Lea Salonga and George Takei Headline L.A. Reading of New Musical Allegiance

Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables) and TV icon George Takei (Star Trek) will star in a staged reading of the new musical Allegiance at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on July 13.

Described as a story of love, loss and heroism during the Japanese American internment, Allegiance has music and lyrics by Jay Kuo, who co-wrote the book with Lorenzo Thione. The cast also features Broadway’s Jose Llana (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), James Snyder (Cry-Baby), Michael K. Lee (Pacific Overtures and Enrico Rodriguez (Rent) as well as L.A. actors Jennifer Paz and Michael Hagiwara.

Allegiance is presented by The San Francisco New Theatre Workshop (SFNTW), which produced an 11-month run of Kuo’s musical Insignificant Others at San Francisco’s Pier 39 in 2008. The SFNTW also produce a staged reading of Kuo’s musical Worlds Apart at New World Stages in New York in March 2009.