Ex-Klingons J.G. Hertzler (Martok) and Robert O'Reilly (Gowron) are joining several of the surviving members of the von Trapp family, made famous by the Oscar-winning film The Sound of Music, in a low-budget Christmas film.

The two Deep Space Nine actors will appear in The von Trapp Children Christmas Movie, according to ncFilm, which reports on movies shooting in the North Carolina area. The film will shoot at Durham's Studio in the Woods as well as on location in Greensboro, NC and Montana, with a start date of December 2006.

Four children descended from the original von Trapp family singers - Sofia, 18, Melanie, 16, Amanda, 15, and Justin, 11 - have been touring as a singing act but are taking time off for the film, according to Reuters. The four are grandchildren of Werner von Trapp, the younger of the two boys portrayed in The Sound of Music (there renamed Kurt).

Other cast members include Jerry Mathers, Kathy Lamkin and Megan Blake. The film, budgeted at less than $4 million, is being directed and shot by a team of former Star Trek visual effects specialists, including a cinematographer, production designer and composer. The Trek team members were acquaintances of the CEO of Studio in the Woods, a former state government liaison for public events including Star Trek conventions.

The von Trapp children will sing in the film, though it is not a musical but a road trip movie. Mathers' character narrates the story, written by Paul Shapiro. Werner, Agathe (Liesl) and Maria (Louisa) are the surviving members of the original von Trapp Family Singers, who fled Nazi-occupied Austria in the 1930s. The film is slated for a 2007 release.

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