Star Trek

[Buster's Uncle]

TrekCore at the Smithsonian: Nacelle Troubles

[Buster's Uncle]

George Takei's musical 'Allegiance' finally gets to Broadway
Associated Press
By MARK KENNEDY  February 5, 2015 2:39 PM



In this Jan. 31, 2014 file photo, actor George Takei attends "Howard Stern's Birthday Bash" in New York. Takei is boldly going to Broadway _ the "Star Trek" star’s personal and heartfelt show about Japanese-Americans behind bars during World War II has found a spot on the Great White Way this fall. Takei is boldly going to Broadway _ the "Star Trek" star’s personal and heartfelt show about Japanese-Americans behind bars during World War II has found a spot on the Great White Way this fall. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)



NEW YORK (AP) — George Takei is next boldly going somewhere special — to Broadway.

The "Star Trek" star's personal and heartfelt show about Japanese-Americans imprisoned during World War II has found a spot on the Great White Way this fall with him in a starring role.

"It is absolutely thrilling," Takei, who helped turn his childhood memories in an internment camp into the new musical "Allegiance," told The Associated Press. "I consider this production my legacy project."

"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 camp. Previews are set to begin on Oct. 6 at a Shubert Theatre still to be announced.

It will mark the first Asian-led cast of a musical on Broadway in more than a decade, since "Flower Drum Song." David Henry Hwang's play "Chinglish," with a predominantly Asian cast, played 109 total performances in 2011-12.

"Allegiance" features music and lyrics by Jay Kuo — which blends Big Band sounds with Japanese folk melodies and brassy Broadway numbers — and a book by Marc Acito, Kuo and Lorenzo Thione. It is being directed by Stafford Arima, who directed "Carrie" and "Altar Boyz" off-Broadway and whose own father was interned in Canada during the war, a dark chapter in American history that not everyone knows.

"I'm always shocked by the number of people I consider to be well informed who, when I tell them about my childhood and growing up behind barbed-wire fences, they are aghast and shocked. They'd never heard of it," Takei said.

The show had a sold-out premiere in 2012 at the Old Globe in San Diego, starring Takei, Lea Salonga and Telly Leung. So far, only Takei has signed on for the Broadway run but he said "we are working to recreate that." The producers are Thione and Andrew Treagus.

Takei was 5 years old when soldiers marched onto his front porch with bayonets in May 1942 and ordered his entire family to leave their Los Angeles home. His school days began with him reciting "The Pledge of Allegiance" but he could see the barbed wire and sentry towers through his school room window.

It would be nearly four years until the family was able to return to Los Angeles, penniless and forced to start over on Skid Row. His parents "worked their fingers to the bones and got us back on our feet," Takei said. They went on to buy a three-bedroom house and send all three of their children to good universities.

"I owe so much to my parents, and, in many ways, this production is my tribute to them. It's a kind of lifetime of gratitude coming to fruition," said Takei, who would earn fame as Sulu aboard the USS Enterprise. "It's a very, very personal project."

Takei said he believed his musical will be the first Broadway show to investigate the internment of Japanese-Americans and pointed to other great musicals that tackle tough moments in history, including "Les Miserables" and "Cabaret." At the heart of "Allegiance" is the importance of family, he said and that's something "everyone can identify with."

Finding a Broadway berth has taken years, partly due to the complicated logistics of traditional theater booking and partly because the subject is a mostly unknown chapter of American history.

"All the Broadway theaters had been booked up and there was a long line of productions waiting for the next vacancy. So we just had to get in line and vamp our time," he said. "It is very, very frustrating and anxiety-ridden. We're absolutely thrilled that we're at this point now. 2015 is going to be the year of 'Allegiance.'"

A bottom-up, grass roots effort to land it a home in New York has included leveraging fans of Takei — a wry social media magnet known for his catchphrase "Oh, My!" — as well as a Facebook campaign with more than 530,000 likes, and an unprecedented offer for theatergoers to reserve a seat for the show before it had gotten a theater.

___

Online: http://www.allegiancemusical.com

http://news.yahoo.com/george-takeis-musical-allegiance-finally-gets-broadway-170315171.html

[Flux]

No matter how serious these are, the dancing Spock at the end kills the seriousness.

[Buster's Uncle]

Spock didn't grow up in a concentration camp.

[Valka]

I saw a clip of this play on YouTube. I'd go to see it in a theatre.

[Rusty Edge]

This made me laugh today.

[Buster's Uncle]

Simpsons Star Trek inspired closing credits

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]

The Klingon Mek'leth - How practical is it?

[Rusty Edge]

Well, did he say it wasn't very practical? I normally compute without sound.

Being a former boomerang guy, it looks like a throwing weapon to me. That would be the reason for the lack of a proper grip, or a point for thrusting.

[Buster's Uncle]

He said he wished it had more of a point for thrusting, but was surprisingly workable.  The shortness and the end-heaviness makes for a workable close-in hacking blade, although the wrapping on the grip was pathetic.  I expected him to complain of the possibility of the hand slipping and getting cut, be he did not.

He mentioned that doesn't find bat'leths much use as weapons, though.

[Unorthodox]

Being a former boomerang guy, it looks like a throwing weapon to me. That would be the reason for the lack of a proper grip, or a point for thrusting.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

George Takei Disses William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy

[Buster's Uncle]

[Mart]

I do not know, if someone mentioned it here already, but apart from movies, tv series, animation, there are comic books of star trek. And they can also be quite expensive - these old ones, golden key issues. However, they happened to collect many of them in electronic version, and as they say, all commic book issues (with annuals) from 1967 to 2002 are on one DVD. This is like around 6 Gb of scanned into pdf format comic books.
Some people say, they regretted doing so - issuing it for so low price, as all of it is for $50 still, and I just checked on amazon and ebay:
 http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Complete-Comic-Collection/dp/B001B5KYR2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425938337&sr=8-1&keywords=Star+Trek%3A+The+Complete+Comic+Book+Collection
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAR-TREK-Comic-Book-COMPLETE-Collection-DVD-Rom-FREE-US-Shipping-/380711635969?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58a42e8c01

This is not the same as reading printed hard copy, but when considering, that especially these issues of gold key series can reach prices like $10-20 or more for a single issue! then having possibility to read all of them for this price is really a steal. As for me, I would probably never get all of these 61 gold key issues otherwise. And when comparing them with more recent comic books, there is something in those old stories, that they are so much better in my view.

I thought, it would be interesting for star trek fans, who haven't heard about these digital comic book issues.