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glass_icarusWent to see Allegiance with my sister last night, and- as I mentioned elsenet- it was heart-exploding. George Takei!! Lea Salonga!!! And of course, that story. ♥ It appears that the primary facilitators of my access to literal gross sobbing are immigrant stories, of course. (I am not a frequent crier!) Also, can I just say how fucking refreshing it was to go and see a Broadway show with a majority-Asian cast?? As in, there were maybe four non-Asian people on stage (WHO SAYS THERE ISN'T A TALENT POOL). Such satisfying feelings of comfort and freedom and recognition and yes.
Of all the things George Takei must intend this story to be, it feels like a conversation starter more than anything else. The history of the Japanese internment camps, race relations, questions of belonging and citizenship, family tensions, the ways diasporados choose again and again to hold on or let go, the ways we express strength in the face of suffering, how we define and choose to be loyal (to a nation? to a family? to our history? to tradition?). It's about the borders we cross, how we live within them, and how we carry them with us. It's about how and where we choose to make our stand. And, of course, the prices of the choices we make.
I may never be able to achieve the most critical mindset about this musical. Quite frankly, to see George Takei perform on stage and pass on pieces of his family's own story put me in a state of emotional flailing even beyond the one accessed through Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights (and oh, when I saw in the program notes that George Takei also cried with recognition at that show. ♥ Immigrant stories!!). Also, LEA SALONGA!!!! My sister, who seems to have retained more dignity and critical thought than I did at the time, said quite accurately that she was great, but everyone else was a bit meepy. This is a fair statement, but it's not that the voice quality of the cast is mediocre; it's that Lea Salonga fucking eclipses everyone else in the room when she opens her mouth to sing.
Other assorted thoughts: Telly Leung as stubborn young Sammy was pretty great; Michael Lee's Frank Suzuki won me over surprisingly quickly (the snark!!); Lea Salonga's Kei was predictably my hands-down favorite; George Takei as the humorous ojiisan was ABSOLUTELY ACES. FOR ALL OF THE REASONS, OKAY. And Greg Watanabe's Mike Masaoka was a very convincing politician! I felt for him even as I found him kind of sleazy; political choices are not easy. The thing with Nurse Hannah made me kind of uncomfortable, I think in ways sort-of-related to how white femininity is frequently held up as a prize, but at the same time that's not quite how the show portrayed it. Maybe it was more that she was always talking about/actually Trying to Do the Right Thing and, man, how many times have we seen that go-round. Happily, there's no WWT/white savior stuff/being endlessly stuck in white guilt; Hannah makes her choices and follows through with them, which I really did appreciate. And, zooming back out a bit, I loved loved loved the unapologetic bilingualism! YES MORE OF THAT PLS. ♥ Although I could have done with seeing more of the ladies (let's be honest, we can always do with more of the ladies), even with Kei and Hannah.
In short: loved it, and if you have the chance to see it, do! Especially if you are in/around NYC and may therefore also be able to watch GEORGE TAKEI and LEA SALONGA live on stage. My only regret is that we were running for the bus and therefore couldn't hang around the theater to attempt to greet the cast as they left.
Of all the things George Takei must intend this story to be, it feels like a conversation starter more than anything else. The history of the Japanese internment camps, race relations, questions of belonging and citizenship, family tensions, the ways diasporados choose again and again to hold on or let go, the ways we express strength in the face of suffering, how we define and choose to be loyal (to a nation? to a family? to our history? to tradition?). It's about the borders we cross, how we live within them, and how we carry them with us. It's about how and where we choose to make our stand. And, of course, the prices of the choices we make.
I may never be able to achieve the most critical mindset about this musical. Quite frankly, to see George Takei perform on stage and pass on pieces of his family's own story put me in a state of emotional flailing even beyond the one accessed through Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights (and oh, when I saw in the program notes that George Takei also cried with recognition at that show. ♥ Immigrant stories!!). Also, LEA SALONGA!!!! My sister, who seems to have retained more dignity and critical thought than I did at the time, said quite accurately that she was great, but everyone else was a bit meepy. This is a fair statement, but it's not that the voice quality of the cast is mediocre; it's that Lea Salonga fucking eclipses everyone else in the room when she opens her mouth to sing.
Other assorted thoughts: Telly Leung as stubborn young Sammy was pretty great; Michael Lee's Frank Suzuki won me over surprisingly quickly (the snark!!); Lea Salonga's Kei was predictably my hands-down favorite; George Takei as the humorous ojiisan was ABSOLUTELY ACES. FOR ALL OF THE REASONS, OKAY. And Greg Watanabe's Mike Masaoka was a very convincing politician! I felt for him even as I found him kind of sleazy; political choices are not easy. The thing with Nurse Hannah made me kind of uncomfortable, I think in ways sort-of-related to how white femininity is frequently held up as a prize, but at the same time that's not quite how the show portrayed it. Maybe it was more that she was always talking about/actually Trying to Do the Right Thing and, man, how many times have we seen that go-round. Happily, there's no WWT/white savior stuff/being endlessly stuck in white guilt; Hannah makes her choices and follows through with them, which I really did appreciate. And, zooming back out a bit, I loved loved loved the unapologetic bilingualism! YES MORE OF THAT PLS. ♥ Although I could have done with seeing more of the ladies (let's be honest, we can always do with more of the ladies), even with Kei and Hannah.
In short: loved it, and if you have the chance to see it, do! Especially if you are in/around NYC and may therefore also be able to watch GEORGE TAKEI and LEA SALONGA live on stage. My only regret is that we were running for the bus and therefore couldn't hang around the theater to attempt to greet the cast as they left.
