George Takei boldly going to Broadway with ‘Allegiance’

Two years ago, William Shatner made his long-awaited return to Broadway in his one-man show “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It.” This fall, fellow “Star Trek” veteran George Takei will boldly go to Broadway in the musical “Allegiance,” which is set to open in November.

“Allegiance,” which debuted at the Old Globe in San Diego in 2012, deals with the internment of Japanese Americans in the wake of Pearl Harbor. The musical was loosely inspired by Takei’s childhood, with the actor playing a World War II veteran who reminisces about his youth.

No additional casting has been announced for the Broadway run. The Old Globe production featured a flashback structure, with actor Telly Leung playing the younger Takei character, and Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga as his older sister.

“Allegiance” is scheduled to begin preview performances on Oct. 6 and will open Nov. 8. The name of the Shubert theater where the musical will run will be announced later. Stafford Arima will direct the production, as he did at the Old Globe.

The musical, which features songs by Jay Kuo and a book by Marc Acito, will mark Takei’s Broadway debut. The actor played Mr. Sulu in the “Star Trek” television series and six feature films. More recently, he has earned a different kind of fame as a gay activist, prolific tweeter and documentary subject in the 2014 feature “To Be Takei.”

In an interview with The Times in 2012, Takei said the musical “is my legacy project.... I’m known now for ‘Star Trek,’ but I also hope to be known for spreading the word about this dark chapter in American history.”

A Times review of the Old Globe production concluded that the musical “retreats from the challenge of its own material and hasn’t found a consistent focus, tone or musical idiom.”

The Broadway run of “Allegiance” is being produced by Lorenzo Thione, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has carved out a parallel career as a theater producer, and Andrew Treagus.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT