Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Anson Mount, Celia Rose Gooding, Christina Chong, Dermott Downs, Rebecca Romijn, star trek, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds Director Discusses Musical Ep, Anson Mount & More

Director Dermott Downs discusses Star Trek's first musical episode, Strange New Worlds S02E09: "Subspace Rhapsody," & keeping it grounded.

One of the biggest concerns when it came to Strange New Worlds season two's "Subspace Rhapsody" is how the musical-themed episode fits into the greater paradigm of the Star Trek universe. Tasked with the episode were writers Dana Horgan & Bill Wolkoff and director Dermott Downs. Downs has a background with his start as a child actor in Disney films, became a cinematographer, and worked his way to directing. Among his specialties were musical-themed episodes, especially the season three The Flash episode "Duet." Downs spoke about how "Subspace Rhapsody" came about.

How Dermot Downs Made the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Musical Happen

The episode centers on the Enterprise testing a new subspace relay system, but the experiment goes awry as a wave envelops the ship, causing the crew to lose its emotional inhibitions via song – like a musical. Aside from each member's embarrassment afterward, they discover the way is starting to spread beyond their local space, causing other crews to occasionally burst into song. "Secret Hideout was great in that they brought me up two weeks before normal prep even started. And there were the temp tracks that weren't recorded with the cast already laid down," Downs told Trek Movie. "Script was already written. And so for two weeks, I got to walk the stages with the choreographer Roberto Campanella, who's quite an established choreographer, but he's also done creature choreography for Guillermo del Toro and [is] just a fantastic artist and human being. And so for two weeks, we got to really listen to the songs, imagine the kind of choreography that was different for each tone because the songs are so different, and then really start to visualize that."

Downs was impressed by the Strange New Worlds cast's enthusiasm. "So by the time my normal prep started, and I met everybody, it was a pretty clear idea that was just left to then flesh out with the actors as far as what they felt great about or what they wanted to push," he said. "And we, fortunately, had a great schedule. So there was not like a song that I was like, 'Ah, man, we left so much on the floor.' I really felt proud of the cast and the crew's commitment to just putting it out there. And, you know, they came in on weekends to rehearse. They would stick around to watch their castmates' numbers because they were just so invested in the idea."

As far as if anyone was nervous among the non-singers, "Anson [Mount], you know, he had talked about 'look, I really haven't sung,' and I was like, 'Yeah, but what's great about your number is, you're really having a conversation,'" Downs said. "It's a conversation in front of everybody set to music, and he's humiliated and horrified at the same time as he's compelled. And he just gave it his all. There was never even a question that we even wanted to interpret it like him getting into choreography as far as dancing because he wasn't compelled that far. He was still the captain of the ship."

Downs also discussed Kirk and Una's sequence. "But I didn't know that Paul [Wesley] had done ballroom dancing," he said. "Paul and Rebecca [Romijn], they have the first number, which is quite whimsical and fun. Even though they're compelled, it's sort of like, 'Are we singing, are we not?' And then the music just propels the story. And obviously, the music gets more intense and exposes more of what they can't say through words, and it builds and builds until we have a sing-off with the Klingons." For more, including what Downs learned from his previous musical episodes, what scene in "Subspace Rhapsody" he wishes he could expand on, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Carol Kane, and more, you can check out the interview here. The season two finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams on August 10th on Paramount+.

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