Photo Flash: First Look at Contra Costa Civic Theatre's ALLEGIANCE

Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT) presents Allegiance, directed by Lily Tung Crystal, with music direction by Kenji Higashihama and choreography by Allison Paraiso. This musical about the World War II experiences of Japanese-Americans in the US, with book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo, and Lorenzo Thione, and music by Jay Kuo, makes its Bay Area premiere September 21 through October 21 at CCCT. For tickets and information visit the theatre's website at www.ccct.org or call 510.524.9012.

The company includes Vinh Nguyen as Sammy, Lindsay Hirata as Kei, Nick Rodrigues as Frankie, Emma Nadine Onasch as Hannah. Dennis Yen as Sam/Ojii-chan, Bryan Pangilinan as Tatsuo, Doy Charnsupharindr as Mike Masaoka, Joseph Alvarado as Mr. Maruyama, Pauli Amornkul as Mrs. Maruyama/No-No Girl, Juliet Evens as Sansei Woman/Mrs. Tanaka, Marah Sotelo as Nan, Anne Kobori as Peggy, Jomar Martinez as Tom, Melvign Badiola as Johnny, Christopher Juan as Ben, Domonic Tracy as Band Singer/Private Knight, Edward Nattenberg as Grocer/Director Dillon, and Nicole Ogata, Celeste Kamiya, and Alvin Castillo Bunales as the Ensemble.

The production's design team includes scenic designer Kuo-Hao Lo, costume designer Lisa Danz, lighting designer Courtney Johnson, sound designer Michael Kelly, and props designer Devon LaBelle.

In 1942, ten weeks after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the involuntary removal and detention of West Coast residents of Japanese ancestry. In the next 6 months, approximately 122,000 men, women, and children were moved to one of 15 "assembly centers" in California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona, before final evacuation to one of the guarded relocation centers known as internment camps.

Nearly 70,000 of the evacuees were American citizens, including actor and activist George Takei, then 5 years old, and his family, who were sent first to Santa Anita racetrack before ending up at the camp at Tule Lake, California. Mr. Takei's remembrances of the camp form the basis for Allegiance, which tells the epic multi-generational tale of Sammy and Kei Kimura, a brother and sister with an intense bond that faces spectacular challenges when they choose opposing paths to save their family. An uplifting testament to the power of the human spirit, the Kimuras fight between duty and defiance, and as long-lost memories are unlocked, they find it is never too late to recognize the redemptive power of love.

Photo Credit: Ben Krantz