Beam us up, George: Takei to speak at U-M

The University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance has the unique opportunity to bring the teachings from their classrooms into a once-in-a-lifetime experience with activist and actor George Takei. Best known as Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, Takei has appeared in more than 40 feature films and countless television roles, and is a Grammy-nominated recording artist and New York Times bestselling author. He is also a civil rights activist bringing valuable attention to the LGBTQIA+ movement, and has, importantly, shed light on an underrecognized piece of American history: the forcible incarceration of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during WWII, where his own family spent three years during his childhood. Takei will speak Monday, April 1, to SMTD students about his internment camp experience and the Broadway musical that was inspired by it, "Allegiance. A second talk by Takei, which is free to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at the Power Center. The many interwoven connections that conspired to make this U-M engagement possible start with Takei and Lynne Shankel, an SMTD professor who worked as the music supervisor, arranger and orchestrator on "Allegiance. She was approached by the show's director and her longtime friend, Stafford Arima, to work on the show.