George Takei's Allegiance
Actor & activist George Takei ‘lights up the stage’ (Daily Telegraph) in this ‘beautiful, deeply moving’ (Sunday Express) UK premiere of the uplifting Broadway Musical inspired by his true life experience. 

Allegiance is the ‘hard to resist’ (The Times) story of the Kimura family and their struggles in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In this ‘rousing piece of musical theatre’ (WhatsOnStage), Allegiance reveals the courage and loyalty of a family in a time of great injustice as 120,000 Japanese Americans are forced into internment camps; testing the power and resilience of the human spirit in this ‘gripping and surprisingly uplifting’ (AllThatDazzles) musical. 

Telly Leung holds the audience ‘spellbound’ (TheatreMonkey) as Sam Kimura, who believes enlisting is the only way to demonstrate his patriotism and win the freedom of his people. His sister Kei - played by the ‘exceptionally talented’ (The Stage) Aynrand Ferrer - sides against him and joins the resistance movement in the camp. Soon the political conflict is mirrored within the family, leading brother and sister down starkly different paths as they are forced to decide where their allegiance lies. 

***** ‘Allegiance sets the bar for 2023 theatre ridiculously high’ (All that Dazzles) 

With a score by Jay Kuo and  a book by Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione and Jay Kuo, George Takei's Allegiance held its world premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre in 2012, setting box office records. After a triumphant run on Broadway and a subsequent film seen around the world, Allegiance transfers to London for its European premiere in a newly conceived production directed and choreographed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson, playing at Charing Cross Theatre until 8 April 2023.

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Stiletto

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Stiletto
In Italy during the 18th century, an average of 5,000 boys were castrated annually. Almost exclusively, they came from poor families. Their treble voices intact, castration promised those who survived a chance to earn fame and fortune by singing female roles in the opera. A few made it, but most didn’t and were swept aside.

Stiletto, a new musical with Music and Lyrics by three-time Grammy nominee, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Matthew Wilder (Disney’s Mulan), Book by double Olivier Award nominee Tim Luscombe (Noël Coward’s Easy Virtue, Terrence Rattigan’s The Browning Version and Harlequinade), is set in Venice, Europe’s opera capital.

During the winter of 1730-31, Venice is a city bristling with opportunity where fortunes can be made but life is cheap. A city of lustre and intrigue with plenty of chances of success for Marco, who was castrated as a child to retain his perfect voice. Opera stars being the rock stars of their day, Marco is on course to be an 18th-century Jagger or Bowie, to snag a powerful patron and play leading roles.

In a busy square he meets Gioia, confident, strong willed...and supremely talented. But despite her musical gifts, being the daughter of an African slave, there’s no chance for her to fulfil her dreams. Marco recognises her talent and, sensing that they are both outsiders as well as sharing a love for music, they fall in love.

In an attempt to get her on stage, Marco introduces Gioia to society and his patron, the Contessa Azzurra, but at the end of the evening, a body lies dead and Gioia is hauled off to prison. To free her, Marco must overcome the demons of his past and the morally corrupt forces of the present.


Creatives:
Music & Lyrics: Matthew Wilder
Book: Tim Luscombe
Director: David Gilmore
Staging Consultant: Anthony Van Laast
Musical Director: Jae Alexander
Orchestrator: Simon Nathan
Set Designer: Ceci Calf
Costume Designer: Anna Kelsey
Lighting Designer: Ben Ormerod   
Sound Designer: Andrew Johnson
Casting: Neil Rutherford
Executive Producer: Guy Kitchenn
Produced by Patrick Bywalski for the Robert Stigwood Organisation and Steven M. Levy for Charing Cross Theatre Productions Limited.
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