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In today’s discourse, ‘ Star Trek’ alum George Takei hears echoes of his WWII internment
Best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman on the Starship Enterprise on the famed TV series “Star Trek,” frequent Chicago visitor George Takei is heading back to town this week to talk about something far more serious— and extremely close to his heart.
The actor and activist will be the featured speaker Thursday at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, for “An Evening with George Takei,” focusing on the forced imprisonment of his Japanese- American family in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“I do ‘ Star Trek’ conventions, and Chicago is a hotbed of ‘ Star Trek’ fandom,” Takei said with a laugh. “I have been there many, many times for that, but I also go to Chicago frequently onmy own. I go to catch a lot of plays, since I’m a big theater lover. ... Chicago is such a vibrant theater town. You do a lot of very imaginative, original theater there.”
His sold- out Athenaeum appearance is tied to “Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese- Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties,” an exhibition at the Alpha wood Gallery, 2401 N. Halsted. As a young child, Takei was incarcerated with his family after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the forced imprisonment of Japanese- Americans living on the West Coast.
Decades later, Takei made his Broadway debut in 2015 in his first musical, “Allegiance,” inspired by his wartime experiences. At the Athenaeum, brief selections from “Allegiance” will be performed by Chicago actors, arranged by Robert Ollis, the music director of Pride Films & Plays.
Even more than seven decades later, one can sense the quiet anger in Takei’s voice as he recalls being rounded up in 1942 and forced to live in an internment camp.
“We were Americans. My mother was born in Sacramento [ California], my father was a San Franciscan. They met and married in Los Angeles. My siblings and I were also born here. We were Americans, and yet, simply because of our ancestry we were summarily rounded up in the name of national security. Frankly, it was actually national insecurity that did that.”
Takei sees a strong connection to issues facing Muslim- Americans today. “You’d think we would have learned from that experience. But now today, another president signs another executive order with the same kind of sweeping characterizations of a whole group of people. This time Trump is using their faith to justify signing that order in the name of national security.”
One positive sign, the actor said, is that after Donald Trump ordered his Muslim travel ban, “massive numbers of people rushed to protest this— and supported the people trying to come into the country legally. I find that to be something of a silver lining to a very dark cloud— proof that America has changed. Seventy- five years ago there was nothing but hate and hysteria.”
‘ Chicago’ series stars raise funds to fight gun violence
As many as 30 actors from the hit NBC series “Chicago PD,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago Med” are planning to headline the second annual “Patrick Lives On” benefit beginning at 7 p. m. Saturday at Cinespace Film Studios, 2651W. 15th Pl.
La Royce Hawkins will host, joined by stars including Jon Seda, Jason Beghe, Monica Raymond, Patrick Fluger, Christian Stolte, Brian Tee, Nick Gehlfuss and Jesse Lee Soffer.
The evening will include performances by the various actors and actresses as they improvise, sing and dance.
The fundraiser will benefit “Patrick Lives On … To End Gun Violence,” an organization founded by Patricia Frontain, a script supervisor for “Chicago PD,” who created it in memory of her son. Then 14, Patrick Boswell was caught in rival gangs’ gunfire and tragically lost his life in Rosemont in January 2015. The Saturday event is being held on what would have been Patrick’s 17th birthday.
The funds raised at last year’s benefit already have had an impact, including providing scholarships for children to play football, attend summer camp, participate in gymnastics programs and receive education and trade training in Englewood and other innercity neighborhoods.