Los Angeles – “This never gets old,” an excited Lea Salonga told us about her return to Broadway with the musical, “Allegiance.”
“The piece is incredibly good and of course, I said yes,” she added.
Lea was first approached for the musical, inspired by the experiences of “Star Trek” TV series alum George Takei, in 2009 – the year she also did a reading for it.
“Allegiance” was previously staged at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 2012.
Appearing as Kei Kimura in the musical, Lea is reunited with actor George Takei, who portrays Sam Kimura/Ojii-chan. Lea and George first worked together when they did the voices in the Disney film “Mulan” in 1998. Lea was the singing voice for Mulan and George was the First Ancestor.
“He is such a joyful man,” Lea said of George. “It is such an incredible thing to be around him and the crowd is so receptive. He is funny, articulate, incredibly intelligent and passionate about his projects. He is 78 years old and he is incredibly inspirational.”
Lea Salonga.
Also in “Allegiance” are Telly Leung (“Godspell,” “Glee”) who portrays the young Sammy Kimura, Michael K. Lee (“Miss Saigon,” “Rent” and “Jesus Christ Superstar”) who plays Frankie Suzuki, and Katie Rose Clarke (“Wicked” and “The Light In The Piazza”) who acts as Nurse Hannah Campbell.
The musical, which runs at the Longacre Theatre, is inspired by the true-to-life experience of George Takei as it follows one family’s extraordinary journey when Sam (Takei) goes back 60 years ago to recall how he and his sister Kei (Salonga) strove to save their family from the wrongful imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
It will be Lea’s sixth stint on Broadway and her first since she did Fantine in “Les Misérables” in 2007.
Her excitement over being back in Broadway and doing “Allegiance” is palpable.
She shared, “The piece is emotional and very touching so I said yes, first because my husband (Robert Chien) is half-Japanese, half-Chinese American so I have a Japanese-Chinese-American-Filipino daughter, so this is very meaningful for her. Rob attended one show with his grandmother, who had escaped internment by fleeing to Colorado. She is 94 years old and she has never forgotten what took place. So this story is his as much as it is also hers.”
She continued, “My second reason for doing ‘Allegiance’ and I told my daughter this before I left – is that your father is the descendant of ancestors who had escaped internment camps. You have to let mommy do this. This is part of history. She is not happy that Mommy is away but she knows the importance of me telling the story. It is important to tell stories like this. It is a brand new adventure for us. But we don’t take it for granted.”
The most emotional scene from the musical for her was when George’s character says his apologies to his Papa.
“George said there were some words that were never exchanged between him and his Papa. He never got a chance to apologize as a young man. So he gets to do it onstage every night. I said to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, this is so strong and emotional. It was not the easiest thing to do.’ So I tried to hold myself together.”
During the interview, she was suddenly interrupted by her two leading men – Michael K. Lee and Terry Leung – who passed by. Michael gives Lea a kiss on the cheek.
“I enjoy working with them. It is like a playground every single day. They are both incredibly talented and so funny,” she revealed.
Accompanying Lea in this journey is her mom, Ligaya, who is giving Lea the care and support that she needs in her eight-show-a-week schedule.
“My mom said, ‘I am having the best time of my life,’” Lea shared. “She loves seeing audiences screaming and the minute George goes out, we all don’t exist. She has seen people giving their support every night – watching the show and how the audiences stay behind to get a glimpse of us backstage and then they tell us how much they are touched or moved by the show.”
Lea said if the show becomes a hit, she could be there until middle of next year.
Her next projects include concerts in the West Coast by April and, at the end of that month, a brief trip home for auditions of “The Voice of the Philippines.” When the show runs locally, Lea will take a break from Broadway. She added, “A friend of mine is also getting married in November so I may take a break during that time but I won’t be away too long.”
Credit to Manila Bulletin, Janet Nepales
