributed his talent, as has the original STAR TREK's William Shatner (Captain Kirk). Other Alien Voices performers include Robert Ellenstein, who played the Federation President in STAR TREK IV as well as appearing in TNG's episode 'Haven.' Jerry Hardin, best known to genre fans as 'Deep Throat' in THE X-FILES, guest starred multiple times on THE NEXT GENERATION and also on an episode of VOYAGER. Kurtwood Smith played Annorax in the two-part 'Year of Hell' on VOYAGER. Susan Bay, Nimoy's wife, guested on DEEP SPACE NINE, while Marnie Mosiman, de Lancie's spouse, appeared in an episode of TNG.

The newest Alien Voices project is receiving a high-profile release this month. Said Nimoy, 'It's called SPOCK VERSUS Q. It's a confrontation. The two characters meet. It's a very clever, very sharp, funny use of the two characters in an interesting way that's faithful to both the characters. Imagine: chaos meets logic. We have a good time doing it. We've performed it about four times in public, at various STAR TREK conventions. The last time we did it, we did a taping of it for Simon and Schuster.'

Added de Lancie, 'The premise of the show is that Spock has come back, somehow, to today, in such a way as to not go across the line, to alert Earth that something quite terrible is going to happen. This is in a lecture format. As he edges closer and closer to saying what it is, and is about to say what it is, I come in and go, 'Ah, ah, ah.' It goes on as a very witty, urbane dialogue between the two of us ending in the problem being solved, I guess, but also in a friendship starting. The shows ends with the two of us presumably going off to dinner, so there is a possibility if it works out well, we could do [another]. We have some ideas about that which I think would be very amusing.'

Although Nimoy and De Lancie laughed about doing a follow-up to SPOCK VERSUS Q, neither one necessarily expects to play their characters again in STAR TREK television or movies. Noted de Lancie, 'I don't really think about it. I think the best way of explaining it is that it's somebody else's dinner party. They get to invite who they want. When there are dinner parties out there and you don't happen to be invited to them, you don't bother people. You don't ask why, or at least I don't.'

Alien Voices productions are skillfully adapted from the original material and produced with the highest standards. Nimoy explained, 'That's been a challenge for us, to educate our potential audience to the idea that, although we are distributed by the audiobooks division of Simon and Schuster, we are not a book being read. We are fully produced. We've had to work pretty hard at helping people understand what it is we are doing. Once they get it, they really get it. They say, 'Wow.''

The productions, which always feature Nimoy and de Lancie, can fill a stage with performers, actors, musicians, and Foley artists. The Sci-Fi Channel filmed three of them. The first was THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, followed by an abbreviated version of THE LOST WORLD. Alien Voices then staged a special production called THE HALLOWEEN TRILOGY. Jeff Combs (DS9's Weyoun and Brunt) appeared in the first piece, an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Mark of the Beast.' 'The Canterville Ghost,' from the story by Oscar Wilde, brought Jean Simmons (from TNG's 'The Drumhead') to the stage. Nimoy and de Lancie finished with Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado.' The three programs were aired repeatedly by the Sci-Fi Channel, and also released by Rhino Home Video.

Enthused Nimoy, 'We look forward to working with people that we have chosen to work with. There is a minimum amount of attitude and pressure, a maximum amount of doing what we know how to do. The people that have worked with us are terrific people that have wonderful talents. The actors, sound effects people, musicians, have all been terrific. We've become a very, very close bunch who looks forward to working with each other. We bring in from time to time new talent. Jean Simmons was a big surprise to me. We were casting about for this role, and somebody said 'Jean Simmons.' I said, 'I've always loved and admired her work. What does she have to do with STAR TREK?' She acted in a STAR TREK episode. She was fabulous. We had Kurtwood Smith. Jeff Combs is great. They were all wonderful.'

As they look to the future of Alien Voices, adding television as well as cutting edge Internet activities to their repertoire, De Lancie and Nimoy want fans to get to know Alien Voices. Up-to-date information can be found on their website at www.alienvoices.com. Noted Nimoy, 'We have to develop our own reputation. It's taken us some time to do that. Now that we have this body of work out there, and now that the public and critical reaction have been so positive, and we are beginning to develop some kind of mass, hopefully some of the [book] stores will start stocking because we are Alien Voices. We are looking to the point where we can become an Alien Voices section in the audiobooks division.'

Added de Lancie, 'We are hoping that what Alien Voices will mean predominantly is quality. If you go to an Alien Voices section, whatever you find there will be well produced, well acted, well written. We hope that that will become part of our brand recognition.'
Nimoy continued, 'New Line became aware of our work, and came to us and said 'We'd like to make a deal to do some projects.' There is a treatment being developed for 'First Men on the Moon,' with a contemporary envelope to contain the story. These are straight-ahead films, television movies. I consider that more traditional than the other things that we are doing. The other things we are doing I think are quite innovative. But I think it's a healthy thing to do.'
The two are thinking about their TREK friends for help with their latest ventures. Said de Lancie, 'We would like to be able now to turn to the people who have been supportive of us, the Dwight Schultzs, and the Armins, and all those people, and say, 'Guess what? Now we have more work for you to do.' It's an actor's dream. It's flattering when somebody comes and says, 'I have something for you.''
The TREK actors who have already worked with Alien Voices look forward to future projects. Enthused Armin Shimerman, 'I'm a big fan of science fiction, and I'm trained in and a devout devotee of the theater. Alien Voices combines the two together. Working with Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie and many of the other people from STAR TREK is a great pleasure. I really look forward to them when they come to me. It's a sheer delight.'