The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Teresa Cerojano / The Associated Press
Tony award-winning actress and The Voice of the Philippines coach Lea Salonga says talks have not yet been finalized on her joining the cast of Star Trek actor George Takei’s musical Allegiance on Broadway, but added that it is a show she wants to be a part of.
The 44-year-old Broadway veteran played Kei Kimura, the musical’s female lead, when the musical made its sold-out premiere at The Old Globe in San Diego, California, in 2012.
Takei’s personal and heartfelt show about Japanese-Americans imprisoned during World War II goes to Broadway this fall with him in a starring role.
“Of course, I’d like to be a part of it, if only to be part of something that’s very important in Broadway history,” Salonga told The Associated Press in a recent telephone interview.
But she said things were still being discussed by her agent and the show producers, so she could not say if she will be part of the musical.
Allegiance is a multigenerational tale with two love stories that’s framed by a Japanese-American war veteran looking back on his family’s time in a Wyoming internment camp. Previews begin on October 6.
It will mark the first Asian-led cast of a musical on Broadway in more than a decade, since the revival of Flower Drum Song, which featured Salonga.
The story of Allegiance covers an important part of American history, when tens of thousands of Asian-Americans were put in camps just because they looked like the enemy, Salonga said.
“This kind of prejudice and bigotry is actually still happening,” the 44-year-old Salonga added. “It’s still relevant and that’s the sad and scary part of it.”
She said that, with very few Asian-led musicals on Broadway, Allegiance is “a big, big deal,” and also excites her because it will be another milestone for Takei.
The actor, who turns 78 next month and who’s famous for playing Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, turned his childhood memories in an internment camp into the musical.
“George Takei, who is almost 80 years old, is going to make his Broadway debut, which is really, really exciting for me as a friend of his and as one who worked with him and he’s somebody I used to watch on TV when I was a kid,” Salonga said.
Salonga—best known for originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon in London’s West End and Broadway—will have a concert on March 14 at the Town Hall in New York.
She has also been busy as a coach in The Voice of the Philippines singing contest, which ended its second season on March 1. She continues as coach in the next season of the kid’s edition of the contest.
Salonga said she loves grooming the next generation of artists in the Philippine music industry.
“It’s something I would like to do even off camera, even when I’m not in front of an audience,” she said.