Ganymede Ganymede
Dec 8, 2017, 5:59 PM

@roz

I guess, were I to put my finger on one thing that critics seemed to hook onto, it would be exemplified in this article from the Village Voice.

Allegiance faced a huge struggle in trying to pair its somber historical truths with its essentially cheery escapist form. In the end, that slippage was more visible to audiences than either the history or the good cheer. Onstage, internment camp life often seemed sparklingly clean and jolly, despite dialogue cues to the contrary; dramatic conflicts tended to crop up arbitrarily, in lumpy patches, with a particularly unwieldy lump shoved in all too hurriedly at the end. These were the honest mistakes of honest craftsmen striving to say something that mattered deeply to them. But on Broadway you pay for your mistakes, honest or otherwise, at the box office.

While every word is probably true, what Allegiance's detractors do not highlight is how this "slippage" was more-than-likely not a "mistake" by an honest craftsman but a deliberate demonstration of the confusion faced by Japanese Americans who were, by and large, loyal to American ideas. To me, there were no arbitrary dramatic conflicts: I understood the reasons for every single one. And, in my opinion, it is important for a critic to understand, appreciate, and even, at times, explain what might seem to be inexplicable to the reader.

(I am at once reminded at how my partner and I had to explain the "plot" in Cats to an elderly couple from Pittsburgh sitting behind us this summer seeing that show.)

If there is a problem with the book or story, it is probably that too much is expected of the audience when it comes to understanding the familial context from which the stories arise. Does the audience understand why the grandfather's fighting for Japan in the past is important? Or why the father's moving to the United States is important to know? These are cultural cues which are not explained, but which mean so very much when breaking down the final 10 minutes of the show.

And, damn, if I wasn't openly crying when Takei did so.

So, we are at loggerheads. I saw a fantastic show. I think this is what is so very lovely about musical theatre, personally.