Bravado is a familiar part of William Shatner’s image and his acting portfolio, whether he’s in character as James T. Kirk, Denny Crane or the Negotiator TV pitchman.

Even the title of the one-man show he’s bringing to Broadway this week – “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It” – has moxie to spare. So it’s surprising, even endearing, that Shatner admits to his version of stage fright.

“My fears are not the primitive, `I’m afraid I can’t talk’ kind of fear that young actors have. Mine is, `I’m afraid the ticket sales won’t go,’” he said recently in his memento-decorated office before heading to New York for the play’s Thursday opening.

Another worry, and this is a big one: that audiences will prove tougher to impress than they were in Australia and Canada, where he toured with an early incarnation of the show. Shatner was last on Broadway in the 1961-62 production of “A Shot in the Dark,” starring Julie Harris and Walter Matthau.

“I feel New York is held to a higher standard than anyplace else,” he said. “I’m anxious to see how the New York audience will accept me.”

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