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George Takei, Lorenzo Thione, and Wendy Gillespie were the guests. They are the creators of the theater production “Allegiance: A New American Musical,” which had its world premiere here in San Diego at the Old Globe Theater in the fall of 2012 and is in negotiations to take its poignant story line to Broadway.
George Takei found fame in the 1960s with his role on Star Trek as Mr. Sulu. While the show only ran for three seasons, its impact on American Pop-culture has had lasting effect. Mr. Takei’s acting career has spanned more than five decades, and he is recognized by many because of his deep resonating and commanding voice. In the musical, “Allegiance: A New American Musical,” he plays the role of Sam Kimura, who is an elderly, decorated World War II veteran who lives alone, isolated from his family.
Lorenzo Thione is one of the writers of the play. The idea for the plot germinated from a meeting with George Takei back in 2008, where Mr. Takei shared his experiences as child in the Japanese Internment Camps that were set up during World War II to house over 120,000 Japanese-American citizens. Being a longtime community activist, Mr. Thione desired to bring awareness to these unjust, but little known actions of the American government during times of war and public panic.
Ms. Gillespie created Starhawk Productions as a DBA of Frontier Trading, a company that she started in 1989. Frontier has been a very successful exporter and distributor of grocery products in Mexico and Latin America for over 20 years. Me. Gillespie began to invest and produce in Broadway after meeting the Allegiance team in 2009.
Born in England, Ms. Gillespie has since become a naturalized citizen, and become involved in community activities beyond the theater. Many of the boards that she participates on focus on international business. She also is involved with Junior Achievement in K-12 helping youth achieve financial literacy.
In addition to Mr. Takei’s memorable roles and voice, he has been dubbed the “King of Facebook” because currently he has over 3.2 million followers. Many followers are gaining new information about “Allegiance: A New American Musical” and its progression towards the stages of Broadway. For more information, or to help this powerful storyline reach more audiences, please contact Wendy Gillespie at wendy@wendygillespie.com.
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