Shimerman, Russ, More Trek Stars Set for SCI Fest L.A.

The 2nd Annual Sci Fest L.A. will take place May 7- 31 at The Acme Theatre in Hollywood, and it's set to be a star-studded—and Star Trek star-studded—affair. Among the Trek names participating are Walter Koenig, Armin Shimerman, Tim Russ, Nazneen Contractor, Patricia Tallman and Tucker Smallwood.

David Dean Bottrell, an actor best known for roles on Boston Legal and True Blood, created the festival after being inspired by "The Wife's Story," a creepy short story by Ursula LeGuin.  Sci Fest L.A. proved to be such a hit in 2014 that it's now an annual hometown event that presents a month of one-act sci-fi plays written by and starring established sci-fi talent. In addition to the Trek actors, attendees can expect to see stars from The Walking Dead, The X-Files, Aliens, Heroes, Supernatural, Avatar, Alien, Warehouse 13, Fringer, Babylon 5 and more. The oldest known sci-fi play, Efficiency—written in 1917 by Perley Poore Sheehan and Robert H. Davis—will be performed during this year's festival. A controversial hit in its day, with an anti-war message that still holds up, it will star Walter Koenig. Two of this year's one-act plays are written by modern-day genre stalwarts... Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker. Sci Fest LA will also host The Tomorrow Prize, an awards presentation on May 16th that will honor the best sci-fi story written by an L.A.-area high school student. All box office proceeds will be contributed to the winner's high school science department. This year, all five finalists are female. Also on tap: five performances of Sci-Fest L.A. "Radio Theater," with the company of actors—including Shimerman, Russ and Tallman— performing a sci-fi radio script live on stage. Visit sci-fest.com for additional details and ticket information.