By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Back in 2012, George Takei made a promise which he eventually delivered.
His play Allegiance was setting box office records at the Globe Theater in San Diego and Takei vowed the show would go to Broadway.
Three years later, that promise was fulfilled when the play opened at the Longacre Theater in New York in November 2015.
The run, however, will be short-lived as Allegiance is set to close on February 14.
Takei is making yet another promise. He sees the show continuing to play on tour across the country.
In fact, the news release issued by the show announcing the closure stated unequivocally that Allegiance would go on national tour.
It’s the same pattern as in 2012 when Takei made similar assertions before actually having the Broadway run confirmed.
I have no doubt Takei will once again make good on his promise.
Allegiance, while often selling out in San Diego, played to about 40 percent capacity on Broadway. According to Broadway World Asian Americans make up about 7 percent of the typical audience of a Broadway show. for Allegiance, it was closer to 40 percent.
Given that, one can see why Takei is optimistic. The show could certainly do well in cities with large Asian American populations such as San Diego. Interestingly, when I saw the show in San Diego, I was pleasantly surprised that the audience was predominantly White. Perhaps Allegiance is best suited for community theaters around the country.
Where ever it plays, I look forward to having an opportunity to see Allegiance again.