Allegiance NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,090)
See it if You want to see a cautionary tale of what America can happen today
Don't see it if If you are disturbed easily
See it if Would like to know more about this shameful time in history and you love a good story with wonderful performances. It leaves you thoughtful
Don't see it if You don't care about history and don't enjoy musicals.
See it if You love history, are interest in civil liberties, enjoy musicals with interesting scores
Don't see it if You are bringing young children, want a comedy
See it if You want to see George Takei, Lea Salonga & Telly Leung perform live on a Broadway stage to tell this important American story.
Don't see it if You can't handle live theatre with dark or depressing subject matter.
See it if Love a good musical with an interesting twist. Great for history buffs too!
Don't see it if You are politically close minded. But hey, maybe you should and it will open you up a bit!
See it if you love touching stories based on true life. music is fantastic and acting is superb.
Don't see it if your not in the mood to cry
See it if I think everyone should see this show. The acting, content and music are all wonderful, it illuminates an important part of our history.
Don't see it if You are only interested in entertainment without thought-provoking content.
See it if You want to be deeply moved by an american story based on a piece of American history many would like to ignore.
Don't see it if you are looking for amazing music or dialogue. Read more
Critic Reviews (82)
"Directed in workmanlike fashion by Stafford Arima, 'Allegiance' has a complicated story to unfold and to humanize. It does a reasonable job of providing a nuanced view of events, the occasional swerve into melodrama notwithstanding…The authors, feeling the responsibility of illuminating this shameful chapter in American history, pack the show with so much incident and information that 'Allegiance' often feels more like a history lesson than a musical."
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"If only the creative team behind 'Allegiance' could have worked such gentle magic with the raw and painful material of history. This well-intentioned but mawkish musical about a family interned after Pearl Harbor tries to balance romance, humor and tragedy, but crumples things badly…There’s a complex tale of honor, shame and assimilation here, but it’s been stretched out to cartoonish billboard size."
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"Whenever the authors find ways to dramatize the stark humiliations suffered by people who were, after all, loyal citizens of the United States, 'Allegiance' is momentarily effective…But too much of the show is devoted to far-fetched plot twists whose attempts to gin up excitement…'Allegiance' is so overmusicalized that the book feels anemic. And though often pretty too many of those songs sound too much alike as they reach for grandeur but get stuck at glue."
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"It is of no artistic value whatsoever, save as an object lesson in how to write a really bad Broadway musical. 'Allegiance' is peopled with characters made of solid cardboard. The Japanese-Americans are all noble and true, the Caucasians yawping apes save for a bosomy blonde nurse from Nebraska who—stop press—falls for an internee!...The cast is mostly very fine, especially Mr. Takei and the marvelous Lea Salonga…But the show itself is a dud—and a missed opportunity. "
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"A somewhat ungainly musical that has moments of beauty and passion, as well as a complexity of themes that are not the usual stuff of Broadway shows…Less successful are the staging by Stafford Arima and the dancing by Andrew Palermo, which have the virtue of avoiding Asian cliché but also fail, like the songs, to give the show wings...It’s a triumph of a rare sort, shedding light in a dark corner of our history with uncommon generosity of spirit."
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"There’s noble and meaty material here. But the storytelling has issues. The production, directed by Stafford Arima, is a jumble — super-serious here, airy musical-comedy there. Kuo’s score careens from grand pop opera anthems to earnest but trivial self-help filler songs...'Allegiance' also wants to make a significant statement. But it’s too tangled to say very much."
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"The strength of 'Allegiance' is in the story. Not the musical’s book, which is no more than serviceable, but the disturbing real-life events behind it…Authentic moments are few and fleeting, overwhelmed by standard love songs...In their sincere efforts to 'humanize' their complex historical material, the creatives have oversimplified and reduced it to generic themes...It must be said that the production values are quite high. The design of the show is highly stylized, but in a meaningful way."
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"The powerful sentiments involved are too often flattened by the pedestrian lyrics and unmemorable melodies, making an unconvincing case for this material's suitability to be a musical…The songs and their platitudinous lyrics lack personality, despite the best efforts of the talented performers…The most moving work comes from Takei...His deep personal association to the material and evidence of a generous spirit of forgiveness are among the show's strengths."
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