'Star Trek' star to host 'An Evening with George Takei' in Ann Arbor

On April 1, activist and "Star Trek" actor George Takei will speak to the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre and Dance about his time in an internment camp as a child and the Broadway musical, "Allegiance," which was inspired by his experience.

Best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the science fiction cult-classic television series, Takei has appeared in more than 40 feature films and countless television roles. He also went on to become a Grammy-nominated recording artist, a New York Times bestselling author and a civil rights activist for the LGBTQIA+ movement and Japanese-Americans.

Takei has helped to shed light on the forcible incarceration of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II − a piece of American history that was swept under the rug for decades − by sharing the experience that he and his family had in an internment camp for three years of his childhood.

"Musical theater is a living thing and I think that sometimes we can address things in theater that are difficult to address in real life," said Lynne Shankel, a UM School of Music, Theatre and Dance professor who worked as the music supervisor, arranger and orchestrator on "Allegiance" and was able to connect the school to Takei. "Through acting and song and dance, we can kind of find our way to people's hearts in a way that is hard to do when you're just reading the newspaper with horrible headline after horrible headline."

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A second talk by Takei that is free and open to the public, titled "An Evening with George Takei," will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2. Tickets can be reserved here.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Star Trek' star George Takei to speak in Ann Arbor