Monkey See, Monkey Do: Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre’s “Star Trek: Live!”

The audience for the late show was a small one, but this past Friday evening the Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre played to a clued-in group of patrons at the Regional Arts Commission. Before the presentation of Star Trek: Live!, the hall was filled with the sounds of Leonard Nimoy, who recorded a trio of classic novelty albums during his popular heyday as Mr. Spock. As the song “Bilbo Baggins” played in the minutes before showtime, the audience sang right along, throwing in “Bilbo” and “Baggins” at just the proper moments.

From there, the actors took over, working the stage, the area in the front-of-stage and the aisles. With a mix of both of Magic Smoking Monkey veterans and relative newbies, the good-sized ensemble chewed scenery with enthusiasm, with the company employing a set that often contains little more than James Tiberius Kirk’s captain’s chair. The minimal stage design leaves plenty to the imagination, and the Monkey’s actors (and technical crew) have always been expert as making a lot out of a little.

“There’s a whole new group of great Monkey actors, and it’s really a fantastic cast,” says Jim Ousley, a longtime Monkey performer, who portrays Captain Kirk. “It’s an ensemble in the truest sense of the word, and everybody’s got funny stuff to do.”

The show’s split into two segments, each based on a episode from Star Trek’s vintage, 1960s version: “The Gamesters of Triskelion” and “Journey to Babel.” If Ousley’s correct in throwing hosannas to his castmates, he deserves credit, too, taking his role and adding plenty of gusto. In “Gamesters,” he plays a good chunk of the act shirtless and in the same neon bikini that Sasha Baron Cohen made famous in Borat. (Admittedly, it’s over his space pants, but still…) Playing up the over-the-top tendencies of William Shatner’s own Captain Kirk, Ousley pauses at awkward moments, winks at the audience and engages in shameless flirting with his castmates, winning plenty of the show’s best laughs.

“I thought that the KISS show was going to be my last Monkey show, I had done so many,” Ousley says. “But Donna (Northcott) dangled Captain Kirk in front of me, and that was it. I was like a very hungry mouse facing a giant bowl of Shatner queso.”

Several other cast members get their share of scene-stealing moments, including: Ed Cole, completely deadpan in the role of Mr. Spock; Ron Strawbridge, who dons drag well as Lieutenant Uhura; and Amy Kelly, who plays Spock’s mom in “Babel,” while hiding a variety of props in her Bride of Frankenstein wig. And a host of smaller gags highlight different performers. Chris Jones scores big, if only for his ability to walk in staggering platforms, part of his amazingly-ridiculous costume as the slave-warrior Kloog in “Gamesters”; points, too, for his aimless club-swinging at Kirk. And Beth Wickenhauser, thanks to her diminutive build, makes a completely unexpected re-arrival into “Babel,” one of many clever staging decisions brought to life by the Monkey’s co-founder and longtime director Donna Northcott.

For fans who’ve been following the theatrical offshoot of St. Louis Shakespeare for over a decade, there’s been such an interesting evolution over the years. Early linchpin performers like Julie Layton, Amy Elz and Michael Bowdern eventually phased themselves out, replaced by talented performers such as Tyson Blanquart and Julie Ritter. And now a new crop’s settling into the rotation. Northcott’s been able to blend in performers with a Shakespearian background, true, but also folks who’ve come from some of the local improv troupes.

And those performers have been given a wide range of challenges over the years. There have been cult classics, like Planet of the Apes and Plan 9 from Outer Space. Mainstream hits like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Cartoons, such as Speed Racer. And family classics, best represented by It’s a Wonderful Life, which has been a popular holiday-season pick over the years.

It’s not a knock on the Monkey to say that the troupe draws on an audience that’s diverse, maybe a bit geeky. And it certainly doesn’t limit itself to habitual patrons of local theater. Every show brings its own audience, its own little micro-niche. There’s also a simple, pop-cultural component that can’t be denied. Even those that didn’t grow up worshipping the original Star Trek can find something refreshing and enjoyable in the current production. The sight gags, the off-stage voices and frequent pop-culture references have been staples.

“Magic Smoking Monkey Theater has always been the kind of theater that you can take your buddies from the suburbs to, and they won’t be afraid to go,” Ousley suggests. “From the hipsters and the nerds, to the suits and the stoners, the Monkey welcomes all. For a lot of people, it’s become an annual or bi-annual tradition, kind of like a cool band that you can’t wait to see when they come to town.”

And when you go, sit in the front row. If things are already a little unexpected at the Monkey, that’s the place where things get really interesting. You’ll thank me.

The Magic Smoking Monkey’s tribute to Star Trek runs for two more weekends, with 8 and 10:30 p.m. shows at the Regional Arts Commission in The Loop, on May 11, 12, 18 and 19. For ticket information see stlshakespeare.org; for photos, film clips and more info on the production, go to MSMT’s Facebook page.