Not your typical happy Broadway musical

Charlene Baldridge | Downtown News

In 1942, as a boy of five, renowned actor George Takei was rounded up, along with an estimated 110,000 to 120,000 others of Japanese descent, and forced into World War II concentration or internment camps. Through a chance meeting in a theatre lobby, Takei’s story inspired creators Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione to write a new musical based on Takei’s experience.

The resulting work, “Allegiance, a new American Musical,” which concerns the Japanese internment, is aptly titled because it deals with a split among the internees. Written by Kuo (music and lyrics) with book by Kuo, Marc Acito and Thione, it is seen in its world premiere production at the Old Globe through October 21.

Part history lesson, part love story, part family drama, “Allegiance” spans the years 1941 to 2001 and is set in San Francisco, Salinas, and Washington, D.C., on a battlefield in Europe, and in Wyoming’s Heart Mountain Internment Camp – fifty or so dizzying scenes with seven main characters and an ensemble of 12.

Donyale Werle’s shoji screen-inspired set allows for quick changes and also for the inspired projection designs of Darrel Maloney, whose depictions of Hiroshima are devastating – this is not your happy Broadway musical. Mention must be made of Kuo’s lovely and beautifully sung a cappella ensemble piece titled “Tojaku-Ya,” sung during projections of the atomic bomb’s detonation and devastation. This music is interrupted by the perfectly ironic “442 Victory Swing,” reminiscent of Stage Door Canteen. What a sour taste that is!

The company of “Allegiance” is headed by renowned “Star Trek” actor George Takei (Mr. Sulu) as the aged 442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran Sam Kimura; the original Miss Saigon, Lea Salonga, as Sam’s older sister, Kei; Broadway singer/actor Telly Leung as the youthful Sammy; and Paolo Montalban as the only non-fictional character, Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) activist and later lobbyist Mike Masoaka, who comes off here as hero or villain, depending upon one’s dramatic sympathies. After the war, Masoaka wrote a book about his activities in behalf of JACL, the U.S. government and his people.

What the book musical reveals to a Midwestern-raised American, who until now had thought herself well-versed in the subject of WWII internment, is new knowledge of the factions among the Japanese internees.

At Heart Mountain, Kei, who has devoted herself to nurturing her younger brother (their mother died soon after he was born), meets and falls in love with Frankie Suzuki (Michael K. Lee). Sammy, meanwhile, falls in love with the camp’s nurse, Hannah Campbell (Escondido’s talented Allie Trimm). At the time, Sammy and Hannah would have been forbidden marriage. During the internment part of the musical, Takei plays the Kimura grandfather, or Ojii-San.

Certainly, a composer could not ask for better singer/actors to perform his new musical. All are excellent, attractive actors who sing well and create rich, memorable characters. Though each represents a viewpoint, they do not become stereotypes.

The situation and the relationships are complicated yet clear in director Stafford Arima’s fast-moving production, which comes in at around 2 hours, 30 minutes. The action is bookended by the aged Sam, dressed in his 442nd uniform, which he always wears on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. A stranger brings Sam news of his sister, whom he’s not seen for 50 years. Suddenly, in reverie, the old man is young again and on his family’s farm in Salinas. This transition and its reverse at the musical’s end are seamlessly handled. Is there a dry eye in the house? I think not.

It’s difficult to tell on just one hearing if the musical score, rife with Japanese harmonies and folk music, is up to the talent and the book. The entire endeavor is earnest, both to its credit and possible detriment. Certainly the creators have wrestled with and will continue to grapple with these elements. Emotionally, it’s an atomic bomb of a piece, dredging up even more guilt over our country’s egregious wartime acts.

Lynne Shankel provides music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations, and music director Laura Bergquist conducts the fine, 12-piece orchestra. Microphones behave in Jonathan Deans’ sound design, but the orchestra volume in Row G house right was around half again as loud as needed. Alejo Vietti is costume designer, Howell Binkley, the lighting designer in this production that conveys the beauty as well as the extremes of Wyoming.

“Allegiance” continues (various times and prices) Tues-Sun in the Old Globe Theatre at The Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, ** extended through October 21. ** Go to www.theoldglobe.org or phone (619) 23-GLOBE.

Charlene Baldridge moved to San Diego from the Chicago area in 1962. She’s been writing about the arts since 1979, and has had her features, critiques, surveys and interviews included in various publications ever since. Her book San Diego, Jewel of the California Coast (Northland Publishing) is currently available in bookstores. She can be reached at [email protected].