William Shatner answers questions, talks favorite cheese ahead of Friday show in Appleton

Editor's note: Due to the ongoing SAG/AFTRA strike, which William Shatner supports, the Post-Crescent skipped questions directly related to his career as an actor and any projects, past and future. We had far nerdier questions to ask, we swear.

APPLETON - A man who's been to space, both on-screen and in real life, is coming to Appleton.

As part of an eight-city run, William Shatner will dock at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Friday for a night of laughs, tears and genuine storytelling.

The show will feature a 7:30 p.m. showing of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, followed by a 9:30 p.m. talkback with the man who made famous the role of Captain James T. Kirk, among many others.

Tickets are still available, though mostly in the upper levels of Thrivent Hall as first- and second-floor seats are nearly sold out. Prices run anywhere from $35.75 for the Family Circle up to over $200 for the few remaining Orchestra seats.

There is also an option to purchase a VIP photo op for an additional $100 to have your photo taken with Shatner, or a $200 Premium VIP photo op, which includes a photo and an autographed tour poster. A transparent barrier will be in place to allow guests to go mask-less for the photo, which will be taken by a professional photographer.

For more information on tickets, visit foxcitiespac.com/event/william-shatner-live-on-stage/.

In advance of his visit, Shatner placed a quick call Monday to the Post-Crescent to give readers a glimpse of what they might expect at the show. Here are our rapid-fire questions:

What can guests expect at the show?

"They'll play the film, the Wrath of Kahn, then I'll come out on stage and talk to the audience, amuse them, answer questions, tell them stories," Shatner said. "I've done this a few times before, and we always have a great time, we laugh and we cry."

What topics do you normally cover during an event like this?

"Anything that comes to mind ... Star Trek seems to be the main point of conversation, but there are so many other things that I love to talk about and cover, but it depends on the questions from the audience. But you'll have me for well over an hour."

Do you have any personal connection to, or love of, Wisconsin?

"I love the lakes and have, in the past, looked for a place by a lake that would interest me to live part-time," he said. "It's the proximity to fishing and the water that interests me."

When asked what sort of fishing he preferred, he said it was game fishing, mostly, "bass, trout, that sort of thing."

As this is Wisconsin, so I'm legally required to ask what your preferred sort of cheese is.

After a comedic back-and-forth of: "Skis?" "No, cheese." "Excuse me?" "C-H-E-E-S-E." "Oh, cheese!" he laughed and said he was really fastened-on to goat cheese these days.

"It's a delicious form of cheese," he said. "A great cheese is like a great wine, and it takes the same amount of time and energy ... it's a really very intricate process, and has as much subtly as wine."

On the topic of alcohol, how to do you take your Old-Fashioned?

"I don't remember the last time I had an Old-Fashioned," he said. "I'd prefer to just sip on the brandy, why adulterate it with oranges and cherries?"

What brought you out on the road?

"It's work, but work that I enjoy," he said. "It's been my work for my whole life, it's what I do. I'm ready to do it again."

If people miss you this time through, do you have plans to come back?

"Well, I might come back as a swallow, but you've gotta get me now," the 92-year-old actor laughed. "Based on the passage of time, get me now while you've got me."

Taima Kern is editor of the Appleton Post-Crescent. Reach her at tkern@gannett.com or 920-907-7819.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: William Shatner to visit Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton