In a most unfortunate set of circumstances, the musical Allegiance, which stars Star Trek hero George Takei, will close on February 14. The production that centered around Takei's childhood experiences in the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II will close on Broadway as a commercial flop.
The show's final performance will take place at the Longacre Theatre in February, which will conclude an engagement of 37 previews and only 113 regular performances. Despite Takei's rising presence as an LGBTQ icon, the production fell short of its goal.
It is perhaps due in part to the annual winter chill that afflicts most productions during this time of year. Last year, Sting's The Last Ship hit a low-point during a similar period in which ticket sales stalled and interest in the production dwindled.
The musicals producing team, Sing Out, Louise! Productions and ATA, said in a statement:
"By its last performance, Allegiance will have been seen on Broadway by approximately 120,000 people, a number that eerily echoes the number of Japanese-Americans who were directly impacted by the events that inspired our musical, and whose rights were trampled in the name of pure fear and intolerance."
Written by Marc Acito, Jay Ku and Lorenzo Thione and directed by Stafford Arima, the musical was a retelling of Asian-American perseverance during an irreverent time in the U.S.'s history. During WWII, the building anxiety against Japanese-Americans reached a breaking point and forced millions into internment camps nearing the end of the war.
Perhaps the lackluster success of Allegiance can be chocked up to its competitors--just down the road the Lin-Manuel Miranda production, Hamilton, has become so popular that it's had to resort to a lottery just to give everyone a chance at getting inside to see a performance.
Since its opening on November 8, Allegiance has struggled to build audiences and has been averaging about 60 percent capacity.
A tragic closing to a most astounding production, it will be said to see Allegiance go.
Buy your tickets before it closes now and preview a clip of a performance from the show below.
