Emmy-winning television icon, film legend and former USS Enterprise spaceship commander William Shatner will perform his one-man Broadway show, “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It” at the Arlington Theatre tomorrow at 8 p.m.

Hosted by UCSB Arts & Lectures, the performance follows Shatner’s career — from his beginnings as a Shakespearean stage actor to his infamous role as Captain Kirk on “Star Trek” and his more recent role as high-powered attorney Denny Crane in “The Practice”, amongst other on and off- screen roles. The show will include film clips, jokes and monologues. Students are welcome to come dressed as “Star Trek” characters from 7 – 7:30 p.m. and the first 25 costumes will receive free astronaut ice cream while the grand prize winner will receive two tickets to the Grand Slam Convention: The Star Trek and Sci-Fi Summit. Tickets are $28 for UCSB students and $38-$128 for the general public, with $128 passes giving attendees admission to a post-show reception with Shatner.

As the date of his landing approaches, Shatner said he welcomes UCSB students to attend the event, giving some soulful advice to Gauchos via email.

“You can’t be too busy to follow your dreams,” Shatner said in an email. “On the other hand, you have to be practical about what life offers you and nobody can tell you the difference.”

According to Arts & Lectures Associate Director Roman Baratiak, Shatner’s Broadway performance matches the Arts & Lectures mission to provide educational and entertaining events, explaining Shatner’s great work ethic and skill in acting as inspirational.

“Shatner talks about his life and his career, from when he was a stage actor to how he got involved with ‘Star Trek’,” Baratiak said. “He hasn’t stopped, and he loves performing, and that’s why he’s doing this one-man show.”

Baratiak added that “Shatner’s World” will especially appeal to students familiar with the renowned actor’s role in the interstellar series “Star Trek”.

“He did this particular show on Broadway, which is a big hit, and now he has been touring it around the country. [When] we had the opportunity to schedule a visit with him, [we] did not want to pass it up,” Baratiak said. “I think some students are obviously familiar with ‘Star Trek’ in which William Shatner starred as Captain Kirk.”

Such enthusiasm is shared by first- year mechanical engineering major Derek Robert, who said he will be attending “Shatner’s World” to see the former captain in action.

“When I saw that William Shatner was coming to S.B., I was pretty excited,” Robert said. “Shatner is a Hollywood icon. The fact that he is still working is truly inspiring and admirable. You can tell that he likes his job.”

Although a career in acting is something Shatner holds with pride, the “Star Trek” star recommended students with similar aspirations give priority to ongoing educational goals and work as hard as possible.

“Get a good education. You never know when you need a fallback position,” Shatner said in an email.

A version of this article appeared on page 6 of January 18th, 2013’s print edition of the Nexus.