I was reading about the world premiere of Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione’s musical, Allegiance, on the press page for the show, which will take place in San Diego at The Old Globe in October this year. The show is described as ‘an epic story of family, love and patriotism set during the Japanese-American internment of World War II’:

On the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, a meeting with a young journalist forces WWII veteran Sam Otsuka (television and film icon George Takei) to remember his family’s relocation from their California farm to the Heart Mountain internment camp. As they struggle to adjust to their new home, Young Sam (Broadway favorite Telly Leung) and his sister Kei (Tony Award winner Lea Salonga) find themselves torn between loyalty to their family and allegiance to their country. With its moving score, Allegiance takes audiences on a journey into our nation’s history through the eyes of one American family.

An interesting milieu, no? I think it sounds intriguing enough to deserve attention and the principle casting is fantastic. Here’s a song from the show, performed by Leung with Allie Trimm:

The song is beautiful, but it throws up questions around how the score has been composed in relation to the drama. For a show that deals with history, this song has an incredibly contemporary feel about it. I’d be keen to hear how it plays when fully orchestrated in the context of the show on the whole. Nonetheless, here’s wishing everyone in the Allegiance family well as they work towards their opening night!