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George Takei's Legacy Project

To Boldly Go: Allegiance on Broadway and the Japanese American National Museum

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George Takei's Legacy Project

George Takei's Legacy Project

George Takei's Legacy Project

George Takei's Legacy Project

George Takei's Legacy Project

To Boldly Go: Allegiance on Broadway and the Japanese American National Museum

To Boldly Go: Allegiance on Broadway and the Japanese American National Museum

To Boldly Go: Allegiance on Broadway and the Japanese American National Museum

To Boldly Go: Allegiance on Broadway and the Japanese American National Museum

George Takei
George Takei
George Takei
George Takei
1 Campaign |
Los Angeles, United States
$447,521 USD by 22,536 backers
$444,507 USD by 22,386 backers on May 20, 2015
Choose your Perk

George's Wall of Fame

$1 USD
1763 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$5 USD
3912 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$10 USD
3711 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$25 USD
2685 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$50 USD
881 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$100 USD
463 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$250 USD
42 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$500 USD
18 claimed

George's Wall of Fame

$1,000 USD
12 claimed

As a result of the generosity of our supporters, a donor has pledged a MATCHING GRANT in the amount of $26,200.  

Beginning, April 24, 2015, every dollar donated will be matched up to $26,200.

Starting today, your $5 is worth $10.  Your $50 is worth $100!

Why $26,200?

A marathon is 26.2 miles and requires persistence and determination to reach the finish line--Due to the outpouring of support, we have a new "finish line" and have set a campaign stretch goal of $525,600.

With your help, we have the incredible opportunity to do even more for the Japanese American National Museum.  

THANK YOU!

If you'd like to learn more about our campaign, we invite you to read this letter from "Uncle" George Takei below.

The Japanese American National Museum Legacy Project
Dear Friend, 

I was only a small child in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. But I still remember the gleam of rifle bayonets as two soldiers marched up our driveway and banged on our door, ordering us out of our Los Angeles home. I remember my mother’s tears as she tried to stay strong, even as we took only what we could carry. They herded us like cattle onto trains and shipped us over a thousand miles away to the swamps of Arkansas.

We lost everything: homes, businesses, savings, even beloved family pets. We languished for years behind barbed wire fences as prisoners held without charge, trial, or due process, all for the “crime” of looking like the enemy. It was an injustice of staggering proportions.

As an actor and an activist, it has been my life’s mission to tell the incredible story of the thousands of families who endured the Japanese American Internment during World War II. The upcoming Broadway musical Allegiance and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) are the intersection of my art and activism. Inspired by my life experiences and those of internees like me, the show celebrates the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. I consider it my Legacy Project, and I've come up with a way for the JANM to be a part of it. But I need your help.

The Story of Allegiance

Allegiance tells an epic, multi-generational tale about the Kimura family, in particular a brother and sister, Sammy (Glee's Telly Leung) and Kei (TONY-Award winner for Miss Saigon, Lea Salonga), whose bond is tested after they choose opposing paths to save their family. Their journeys take them from the rich California heartland, to the wind swept wastelands of Wyoming, to the battlefields of war-torn Europe.

Framed by an American war hero (played by me) recounting his family’s experience, Allegiance offers a rare and personal look into a time in our history when everyday citizens became heroes.

George Takei in AllegiancePhoto courtesy of Henry DiRocco

Allegiance is the reason I first took to the Internet, knowing that I’d need to build an audience for this untold story. Today, I am grateful to connect daily with millions of inspiring, funny, passionate individuals who prove what I have long known to be true - that our world is a better place when we all participate. I invite you to join me on a special endeavor to ensure that our vital work continues for generations to come.

The Dynamic Dollar

Typically, a show gets to Broadway with funding by a group of producers and investors. Allegiance’s producers have accepted my call to action for crowdfunding, with a minimum goal of $250,000, but with the potential for much more.

The contributions here  will be used to defray some of the costs of the Broadway production. And, if and when the Broadway production earns profits, it will forever contribute a share of those profits to the museum creating a source of funding for JANM in perpetuity. The higher the amount crowdfunded, the higher the percentage of profits that will be given to JANM, in a proportion equal to the profits that would have been earned by investing the same amount in the production.

Located in the heart of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, the JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. I am Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees and a founding member of the museum. It was here that I married my husband, the love of my life, Brad Takei.

The museum, Allegiance, and I share the same mission: to tell stories that educate and ensure that we never forget, and never repeat, the tragedy of the Japanese American internment. By giving today, your dollar is helping Allegiance get to Broadway this fall and helping create a new endowment for the museum, a permanent source of revenue for this wonderful institution.

The Power of One

Small things can have great impact. As we say in Allegiance, “A mountain can be moved, stone by stone.” While no contribution is too large, neither is any too small. Indeed, a single dollar is a meaningful gift when we give together for a common purpose.

Art, in any form, has the power to transform minds and hearts, and creates the possibility that fear and prejudice will cease to spark injustice. Everyone who contributes, regardless of amount, will have their name added to my virtual wall of fame on the show’s website, allegiancemusical.com.

If a contribution is not possible at this moment, your voice is still valuable. Take but a minute to share this campaign with your friends, using the power of social media, and show them that stories like this continue to matter.

You might be asking, “George, you’re a celebrity, why do you need my help?” I would never ask anyone to do something I would not do myself. I have already personally invested in the production, though I recognize our mission is bigger than any one person. Your participation is also your advocacy. It produces a Broadway show, creates an endowment for a museum, and brings us together as voices for justice and change. It is the best of all possible worlds, a legacy you help me pass on. This torch I have carried, I now pass to all of you.

I hope you will be inspired to support and share this campaign. Together, we can do this. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

--  "Uncle" George Takei


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