“Allegiance” is based on the true experiences of George Takei, a Japanese-American actor best known as Mr. Sulu in the “Star Trek” film and TV series. He was born in California but when World War II broke out, he and about 120,000 other Japanese-Americans were confined in internment camps. After the war, he returned to his native Los Angeles and became an actor. He and his husband Brad were married in a same sex marriage in California in 2008.
“Allegiance” is a multigenerational tale with two love stories that’s framed by a Japanese-American war veteran looking back on his family’s time in a Wyoming internment camp. It will mark the first Asian-led cast of a musical on Broadway in more than a decade, since “Flower Drum Song,” which also starred Lea Salonga.
Lea says the story of “Allegiance” shows a forgotten part of American history when thousands of Asian-Americans were imprisoned in camps just because they looked like the enemy. “This kind of prejudice and bigotry is actually still happening,” Lea adds. “It’s still relevant and that’s the sad and scary part of it. With very few Asian-led musicals on Broadway, ‘Allegiance’ is a big, big deal for me.”
Lea will be acting with Mr. Takei himself, now 78 years old, and with Telly Leung of “Glee”. Locally, she’s just been seen as a coach in last season of “The Voice of the Philippines” that just ended. If there’s a new season of “The Voice” in October and November, then Lea would no longer be a part of it as she’d be busy in Broadway by then.
