On Friday, Oct. 23, AABANY joined with the Asian American Arts Alliance, Association of Asian American Yale Alumni, Binghamton University Asian and Asian American Alumni Council, Cornell Asian Alumni Association, FF Fraternity, Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (NYC Chapter), Harvard Business School Asian American Alumni Association, Kollaboration New York, and Wellesley Asian Alumnae Alliance for a Night at the Theater to see the musical “Allegiance,” now in previews at the Longacre Theatre. By coincidence, that theater is the same one in which David Henry Hwang’s “Chinglish” played in 2011. AABANY arranged a theater outing for that show as well.

A total of 128 people from the 9 groups signed up for the group outing. The idea to include the Asian American alumni groups came from the spring excursion to see the Chinese American Exclusion/Inclusion exhibit at the New-York Historical Society. That outing, which took place over two weekends this past spring, also enjoyed a high level of participation.

Attendees gathered for a pre-show networking reception at Hurley’s Saloon, next door to the theater. Management at Hurley’s was kind enough to give us one long side of the bar for our group. Attendees were able to pick up their tickets and stay around for a bite or a drink before going next door to see the play.

The play received positive reviews from our group. The story was powerful and moving, the performances were stellar and the sets were visually stunning. It was great to see so much Asian American talent on stage and even better to see a play about the Asian American experience, something that is sorely lacking in mainstream culture today.

After the performance, our group stayed for a post-show talkback with the cast that included stars George Takei, Lea Salonga and Telly Leung. Their thoughtful and insightful remarks about the show and the history behind it capped off a wonderful night at the theater.

The show has been in previews since Oct. 6 and opens Nov. 8. Go see it!