Patrick Stewart has bestowed his mesmerizing voice to a musical epic about love and sacrifice on a CD album just released. He is the narrator of "Enoch Arden," a melodrama composed by Richard Strauss based on the 1864 poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Stewart accompanies music by world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax in the tour-de-force recording.

"Enoch Arden" is the tale of a young Scottish sailor who leaves his family to make his name in the treacherous seas of the East. Ten years pass, passions and fortunes change, and the long-lost and battered Arden returns to a very different home than he left behind.

The album contains nine tracks of "Enoch Arden" and two additional tracks of piano solos without Stewart's voice. You can hear 30-second segments of each track at this Amazon.com link.

However, you can also listen to the full first track of the album at a special page set up by Sony BMG exclusively for STARTREK.COM readers. The page also displays photos of Stewart, sporting a new moustache, with pianist Ax.

The CD of "Enoch Arden" is available at Amazon for about $19. It can also be downloaded at this iTunes link for about $10.

Mulgrew Praised for "Iphigenia 2.0"

If you've wondered why Kate Mulgrew would take on an adaptation of a certain Greek tragedy with a hard-to-pronounce name, a recent review in The Hollywood Reporter may provide some illumination: "In all likelihood, Jenna and Barbara Bush won't be attending any performance of 'Iphigenia 2.0.' But if by some chance they do, the president's daughters might be sorry ... Granted, the Bush name is never uttered. But it wouldn't take a Rhodes Scholar to draw the parallels as soldiers in 'Iphigenia 2.0' refuse to go to war until their commander puts his own child's life on the line." Kate Mulgrew in a play with political undertones? Go figure!

The Voyager captain plays Queen Clytemnestra in the reimagining of the Euripides classic, "Iphigenia at Aulis," playing now at the Signature Theatre in New York, its run extended through October 7. The adaptation by Charles L. Mee retains the original's Trojan War settings and Greek characters, but dresses them in contemporary wear with cellphones and the like, and occasionally has the cast breaking out in a dance or an impromptu football game. In the basic story, King Agamemnon agrees to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease his war-bound troops, but leads the girl and his wife Clytemnestra to believe he is setting her up to marry Achilles. Mulgrew's Clytemnestra is then horrified to learn the truth, and has a few strong words to say.

The "ever-glamorous" Mulgrew, according to the Reporter review, makes her character "into the most stylish but steely mom since Jackie O. She gets to show sex appeal to spare in a not-so-subtle seduction scene as well as feral ferocity when finally clued in to the goings-on." The review goes on to praise the rest of the cast and the show's level of imagination, qualifying that it may not all add up to "the stuff of classics" though it definitely has classic moments.

Visit SignatureTheatre.org for tickets. You can also learn more about the play, with links to other glowing reviews, at TotallyKate.com (click on "Latest News!").

Due to her theatre schedule in New York, Mulgrew will be unable to attend the Alzheimer's Memory Walk in Dubuque, Iowa, which she is honorary chairperson for, on Saturday, September 22. However, she urges Voyager supporters to attend and/or contribute. "It would mean a great deal to me," she says in a message posted on Totally Kate. Visit that site for details.

Visitor Elected for "Swing Vote"

We have learned that Nana Visitor has been cast and has already shot her scenes for a film that will be very timely when it is released in 2008. She plays the quirky wife of a Democratic presidential candidate in "Swing Vote," produced by Kevin Costner. Dennis Hopper is her insecure husband, while Kelsey Grammer ("Captain Morgan Bateson") plays the smug incumbent Republican.

The story fictionalizes the dead-heat presidential election of 2000, but instead of Florida, the deciding electoral vote comes down to New Mexico, and one county in particular, and in a fluke of circumstances, one vote by one particular citizen. And naturally, the two candidates and their campaign organizations swoop down on the small rural town to sway that vote. Costner plays the apathetic trailer-park single dad who faces the pressure of having to single-handedly decide the fate of the free world.

Most of the film was shot on location in New Mexico, which is quite convenient to Visitor because she is living there while shooting Wildfire, an ABC Family show going into its fourth season. Her role in "Swing Vote" is small, but significant.

Visitor also recently shot an episode of Battlestar Galactica with another presidential connection. She told fans in Las Vegas that all her scenes were performed with Mary McDonnell, who plays President Laura Roslin. Visitor's character is named "Emily Kowlski," according to IMDB.com, and she will appear in the eighth episode of Season Four in early 2008. No word yet if her character will recur later in this final season of the Ronald D. Moore series.

Pomers Talks of Anorexia Struggle

Scarlett Pomers, who played "Naomi Wildman" on Star Trek: Voyager and then spent her teen years on Reba, has recently been profiled about her struggle with anorexia and how she conquered it. Two years ago the actress, at age 16, checked into rehab for the eating disorder weighing only 73 pounds, undergoing two months of intense inpatient care. She then began regular outpatient therapy which continues to this day. Now 18, she has learned to satisfy her body's cravings and not to weigh herself every day, according to an article in this week's People magazine.

But Pomer's main secret is her practice of Kundalini yoga, which emphasizes meditation and chanting. "Yoga always made me feel really good about myself," she said. "It was the final step of letting go of the demon." Recently Pomers launched a nonprofit foundation called Arch-Angels, to benefit the educational efforts of the National Eating Disorders Association.

To see the full People article, pick up the August 27 issue on the newsstand (it's not available on-line). An abridged version of the story can be found at this iFitAndHealthy.com link. People.com, however, does have a two-minute video with Pomers telling her story directly, at this link.

"Afternoon with Dan Madsen" in Illinois

The College of Lake County (CLC), a school that periodically offers a course in "Star Trek Anthropology," will host a talk by Dan Madsen, founder/president of the official Star Trek Fan Club and publisher of Star Trek Communicator (both of which are presently on hiatus) for more than 20 years. A name familiar to many Trek fans, Madsen has interviewed nearly every important person who has contributed to Star Trek, and has unique insights into Star Trek fan experiences.

"An Afternoon with Dan Madsen" will take place on Thursday, October 4, at CLC in Grayslake, Illinois, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. It will run from 12 noon to 2 p.m., and is open to the public free of charge.

Madsen will speak about the future of Star Trek, his experiences as publisher of the Communicator as well as the Star Wars Insider, his appearance in the new documentary about genre fans called "The Force Among Us," and other issues of interest to the audience.

If you would like to attend the event, contact CLC instructor John Tenuto for further info at jtenuto@clcillinois.edu or at (847) 543-2537.