All Photos by Matthew Murphy
Telly Leung and cast. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Performances of the new American musical Allegiance began at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street) on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 with an official Opening Night set for Sunday, November 8, 2015. Allegiance stars Tony and Olivier Award winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables) in her long-awaited return to Broadway joined by “Star Trek” icon George Takei in his Broadway debut at age 78, and Broadway and “Glee” star Telly Leung. Allegiance is the story of one family’s resilience in the face of seemingly-insurmountable odds, inspired by Takei’s real-life experience as a Japanese American during World War II.
Lea Salonga, George Takei, Telly Leung, Michael K Lee and cast. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Allegiance features a book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo, and Lorenzo Thione with music and lyrics by Jay Kuo. Olivier Award nominee Stafford Arima directs, in his Broadway debut. Andrew Palermo serves as choreographer.
Lea Salonga and Telly Leung. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Allegiance illuminates one of American history’s lesser known chapters as it tells the story of Sam Kimura (Takei), transported back nearly six decades to when his younger self (Leung) and his sister Kei (Salonga) fought to stay connected to their heritage, their family, and themselves after Japanese Americans were wrongfully imprisoned during World War II. An epic story told with great intimacy, Allegiance explores the ties that bind us, the struggle to persevere, and the overwhelming power of forgiveness and, most especially, love.
Telly Leung and cast. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Allegiance teamed up with Facebook to exclusively roll out the new docuseries Allegiance: Trek to Broadway, which chronicles the musical’s journey to Broadway. To view episodes of the docuseries, being released in weekly installments, visit:http://allegiancemusical.com/explore/trek-to-broadway/.
Michael K. Lee, George Takei and Lea Salonga. Photo by Matthew Murphy
The cast is as follows: George Takei as Sam Kimura/Ojii San; Lea Salonga as Kei Kimura; Telly Leung as Sammy Kimura; Katie Rose Clarke as Hannah Campbell, Michael K. Lee as Frankie Suzuki, Christópheren Nomura as Tatsuo Kimura; and Greg Watanabe as Mike Masaoka. The ensemble will feature Aaron J. Albano, Belinda Allyn, Marcus Choi, Janelle Dote, Dan Horn,Owen Johnston, Darren Lee, Manna Nichols, Rumi Oyama, Catherine Ricafort,Momoko Sugai,Kevin Munhall, Elena Wang, Scott Watanabe, Sam Tanabe and Tony winner Scott Wise.
George Takei and Lea Salonga. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Lia Chang is an award-winning filmmaker, a Best Actress nominee, a photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek, which will screen at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival on November 21st. She is profiled in FebOne1960.com Blog, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
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