Break A Leg: Long-awaited musical "Allegiance" has its Broadway premiere tonight

THE TRICK IS: How do you turn such a dark chapter in American history into a hit Broadway musical with all the glitz, dancing and singing usually associated with that genre?

We'll find out very soon as Allegiance opens tonight. The musical is based on the real life story of actor George Takei's family experience when they were interned in the infamous internment camps during World War II simply because they were of Japanese descent.

Allegiance, according to press releases, "illuminates one of American history’s lesser known chapters as it tells the story of Sam Kimura (Takei), transported back nearly six decades to when his younger self (Leung) and his sister Kei (Salonga) fought to stay connected to their heritage, their family, and themselves after Japanese Americans were wrongfully imprisoned during World War II. An epic story told with great intimacy, Allegiance explores the ties that bind us, the struggle to persevere, and the overwhelming power of forgiveness and, most especially, love."

Thousands of Japanese/Americans were taken from their West Coast homes and sent to god-forsaken locales further inland out of an unfounded fear that some of them might have been spies for the enemy. They had to sell their businesses, farms and homes and brought with them only what they could carry in a suitcase.

Lea Salonga and George Takei in "Allegiance."

The Allegiance premiere marks the return of Broadway favorite and award-winning performer Lea Salonga and the Broadway debut of Takei, better known for his role as Hikaro Sulu, the flapless helmsman of the starship Enterprise on the Star Trek television series.

The pan-Asian cast also stars Broadway and "Glee" star Telly Leung.

The complete cast comprises Takei as Sam Kimura/Ojii San, Salonga as Kei Kimura, Leung as the young Sammy Kimura, Katie Rose Clarke as Hannah Campbell, Michael K. Lee as Frankie Suzuki, Christopheren Nomura as Tatsuo Kimura and Greg Watanabe as Mike Masaoka with Aaron J. Albano, Belinda Allyn, Marcus Choi, Janelle Dote, Dan Horn, Owen  Johnston, Darren Lee, Manna Nichols, Rumi Oyama, Catherine Ricafort, Momoko Sugai, Kevin Munhall, Elena Wang, Scott Watanabe and Tony winner Scott Wise.

The show has had a long road to Broadway. It had its world premiere at the Globe Theater in San Diego in 2012 and it has taken this long to raise the money for the Broadway production at the Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street. For tickets, click here.

Here's a performance of the musical number, "Paradise." As you can see, the answer to my opening question is: Irony - lots of irony.

As they say: Break a leg!

###