The Patriots 1943

This time, the reader question was: Oh, Mary! currently has so much buzz off-Broadway. What is the history of American presidents being depicted on stage?

FDR called the attack on Pearl Harbor "a day that will live in infamy." Equally ignominious, though, was his knee-jerk response: the decision to authorize the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps - without cause, trials, or hearings - for close to the duration of WWII. The Broadway musical ALLEGIANCE, championed by actor/activist George Takei and based on his true life experiences, attempts to shed light on that particularly ugly chapter in American history precisely at a time when a new generation of immigrants is being persecuted, detained and deported. In its New England regional premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, that mission is only partially achieved.

The B Street Theatre has announced its spring line-up. On the mainstage will appear Gina Gionfriddo's new comedy BECKY SHAW. The B-3 Series offering will be the American classic, I AM A CAMERA by John Van Druten. The Family Series will finish its season with Charles Way's exciting and moving version of the classic French tale, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.