The Pit Stars Take the Stage for Charity Reading of Star Trek Pilot Script
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Noah Wyle and a group of his co-stars from the series The Pit briefly stepped away from portraying the trauma center challenges of Pittsburgh on Sunday to experience the thrill of 23rd-century space travel.
Wyle, alongside Katherine LaNasa, Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, Shabana Azeez, and Aisha Harris, performed a live script reading of the 1966 Star Trek pilot episode as part of “Retro Readings”—an engaging event series organized by the Writers Guild Foundation to fund its writing and mentorship programs.
At the sold-out event held at The Lodge in Highland Park, the audience watched Noah Wyle as Captain James T. Kirk, Katherine LaNasa as Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Taylor Dearden as Spock in an entertaining script reading of the episode “The Man Trap.”
“I’m nervous being here because there are huge shoes to fill, and so many people hold this work and this character in such high regard,” Wyle told the press before the reading began. “So I just hope I don’t offend anyone and, if possible, add some quality to it.”
He and his co-stars delivered performance well beyond expectations. Wyle and LaNasa drew roaring applause from the audience as they performed classic dialogue from the script written by George Clayton Johnson. The story follows the USS Enterprise landing on a planet where McCoy’s ex-fiancée, Nancy, and her husband, Robert, operate an archaeological research station. Fiona Dourif shone as the smitten Nancy—who is actually a shape-shifting creature that requires salt to survive. Clark Gregg (The Avengers) also made a surprise appearance as Nancy’s professor husband.
The evening opened with a reading of the script “Mudd’s Passion,” an episode from the 1973 animated series Star Trek: The Animated Series. Nathan Fillion (The Rookie) took on the role of Kirk, D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place) played Spock, and Adam Arkin played the mad creator of a love potion. Other participants in the event included Iman Vellani (The Marvels), as well as Paul Scheer and Paul F. Tompkins (both voice actors from Star Trek: Lower Decks).
Rod Roddenberry was also in attendance to honor the memory of his father, Gene Roddenberry, creator of the franchise, and to pay tribute on the occasion of both the Foundation’s and Star Trek‘s 60th anniversaries.
Speaking about “The Man Trap,” Roddenberry admitted: “It’s one of the good Star Trek episodes, though I don’t think many people would pick it as their absolute favorite. But it was the episode that launched the series on television. I hope these actors go out on stage and just have fun. I tend to take a serious look at Star Trek, but tonight isn’t a night for taking things too seriously; tonight is a night to celebrate.”
Before the reading started, Henry Alonso Myers, co-showrunner of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, presented Wyle with a plush Tribble—a fictional alien species that has appeared multiple times throughout the franchise. Wyle instantly recognized the furry creature, having grown up watching Star Trek with his father.
Wyle also confessed to owning a few action figures from the franchise in his youth. “I had the Spock figure and maybe Bones, but I didn’t have Kirk,” he recalled. “Pretty quickly, their clothes got lost and their legs popped off, but I played with them for quite a while.”
