Premiere of Allegiance Musical feat. Salonga, Leung & Takei- Page 2

[Tweed2]

Posted: 9/26/12 at 9:07am

The L.A. Times review is not great---unfortunately the review that matters out there...

http://latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-old-globe-review-20120921,0,2996223.story

[musicaltheater1]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:01pm

The show was AMAZING! There are 8 other critcs reviews that gave it glowing remarks.

Check out PBS' feature and look behind-the-scenes on the Broadway-bound Allegiance - A New Musical.

Allegiance has been extended up to the 28th of October at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Tickets can be purchased online at www.theoldglobe.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfSqpOpkw58&feature=player_embedded

[Pauly3]

Posted: 10/10/12 at 1:47am

Saw the show Sunday night and was very impressed. George Takei was particularly outstanding. I was never a Star Trek fan, nor was I a fan of his in anything he has done - and I actually thought I would not much like him in this. BUT, the groundwork for what could be that somewhat rare role where you become the standard, by which everyone who might later play the role is judged, is well in the works. This is true of both characters he portrays. If not as the elder Sam Kimura, absolutely as the grandfather!

Lea Salonga is awesome. If you've loved her before, nothing will change that feeling here. She sings (again) like only she can, and her acting is an asset. Yes, an asset. Her character is the glue of her fictional family as is her presence the glue of the show. She is believable, likable and you miss her when not on stage. At least I did. When she is asked to be funny, she is so completely genuine and gets what I am sure is the full response from the audience that is intended. Nice work all the way around!

Telly Leung is very good too, and I think he fit the role of young Sammy well. Idealistic, optimistic and driven. All covered here with no problems. His singing voice goes from just OK to highly enjoyable. As an example of the latter, there is an early version of "My Time Now" on the Allegiance website (somewhere around this site too) from back in March 2010 that is very good. He sings it as a solo ballad accompanied by only a piano, and I was really looking forward to seeing that version with the full orchestra. The song closes the first act, but in the show now is sung by - or in part by - the full ensemble. I was pretty much wowed by it and loved it. I like the big climactic 11:00 o'clock show pieces....I guess I'm a real sucker for 'em. Looking back at the 2010 version with Telly soloing, as good as that might have been in the show, I think the current version is the way to go.

The rest of the cast is also really good. However, the one true-life character, Mike Masaoka, is portrayed both as a central figure but also seems dis-joined at the same time. I'm not sure how to improve this issue (if it is an issue), but most every time he enters the stage it seems unusual for him to be there. Not in a big way. But I always felt the scenes were a bit "off". As controversial as Mike Masaoka was and is to this day, I don't think this show will do anything to make that controversy less (or more) so. I think, intended or not, that's probably not a bad thing.

The Old Globe is kind of a cool place to see a show. There really are no really bad seats as it is small. My big complaint though was the sound sitting very close and to the side was not great. Voice mics sometimes seemed to be at a level not high enough to keep up with the music - and not that the music over-powered the vocals. In one glaring issue, Lea Salonga's mic went south just before "Higher" (what a horrible time for that!). I believe it was Paul Nakauchi (the father) who brought out a hand microphone. It gave the audience a good laugh, but even that mic seemed "off" at times. Note this wasn't the case throughout but often enough to make note of it. I don't know what the deal was. I would like to see the show again from the middle orchestra - and hopefully not experience any of those issues.

I like the show enough I may well make the drive down there and see it again before it closes at the end of the month.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 12:30pm

They did a screening of this in Austin last night, a good friend who loves B'way went, this is his report SPOILERS INCLUDED:


This is for the Broadway fans. Or if you’re interested in Allegiance, the musical about Japanese-American internment camps during World War II. Or you like George Takei.

Last night, we went to a screening/fundraising of Allegiance at the Paramount here in Austin. The experience was fascinating and it’s rare for outsiders to get a peek inside the creative process of a (potential) Broadway musical, so I thought it worthwhile to share my thoughts. Plus, the organizers were all but begging the audience to tweet and Instagram about the show, so I’ll do that too.

The event itself was outstanding. It was a fundraiser, so you had to give money, but well worth the price. When we reserved our spaces online the confirmation only said the doors opened at 6 pm. Nothing about seats, so we went early. No line outside at around 5:15. Uh oh. We walk inside and found out that’s because everyone is just hanging out in the lobby. Including George Takei, who was already surrounded by a bunch of people wearing Star Trek uniforms.

Maybe 50 people were in the lobby by the time they opened the doors. (One guy in a yellow Starfleet uniform approached to warn us about a Klingon in the crowd….um, ok). There were some rows reserved for people who gave more money than others, but after a few minutes they just let anyone sit wherever they wanted since the room wasn’t close to full. Maybe 150 people were there by the time they started the screening.

The screening was a taped performance of Allegiance from San Diego. It was the first time I’ve seen a movie of a musical in a movie theater and that was a bit awkward--people in the audience clapped after songs like the audience in the theater, but without the cast and orchestra to hear it, I wasn’t sure of the point. Halfway through the second act the video skipped. The MC of the event took to the stage and did an outstanding job vamping for a few minutes while they fixed the video and we saw the rest of the show.

So far, nothing special as far as the experience went. But after the show ended it got interesting. The producer and the composer/lyricist were at the show as well and they briefly spoke on stage about how the show has gone through many iterations since they started working on it almost 6 years ago. They talked about how the show is still evolving and that they’ve made some changes in the hopes of bringing it to Broadway. One change was a big ballad for the main character and they brought out the actor to sing the song live.

Telly Leung (the lead) is an amazing young actor with a powerful voice. He came on stage and didn’t disappoint. After his performance we saw another 26 minute video showing some of the changes to the show, including one major new number and some story/song changes.

After the video, the producer (Lorenzo Thione), conductor/lyricist (Jay Kuo), Telly, and George all took the stage for a Q&A session. There were your typical questions (“When are you going to Broadway?” “As soon as a theater will have us!”) but also some interesting tidbits. The best parts were Jay’s answers--like when we found out that he’s taken more songs out of the show then there are songs currently in the show (there are 26 in the show right now). And that only one song remains from the original draft. Currently, there isn’t a song called Allegiance (and the word is barely said at all during the show). We asked Jay afterwards in the lobby if that would change, he said he’s working on a major song that will be called Allegiance and hopefully be their signature number.

As a Broadway fan, it was amazing to see part of the process of making it to NYC. The performance, the video of the rehearsal space where they recorded the changes (the “lab”), the frank discussion about the process and economics. It was fascinating.

As a musical fan and someone who wanted this show to be great, I was disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad show, it just isn’t a great show. And it should be a great show. The topic is amazingly powerful--American citizens who were unjustly forced into concentration camps after their homes and businesses were taken from them and then asked, later forced, to fight on behalf of the same country who treated them so unjustly. It’s a topic that we don’t like to discuss but there is a rich vein for drama. The team chose to tell a personal story about a family struggling with loyalty between country and each other, and that’s a great angle as well. I remember hearing George talk about this subject many years ago when he came to speak near us--I thought it was a powerful story back then and it still is today.

There’s a ton of talent as well. Telly Leung is amazing. Lea Salonga is well-known for her run in Miss Saigon and she has a powerful voice to boot. George gets some great comedic moments and he nails them. And some of the supporting cast is fantastic as well.

So you have great talent and great background material, what failed? Sadly, the story and the music. The story is a bit of a mess--it tries to be a memory piece as Jay mentioned in the Q&A, but that doesn’t make sense because too many scenes wouldn’t be possible purely as memories. That is how the show is framed--we see the old man in somewhat modern times reliving his past in the internment camp, but we see far too many scenes he should not know about. Or if he did know about them then the emotional journey the main character goes through doesn’t add up.

And the songs. They’re fine: acceptable, but just not amazing. And they should be amazing. I can’t recall a single one just 12 hours after listening to them. Even when I was listening to them I understood what they were going for, but none of them connected. The best song was at the end of the first act where it clearly goes for a One Day More vibe with several groups trying to tie together different storylines, but it doesn’t succeed.

The story is also a bit messy, struggling between telling the factual story of the internment (both the politics and the realities) and the personal story of the main family. From the changes shown in the lab it appears they’ve abandoned some of the more political elements, which is a good change. The song they added was also the most Broadway of all the songs--it actually had dancing (only one other song has dancing in the show, which isn’t so odd for a musical drama but still felt lacking).

And then there’s one moment of the show that sticks out like a nuclear thumb. We see the bombing in Hiroshima. I don’t mean a video, I mean they have some people stand on stage while there’s a projection of the city of Hiroshima behind them, we hear a radio announcement about the Enola Gay dropping the bomb, and we see these explosions projected onto the people before they disappear leaving just solitary spotlights.

It’s a powerful moment, don’t get me wrong. But it shouldn’t be in this show. This show is not about Japan--in fact, one of the biggest points of the show is that these were Americans, not Japanese citizens. Using the same actors to then portray Japanese citizens is wrong. We all know how the second World War ended, but that doesn’t matter to this story. At a personal level, the war ending matters to the family but not the bombing. At the political level, the internment camp matters and the Japanese-American army unit that fought (in Europe) matters but the bombing does not. It feels wedged in.

I didn’t ask during the Q&A but I did approach the producer afterwards and asked if the Hiroshima bombing was still in the show after the changes. He said not only is it still in the show but he was very excited about bringing over some new effects from London that would make it even more exciting. That was disappointing. I wish they would cut it.

In the end, I hope the show does make it Broadway or ends up touring. Maybe after they work on it a bit more--but honestly, I’m not sure if they can improve it enough to make it a great musical. That’s okay, there’s room in this world for good musicals and it’s certainly better than a lot of bad ones I’ve seen. At the very least they have created a memorable show, one that brings to light a dark period in our history. I’m only disappointed this isn’t a great musical about an important issue--if you want to know what I mean, go see Ragtime. But last night was an amazing experience in total. And I got to take a picture with George (and his husband Brad) so that rocked too.

[gstrus2]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 12:33pm

Is this coming to Broadway??

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 12:42pm

"“As soon as a theater will have us!”

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 1:00pm

Thanks for that, Wee Thomas!

[Wildcard]

Posted: 12/6/13 at 2:12pm

The Allegiance EP is now on iTunes. I want a full recording.