On this special edition of SNAPSHOTS, I recently traveled up north to the fourth annual Trek Long Island convention in Hauppauge, New York for a weekend of fun, fandom and excitement.

In continuation of our salute to TLI4, our guest needs no introduction. The last time we saw her tour was at DragonCon way back in 2023 and he we are again.

While fans of the Great White Way know her as Frankie in the popular musical, Jagged Little Pill, for the past three seasons, she plays the iconic character, Nyota Uhura, on the hit Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which starts its fourth season – July 23rd

Let the hailing frequencies open for Celia Rose Gooding!

Celia. It’s great to see you again.

It’s great to see you. Thanks for making this happen.

I cannot believe it’s been almost three years that we can’t talk about SNW, but now we can talk about it.

Yes, finally. I can’t believe that was three years ago.

How does it feel to be here at Trek Long Island 4?

It’s my first time at Trek Long Island. I was supposed to be here, I believe, last year or the year before, but because we were shooting, I had to cancel. So, I’m very happy to be able to make up on my promise of being here. It’s very close to home. I’m a New York local. I love doing these sorts of local cons, where I can see people who are in the area, but who are also Trek fans, and be able to sort of merge those two worlds.

And since you’re a New York girl, the New York Knicks have won for the first time in 50 plus years. How does it feel to have that hometown pride, not only here, but at this convention?

I mean, it’s incredible. Yesterday, we, a bunch of Trekkies and Knicks fans alike. We sort of paused the convention to watch the game, and it went really well, and that’s why I sound like this. So, forgive me, it was really, really incredible. There’s something about the New York spirit and the Trekkie spirit and the Knicks spirit, that they have this sort of familial community bond. So, to see all of those units lay on top of each other and merge, it just felt like the biggest celebratory familial experience. It was really something special. I’m so happy I got to see them win and make history, but I’m also really, really happy I got to do it here with my Trek family.

Now that I can officially talk about your wonderful character, Nyota Uhura, who has grown with us for three incredible seasons, I love the character arc. Of all the moments you had with this character so far, what has been your favorite?

Okay, so one of my favorite moments hasn’t come out yet, but I will say of the moments that I have had, I’d be crazy to not bring up the musical episode, that was one of my favorite moments in Trek history, but for the character, I believe that I think it’s episode 206 where she’s being haunted by the ghost of Hemmer. She has a very weighted and important conversation with James Kirk, played by Paul Wesley, where he tells her that grief is not something that is overcome, you cannot overcome grief overnight. It is something that informs your decisions. It is something that inspires you to protect your loved ones and to hold yourself accountable for the well-being of your fellow crew.

And that sort of conversation between these two iconic characters, a young James Kirk, a young Uhura, for him to be the one to acknowledge her grief and validate her grief but also inspire her to keep going. I think it really colors their relationship in the future in TOS, where we see them collaborative in these life-or-death experiences. I just love the nature of our show, because it is a prequel, and we get to sort of lay the groundwork for these really iconic relationships in the Trek franchise.

You’re absolutely right. Just moments ago, I was talking to Chris Myers, who’s currently on Broadway, and you had your time on Broadway with Jagged Little Pill, and we just had the Tonys a week ago. I have to ask, of all the shows except your show, what has been your favorite Broadway show, past or present?

So, my favorite one present is Hadestown. I love Hadestown. It’s such a strong original story, it’s one of my favorite shows. And then past, I know it’s a tough one. I mean, all of the black iconic musicals: Dreamgirls, The Wiz, Uptown… It’s Hot, Ain’t Misbehavin. I love musicals. I’m a musical girl; I can’t help it. I would say those are some of my favorites that come to mind right now.

Now that Trek is about to turn 60 in just a few short months, why, in your humble opinion, do you think it has endured all of these years?

I’ll say, in my humble opinion, the reason why Trek is endured is because of its message, right? It’s because of its ethos, “infinite diversity and infinite combinations”. I think that, especially at a time like this, where rights are being taken from so many more.

Organizationalized communities, the black community, the queer community, women having their rights removed. It’s just we live in a really scary time, and I think historically when you look at the grand history of the country that I was born in, America, we have been constantly at odds with the powers that be about just getting the rights that we deserve as human beings, and Trek has been a pillar and a goal post of what we can aspire to when we actually show up for each other’s humanity, not just for each other’s dollars.

I think that it is groundbreaking in its past and its present and in the future of Trek that we have captains who are women, we have people of different backgrounds, different species coming together to work together and collaborate and build a better future. I think that Trek has been really the ideal, and we as human beings can’t help but aspire to an ideal, and we as Trek fans, are sort of putting the message not only on our screens, but we’re putting them in our hearts, and I think that keeping those messages alive, keeping that diversity, that equity, that inclusion alive in our spirit is the thing that keeps us coming back to Trek, because when we don’t see it in the world outside of what we’re watching, we look to that and we let that inspire us, and keep our mission going, and keep our mission forward, and hopefully bring our present world closer to the ideal that is in the Trek universe.

You should give that for a commencement speech, I’m serious.

Keep your eye on the page as we’ll have more SNAPSHOTS from Trek Long Island 4.

About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias to books to dictionaries to magazines. I’m also an avid television viewer, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD, earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked on red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my lifelong journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

See author's posts