By Audrey Forbes
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — Actor and social justice activist George Takei will visit the University of Central Arkansas for a public lecture on Thursday, Oct. 27.
The 7:30 p.m. lecture will be in Reynolds Performance Hall.
Amanda Horton, director of Reynolds, said Takei would speak about his time in an Arkansas internment camp during World War II, which he considers a formative experience in his life. He will also share stories about his career in entertainment, role in pop culture and passion for equality.
Takei is best known for his portrayal of Hikaru Sulu in the acclaimed television series “Star Trek.” His acting career spans five decades as he has appeared in more than 40 feature films and hundreds of television guest roles.
Originally from Los Angeles, Takei and his family were placed in an internment camp along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans with the onset of World War II. Takei spent most of his childhood in Camp Rohwer in southeast Arkansas and Camp Tule Lake in California. After the war, Takei and his family returned to Los Angeles.
“[Takei] will talk about this important piece of Arkansas history and how it impacted his life,” Horton said.
Inspired by this chapter of history, Takei developed the musical “Allegiance.” The award-winning musical enjoyed a Broadway run in 2015-2016, which prevented Takei from visiting UCA last year as planned when the university commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Arkansas Japanese internment camps.
Mashable.com named Takei the most influential person on Facebook in 2012, and Cosmopolitan magazine named him one of the internet’s 50 most fascinating people in 2015. In 2013, Takei won the Shorty Award for Distinguished Achievement in Internet Culture.
Tickets are $15 for the general public, $5 for UCA faculty and staff and free for UCA students with current I.D. For tickets, call UCA Ticket Central at (501) 450-3265 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday or toll free from anywhere in Arkansas at 1-866-810-0012, or visit www.uca.edu/reynolds.
For additional information, contact Horton at 501-450-3682 or ahorton@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Music, and Film, Theatre and Creative Writing, as well as the School of Communication. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
