2018 / Musical “Allegiance” at Aratani Theatre, Feb. 21 – April 1
Musical Allegiance
Aratani Theatre, Little Tokyo
February 21 – April 1, 2018
playing Thursdays through Sundays
Thursdays, and Friday on 8:00PM
Saturdays on 2:00PM and 8:00PM
Sundays on 2:00PM
Theater company East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center are presenting the Los Angeles premiere of the Broadway musical Allegiance starring stage and screen star George Takei, who is joined by Broadway cast members Elena Wang as Kei Kimura, Greg Watanabe as Mike Masaoka, Scott Watanabe as Tasuo Kimura, and Janelle Dote as Executor.
Takei is known for his founding role as Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television series Star Trek and as an influential social media icon; he is performing the roles of Sam Kimura and Ojii-Chan that he originated on Broadway. Allegiance is inspired from his own family’s experiences.
Takei was born in Boyle Heights in Los Angeles and spent his childhood in the Rohwer Incarceration Camp in Arkansas and later Tule Lake in Northern California. His story of resilience and hope is the inspiration for this musical, which is being given a new production only in Los Angeles.
Allegiance tells the story of the Kimura family, whose lives are upended when they and 120,000 other Japanese Americans are forced to leave their home following the events of Pearl Harbor. Sam Kimura seeks to prove his patriotism by fighting for his county in the war, but his sister Kei, fiercely protests the government’s treatment of her people. An uplifting testament to the power of the human spirit, Allegiance follows the Kimuras as they fight between duty and defiance, custom and change, family bonds and forbidden loves.