Allegiance NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,090)
See it if You love Lea Salonga and want to hear big, Broadway voices. If you want your heart to be broken over and over, but to laugh in between.
Don't see it if You're looking for a highly original score. The music is good, but not wonderful. The cast and story more than makes up for it.
See it if You want to learn about Japanese internment camps.
Don't see it if You want the same old thing in Broadway shows.
See it if you don't subscribe to the theater snobbery that gave this very important, heartfelt show a more tepid welcome than it should have received.
Don't see it if you wouldn't enjoy a sublime Lea Salonga, a heartrending George Takei, and a star-is-born turn by Telly Leung.
See it if See it for george takei and Lea Salonga and Tony Leung. The cast tackles a tough topic through love and music
Don't see it if if you dont want to admit that the US history includes internment camps
See it if You like history based plays. While none of the songs are really memorable---Lea Salonga (is great as always) & Telly Leung is amazing.
Don't see it if You don't like sad shows about real events. You want a "light" musical.
See it if Speaks of our unsettling past and, sadly, with dire similarities to our current events.
Don't see it if No reason not to. Need to see it.
See it if Great historical piece on a time often overlooked. Very relevant with today's American culture. Want to see an original story. Great staging
Don't see it if Can't look past a couple minor inconsistencies and a song or two that doesn't quite work. Need elaborate dance sequences.
See it if You want to see a broadway show that tells a story that we would never know without seeing this show. Heartfelt storyline.
Don't see it if You don't care about this subject matter.
Critic Reviews (82)
"'Allegiance' is not tiresomely noble. Nor does it waste its time pointing out the obvious injustice of what happened. Instead, it creates vivid drama from the conflicts in the Japanese American community…But a musical lives and dies by its songs. Many a show has a weak book but gets revived by a great score...The music and lyrics by Kuo while moving the plot forward are rarely good enough to stand out on their own."
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"The production is hampered by the mixed signals it sends out. Are we supposed to become involved by outrage at what was done to these innocent people, or entertained by the performance of traditional Broadway musical routines?...It isn't clear, actually, why 'Allegiance' needed to be a musical at all. Most of the songs fall into a numbing pattern...The show's final scene is extremely touching. It's too bad the show couldn't find, and sustain, a similar tone much earlier."
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"It’s a poignant and well-crafted story, with a title that operates on multiple levels. Here, allegiance refers to the loyalty we feel for country. And, obligations we have to family and friends. And finally, truths we live by as individuals—the determination to stand our ground when life sours. All these ideas are woven smartly into the often-stirring drama."
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"Director Stafford Arima takes us through all this handily with a semi-expressionistic approach to staging...There are times, though, when following the development of the play’s two love stories gets a little thorny and the actual sequencing of events seems a bit muddled. Despite this, I found enough genuine earnestness in the storytelling and enough artfulness and strength in its sometimes overwrought music to let this show win my allegiance."
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"Internment camps, racial discrimination and an atomic bomb blast are challenging topics to incorporate into a satisfying night of theater. The heavy-handed, cliche-driven 'Allegiance' tries to take on all three — but does so unsuccessfully in a bombastic and generic Broadway musical."
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"Based purely on the emotional resonance of its subject matter, the new musical 'Allegiance' demands attention...The production also features a top-notch cast, including George Takei, who is making his Broadway debut and whose presence adds a painful verity to the show. This actor, along with his family was placed in one of the internment camps. Given all of this, it feels churlish to carp about the shortcomings of 'Allegiance,' and at the same time, it also feels painfully necessary."
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"There are so many powerful, interesting, dynamic, heroic tales in 'Allegiance' that it is a shame the musical score bogs them all down...Most of the performances are top notch...A project with the best of intentions but, because it was made into a musical, was misguided from the get-go...With some heavy script doctoring, 'Allegiance' could have been a modern classic but as is, it is one big missed opportunity."
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"It's honest, earnest, and charming, and it manages to shed light on an ugly chapter in American history without being too pedantic on the one hand, or too flip on the other. It has some rough spots, sure, but they were hardly disruptive enough to keep me from rooting for its characters, connecting with its swiftly-paced plot, or surreptitiously swiping big fat tears from my eyes in the final moments."
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