The first one they hired caused the crew all to fret
Renowned was the phrase that had chilled down the set
Instead of commanding voice writ on the page
She whispered the keyword so faintly; "Engage"
None dared to allow themselves thought of as meaner
Only the director should question demeanor
Perplexed, without venom, he explained it as such
She disagreed soundly, his way was too butch
Her position, though clear, revealed a bad omen
She would not play a man, for she was a woman
At lunch it was busy, the veterans did hob-knob
“If it stays like this, we’ll all need a new job”
Three days into shooting and we started late
Another delay would be tempting bad fate
The first one knew too, a credit to her heart
It just wasn’t working, she surrendered the part
Our schedules meaningless, shredder in place
A.D.’s are born ready, chaos they embrace
With expert precision Jerry Fleck culled the script
Of every scene written without captain’s pip
He bought us four workdays by jumping between stages
Giving exec’s a window to recast the pages
A new captain, now, who would find the part true
They placed all our futures on Katherine Mulgrew
They gave her a script when they told her, day one
Day two would be meetings and fittings, not fun
Film tests, publicity, meet the cast on day three
A weekend came next, memorization spree
Day four, “here’s the rewrite, we all wish you well”
Then to start shooting after six days in hell
I can’t overstate the crew’s newfound relief
Remember, they all felt the show might be brief
Kate was commanding when “engage” she regaled
After a week long holding, we finally exhaled
The role had a home, perhaps it was fate
And we all could relax, for our captain was Kate
