When Does "Allegiance" (2009) Take Place?
"Allegiance" is a historical fiction stage musical written by Marc Acito with Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione that released July 13th, 2009. So when is "Allegiance" set?
It takes place in the years:
We know this because very early in the main action, between the second and third songs, the Kimura family listen to the famous address from the real-world United States of America President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who served from 1933 AD to 1945 AD) announcing the famous and tragic attack by Japan’s royal air force on the United States of America’s Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. The Pearl Harbor attack occurred on December 7th, 1941 AD in the real world. So it starts in 1941 AD.
1941 AD - 1943 AD
We know this because very early in the main action, between the second and third songs, the Kimura family listen to the famous address from the real-world United States of America President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who served from 1933 AD to 1945 AD) announcing the famous and tragic attack by Japan’s royal air force on the United States of America’s Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. The Pearl Harbor attack occurred on December 7th, 1941 AD in the real world. So it starts in 1941 AD.
During the third song, "Do Not Fight the Storm", the audience sees the beginning of the United States of America's illegal forced internment of 120,000 Japanese-American citizens from across the Western USA. This processes started on February 19th, 1942 AD so it's February of 1942 AD at this point.
The infamous loyalty questionnaire given to the interned Japanese-Americans halfway through the show first appeared in early 1943 AD in the real world.
Additionally, there's a short prologue showing Sam "Sammy" Kimura .
A fuller production was mounted in San Diego in 2012, then it debuted on Broadway in 2015, new productions went up in Los Angeles in 2018, and London in 2023.
