Allegiance Broadway Musical Filmed

For Cinema Release – George Takei

Allegiance at the Movies 13 December One Day Only

Allegiance A New American Musical is an epic story of family, love and patriotism set during the Japanese American internment of World War II. Sixty years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a chance meeting forces WWII veteran Sam Kimura (television and film star George Takei) to remember his family’s relocation from their California farm to the Heart Mountain internment camp. As they struggle to adjust to their new home, Young Sam (Telly Leung Godspell, “Glee”) and his sister Kei (Lea Salonga, Tony Award winner for Miss Saigon) find themselves torn between loyalty to their family and allegiance to their country. With its moving score, Allegiance takes audiences on a journey into our nation’s history through the eyes of one American family.

This Tickets Link takes you to Allegiance Official WebSite

In the fall of 2008, George Takei and his husband, Brad, were seated by complete coincidence next to Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione at an Off-Broadway show, where a brief conversation revealed a mutual love of theatre. The very next day, the four were once again seated together at a Broadway show, In the Heights. At intermission, Kuo and Thione approached Takei, curious as to why he had been so emotionally affected by the father’s song (“Useless”) in which he laments his inability to help his family. Over the course of that intermission, Takei recounted his personal experience as a child in a Japanese internment camp, during World War II, and his own father’s sense of helplessness at his inability to protect his family that was mirrored in the song. Kuo and Thione felt that Takei’s family’s experience would make a great show.
Although previous major Broadway musicals have involved Asian and Asian-American topics or settings, including three of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s shows, Pacific Overtures and Miss Saigon, Allegiance is “the first [Broadway] musical created by Asian Americans, directed by an Asian American … with a predominantly Asian cast … [and] an Asian-American viewpoint informing the work”
An aged World War II veteran, Sam Kimura, prepares for a Pearl Harbor anniversary ceremony. A woman arrives to inform him that his estranged sister Kei has died, and that she is Kei’s executor. She gives Sam an envelope and tells him that the funeral is to be held later that afternoon. Angered by the opening of his old family wounds after nearly 60 years of estrangement, he berates his once-beloved sister for not leaving him in peace. Kei’s ghost informs Sam that she couldn’t rest in peace without making one last attempt to reconnect with him.

GEORGE TAKEI

Is Best Known For His Portrayal Of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series Star Trek. He’s an actor, social justice activist, social media mega-power, star of the upcoming Broadway musical Allegiance, and subject of “To Be Takei,” a documentary on his life and career. Takei’s acting career has spanned five decades, with more than 40 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit. Inspired by his family’s experience in United States internment camps, Takei developed Allegiance which made its record-breaking world premiere, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 2012, winning multiple awards. Takei shared a Grammy nomination with Leonard Nimoy in 1987 in the Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording category. Takei also received a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in 1986. And in 1991 he left his signature and hand print, in cement, in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Mashable.com has named Takei the most-influential person on Facebook, where he currently has nearly 8.5 million “likes.” In 2013, Takei won the Shorty Award for Distinguished Achievement in Internet Culture. He has 1.6 million followers on Twitter, and posts on various social media platforms. Later in 2015, Takei will relaunch his personal site, GeorgeTakei.com.

LEA SALONGA

Known Across the world for her powerful voice and perfect pitch, Lea Salonga is a singer and actress who is best known for her Tony Award-winning role in Miss Saigon. In addition to the Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards, in the field of musical theatre. She was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway and returned to the beloved show as Fantine in the 2006 revival.
Lea most recently wrapped touring with Il Divo for the group’s worldwide “A Musical Affair” tour. When not on tour, Lea is a coach on the Philippine version of the hit “The Voice.” Mitoy Yonting, a member of Team Lea, was named the first season winner. Prior to that, Lea garnered a Craig Noel nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical for her latest work in Allegiance, which finished its run at The Old Globe in San Diego in 2012. She was also seen in God of Carnage in Manila, Philippines and Singapore.
Lea made her debut in the world of Cabaret in 2010, performing a sold out, three week engagement at the Café Carlyle in New York City. She returned to delight audiences in two more multi-week engagements in June 2011 and in May 2013, and released a live version of her 2010 concert “Lea Salonga: The Journey So Far,” her 26th career CD, in August 2011. The CD rose to the #3 spot on iTunes Jazz Charts.

TELLY LEUNG

was born and raised in New York City. He grew up in a traditional Chinese home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He is a proud alumni of New York’s prestigious math & science specialized high school, Stuyvesant High School. After Stuyvesant, Telly was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama (CMU), where he received most of his formal training in acting, singing, and dance.
It was also at CMU that Telly met fellow CMU-alum and KINKY BOOTS Tony-Award Winner, Billy Porter, who returned to his alma mater to direct the main stage production of Sondheim’s COMPANY. After casting Telly as Bobby in “Company”, Porter made a phone call to his colleagues who were involved in the upcoming Broadway revival of FLOWER DRUM SONG and landed Telly an audition. In the fall of 2002, Telly made his Broadway debut in the revival of ‘Flower Drum Song”, starring Lea Salonga, as a member of the ensemble and an understudy for Wang Ta.