‘Allegiance,’ a Musical History Lesson About Interned Japanese-Americans

“Allegiance,” a new musical about the internment of Japanese-Americans in camps during World War II, could be said to suffer from a problem of divided loyalties, and I’m not referring to its characters. The show wants to illuminate a dark passage in American history with complexity and honesty, but the first requirement of any Broadway musical is to entertain. While well-intentioned and polished, “Allegiance” struggles to balance both ambitions, and doesn’t always find an equilibrium. Following a brief prologue set many years after the central events, the musical, which opened at the Longacre Theater on Sunday and stars George Takei (of “Star Trek” immortality) and Lea Salonga (the Tony-winning star of “Miss Saigon”), begins just as the clouds of war are beginning to gather. The Kimura family, artichoke farmers in California, find their lives upended when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (we hear in voice-over the famous “date which will live in infamy” speech) and the United States enters the war.