Joel Grey is probably best known for his Oscar winning role as the compare in 'Cabaret', whilst Richard E. Grant, who will forever be linked to 'Withnail and I' , recently portrayed Sir Percy Blakeney in the BBC series 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'.

25 years ago 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' was released, and now this album updates the work with a new score, guest artist singers, and narration of the tale by Patrick Stewart.

Plans are underway for a series of live performances of the work, at major cities around the world. Details are not as yet confirmed of UK performance dates which Stewart may attend if commitments permit.

Further details of the album and the press release can be found at Rick Wakeman's web site

"I enjoy being Picard in particular on the big screen," Patrick Stewart says of his recent return to the role in Star Trek: Insurrection. "There's so much more opportunity to do interesting and unusual things. I'm a man in my late 50s, and I find myself now becoming an action hero -- which I never expected."

Stewart took a strong role in the development of Insurrection's story, working for many months with Executive Producer Rick Berman and writer Michael Piller to shape the story. "I thought in Generations, Picard got too depressed for too long," said Stewart, "then in First Contact, we went with more action. In that case, we twisted the story all around and Jonathan (Frakes, the director) and I changed places so that he was in control of the Enterprise. In this film, I joked with Jonathan that we should have had a line when the crew meets Picard down in the Captain's Yacht and says, 'Well Number One, I think you should go and get on with the B-story.'"

Stewart found a satisfying resonance in the Insurrection story with the mission of one of his favorite causes, Amnesty International. "In the case of Star Trek, you're always dealing with an attitude, a philosophy. There is a point of view about the importance of respecting other societies, other civilizations and the sanctity of human life, the respect for the strange, the alien."

It was sheer coincidence that Stewart and guest star F. Murray Abraham (Ru'afo) were the only two actors to have played the same role in a recent Arthur Miller play, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. When the two were called back to the studio to reshoot Insurrection's ending, they traded tips on the role during their breaks. "I've always been an admirer of F. Murray's," said Stewart. "One of the handful of fan letters I've ever written, I wrote to him after I saw him in Angels in America. He has such a theatrical intensity."

Stewart is currently in production on a filmed version of his take on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. While he will be starring in the film, due out in December of 1999, he won't be playing all the roles as he does when he performs the play on stage.

Even as he and his fiance/company vice president, Wendy Neuss, develop new projects for his Flying Freehold Productions, Stewart is already thinking ahead to his concepts for "ST:X."

"In the character of Dougherty, we've only seen just one little indication of what might be going on in the heart of Starfleet. This leaves us poised on what I think would be the brink of a terrific sequel. It could be another tremendous, explosive action adventure but instead of the story happening on an alien world, it could be happening right there."

By Deborah Fisher for Star Trek : Continuum