The 2015 Broadway musical Allegiance officially opened its U.K. premiere production at London's Charing Cross Theatre January 17, and the reviews are in. Star Trek's George Takei and Aladdin's Telly Leung are making their London stage debuts, reprising their roles from the Broadway run. Performances began January 7 and will continue through April 8.
Takei, as Sam Kimura, and Leung, as Sammy, are joined by Aynrand Ferrer (Kim in Miss Saigon in Vienna), also making her London debut as Kei, with Iroy Abesamis, Mark Anderson, Masashi Fujimoto, Megan Gardiner, Raiko Gohara, Eu Jin Hwang, Hana Ichijo, Misa Koide, Patrick Munday, Rachel Jayne Picar, Sario Solomon, Joy Tan, and Iverson Yabut.
Allegiance, which has a book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo, and Lorenzo Thione with music and lyrics by Kuo, tells the story of Sam Kimura as he is transported back nearly six decades to when his younger self and his sister Kei fought to stay connected to their heritage, their family, and themselves after Japanese Americans were wrongfully imprisoned during World War II. The story is based on and inspired by real events that happened to Takei's family during World War II.
Read the reviews below.
BroadwayWorld (Franco Milazzo)
Evening Standard (Nick Curtis)
LondonTheatre1 (Chris Omaweng)
Musical Theatre Review (Ian Bowkett)
The Reviews Hub (Maryam Philpott)
The Telegraph (Dominic Cavendish)*
West End Best Friend (Rachel Louise Martin)
*This review requires creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The newly reconceived U.K. production also features musical supervision and orchestrations by Andrew Hilton and Charlie Ingles, set and costume design by Mayou Trikerioti, lighting design by Nic Farman, sound design by Chris Whybrow, casting by Sarah Leung Casting, musical direction by Amy Hsu, associate direction by Kirsty Malpass, associate choreography by Misa Koide, and assistant musical direction by Beth Jerem.
The musical officially opened on Broadway November 8, 2015, following previews that began October 6 at the Longacre Theatre. At closing, the production played 37 previews and 113 regular performances. Olivier Award nominee Stafford Arima directed the Broadway bow, which also starred Tony winner Lea Salonga. Andrew Palermo served as choreographer. Allegiance was filmed and subsequently shown in movie theatres and also streamed.
Sing Out, Louise! Productions produces the London engagement with production management by New Wolf Productions and general management by Something for the Weekend.
Masashi Fujimoto, George Takei, and Aynrand Ferrer in Allegiance
Telly Leung in Allegiance
Megan Gardiner and Telly Leung in Allegiance
George Takei in Allegiance
The company of Allegiance
Aynrand Ferrer in Allegiance
Aynrand Ferrer and Telly Leung in Allegiance
Telly Leung, Megan Gardiner, Aynrand Ferrer, and Patrick Munday in London's Allegiance
George Takei in Allegiance
