LEA SALONGA RETURNS TO THE STAGE!

At the grand old age of 77, actor, social media icon and activist George Takei makes his Broadway debut in this incredible story of resilience against racism based on his early experiences. Joining him will be the Tony and Olivier winning musical star, Lea Salonga, who first came to prominence in the original Miss Saigon. After selling out following its world premiere in San Diego, Allegiance, a powerful musical detailing life for Japanese Americans following Pearl Harbour, comes to New York to enlighten and educate us about this often forgotten chapter in our nation's history.

An uplifting and emotional story...

In December 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. The-then president, FDR issued the infamous Executive Order 9066 in response, which effectively declared civil war upon its Japanese-American citizens who resided on the Pacific Coast. This group were treated with hysteria and fear because they shared the same ancestry as the Japanese bombers. As a result, they were ordered from their homes to desolate, isolated prison camps for months (and in some cases years) and made to prove their loyalty to the United States by living and working in near slavery conditions.

Allegiance follows one such family who are uprooted forcefully from their home and head to one such internment camp in Wyoming. Their lives are torn apart as they each come to terms with the situation and learn the power of redemption, rebellion, forgiveness towards their captors. The story is recounted to a journalist by the now-elderly Sam Otsuka, on the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour attacks. Sam and his sister Kei must balance loyalty to their Japanese family with allegiance to the country where they now live, with mounting pressures of starvation and heavy-handed containment.

DID YOU KNOW?

Now considered one of homeland America's darkest moments, reparations for the treatment of her Japanese-American citizens were finally addressed in 1952 when Executive Order 9066 was repealed by President Ford, but it wasn't until 1982 that a commission ruled the illegality of the order, and apologized to the survivors, as well as offering compensation.