Lea Salonga and Telly Leung to co-star in Allegiance

Producers of the upcoming Broadway musical Allegiance have announced that Tony Award winner Lea Salonga and 'Glee' star Telly Leung will co-star alongside previously announced cast member and 'Star Trek' icon George Takei in the Broadway transfer. Ms. Salonga and Mr. Leung will be reprising their roles of Kei and Young Sam, respectively, from the world premiere production, which was staged at San Diego's The Old Globe in 2012.

The venue has now also been announced - Allegiance is set to begin previews on 6 October 2015, before an official opening on 8 November 2015, at Broadway's Longacre Theatre.

Allegiance features a book by Marc Acito, with music and lyrics by Jay Kuo, and is directed by Olivier Award nominee Stafford Arima and produced by Lorenzo Thione and Andrew Treagus.

Synopsis: "Allegiance is inspired by George Takei's true childhood experiences. Traversing the lush California heartland, the windswept prairies of Wyoming and the battlefields of war-torn Europe, Allegiance tells the epic multi-generational tale of deep family loyalty, romance, humor, optimism and unparalleled heroism in the face of fear and prejudice against Japanese-Americans during World War II and beyond."

George Takei will be making his Broadway debut (at 75 years old) in the musical.

Lea Salonga is perhaps best known for her Tony and Olivier Award-winning performances as Kim in 'Miss Saigon.' She has also played the roles of Eponine in 'Les Misérables' in 1992 and Fantine in 2007. Other Broadway credits include 'Flower Drum Song' and the one-night-only special event 'Something Good.' She is also a judge on the Philippine version of 'The Voice,' as well as the singing voice of popular Disney princesses Jasmine and Fa Mulan in the animated classics 'Aladdin' and 'Mulan.'

Telly Leung is perhaps best known for his TV role on 'Glee' as Wes from 'The Warblers.' He has appeared on Broadway in 'Godspell,' 'Pacific Overtures,' 'Flower Drum Song,' and 'Rent,' and has also been seen off-Broadway in 'The World of Extreme Happiness.'

George Takei is best known for his role as Mr. Sulu in the original 'Star Trek' TV series and its accompanying six movies. Other screen credits include 'Larry Crowne,' 'The Great Buck Howard,' 'The Red Canvas,' 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan,' 'DC 9/11: Time of Crisis,' 'The Green Berets,' 'Majority of One,' 'Kissinger and Nixon,' 'Prisoners of the Sun aka Blood Oath,' 'Return From the River Kwai,' 'An American Dream,' 'Hawaii Five-0,' 'True Justice,' 'The Big Bang Theory,' 'Community,' 'Heroes,' 'Will & Grace,' 'Malcolm in the Middle,' 'Freddie,' 'Scrubs,' 'Grosse Pointe' and 'The Six Million Dollar Man.'

- by Tom Millward