Star Trek: Discoveryactor Wilson Cruz doesn’t mince words about how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds getting a musical episode made him feel “so enraged.” Star Trek: Discovery ended in 2024 after five seasons on Paramount+. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is nearing the end of season 3, with two more seasons to come.
Directed by Dermot Downs with original music by Tom Polce and Kay Hanley from Letters to Cleo,Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 9, “Subspace Rhapsody,” became the Star Trek franchise’s first-ever musical. However, Wilson Cruz reveals a musical was promised to Star Trek: Discovery long before Strange New Worlds.
At STLV: Trek to Vegas, Wilson Cruz appeared on stage with his Star Trek: Discovery co-star, Anthony Rapp, for a panel moderated by TrekMovie‘s Laurie Ulster. Cruz honestly expressed how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds getting the musical that was initially promised to Star Trek: Discovery made him feel. Read Wilson’s quote below:
Wilson Cruz: “Here’s what I’m gonna say about it… Because my gummy has kicked in. I’m kidding! Season 1, we’re sitting there with Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg and Alex Kurtzman and Akiva [Goldsman]. And someone says, ‘Well, what do you guys think about having a musical episode?’ And we’re like, ‘Of course! That would be amazing.’ So for the whole season, we’re like, ‘Next season, it is going to happen, right?’ Didn’t happen season 2. We’re like, ‘Okay. season 3, right?’ Nope. Was it during season 4? It was either—season 4 was shooting [or] season 4, after we had aired, and they announced this, and I… [long pause] I love them, but I was SO ENRAGED by that. And they did a fine job. It was fun. But I was mad. I don’t work for them anymore, so I can say it.”
Why Strange New Worlds Got Star Trek’s First Musical Episode Instead Of Discovery
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ musical garnered the prequel led by Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike a great deal of mainstream attention. Sing-along events popped up at conventions, and there has even been discussion of turning “Subspace Rhapsody” into a stage musical on Broadway.
Wilson Cruz’s revelation that a musical was first discussed during Star Trek: Discovery season 1 may help explain why it never happened. Discovery experienced major creative changes behind the scenes. Showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg left after season 1, and were replaced by Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise. Paradise then became solo showrunner for Disco‘s latter seasons.
Meanwhile, Akiva Goldsman moved on to become co-showrunner of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with Henry Alonso Myers, and the concept of a Star Trek musical shifted to Strange New Worlds, which has a cast of musically talented performers like Celia Rose Gooding, Christina Chong, and Rebecca Romijn.
Our Take On Wilson Cruz Wanting Star Trek: Discovery To Get A Musical Episode
Wilson Cruz’s feelings about Star Trek: Discovery being passed over for a musical episode are understandable and justified. After all, many members of Star Trek: Discovery‘s cast are also talented veterans of musical theater. Cruz and Anthony Rapp both starred in the Broadway production of Rent.
Cruz’s revelation that Star Trek: Discovery was originally promised a musical is news to me. It must have been frustrating for Wilson to repeatedly see Disco‘s musical episode stalled, only for Strange New Worlds to get the honor, although that cast did an excellent job.
Star Trek: Discovery’s intense, dramatic, and action-packed serialized format likely would have made fitting in a whimsical musical episode difficult, although it might also have been a welcome change of pace. Star Trek: Discovery‘s musical episode will now be one of Star Trek‘s greatest “What If?” questions.
Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman
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