A Honolulu doctor will be a name-above-the-title producer for "Allegiance," a new musical about heroism and heartbreak set against the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans.

The show, inspired by the real-life experiences of actor George Takei ("Star Trek"), is set to premiere Nov. 8 at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Takei heads the cast along with Tony Award winner Lea Salonga, who starred in "Miss Saigon" and "Les Miserables" on Broadway.

Dr. Mark Mugiishi, a surgeon at Central Medical Clinic and Kuakini Hospital, corralled 100 Hawaii-based investors for "Allegiance," each donating at least $25,000 to fund the $13 million production. Mugiishi said the Hawaii fundraising likely marks the first time a Broadway show has had such strong financial support from a Hawaii group.

"The show’s lyricist, Jay Kuo, was a songwriter and friend of mine and I believed in the story, told with music that touches the emotions," Mugiishi said.

His ‘Iolani School classmate from the 1970s, Chris Lee, who became a Hollywood film producer, helped make some key introductions for Mugiishi.

"We had a concept, a score, a raw story that we could only portray with singers in front of a microphone," he said of early "producers auditions" in front of potential check writers. "George and Lea came down to make pitches in front of potential investors, and even with the star power we only got one person (to commit) in the first round."

After seven years of pitches, and a world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 2012, Mugiishi said 100 finally signed on.

"But I think it’s an excellent time, now, to launch the show. There’s constant discussions of bigotry and intolerance all over social media and the mainstream media, and a venue like Broadway is the perfect way to tell a beautiful story about a family people can identify with," he said. "We don’t preach, but we bring out the moral … and I think a musical is far better than a play to get people to feel closer to the characters."

Lorenzo Thione, who also wrote the libretto with Marc Acito and Kuo, is lead producer along with Andrew Treagus, international worldwide tour producer for "Mamma Mia."

Takei calls "Allegiance" his "legacy project." In fact, "George Takei’s Legacy Project" is the title of a grassroots capital campaign for the production on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo.com (bit.ly/ 1DlsPvh). As of Wednesday, the project had received more than $315,000 from 17,700 donors.

"George is an incredible human being, with 9 million Facebook followers, and he puts humor, social causes, his battles against intolerance on his page," Mugiishi said. "He’s always fighting for the little guy, and it’s all sincere, not shibai. He’s passionately involved in the values of all human beings, and when we did the San Diego performance, he met the crowd after the show, shaking hands."

The cast will number about 15. Besides leading stars Takei and Salonga, the cast includes Chinese-American Telly Leung ("Glee," "Rent"), who will portray young Sammy, the brother of Salonga’s Keiko Kimura. Takei will appear as the elder Sammy as well as the grandfather in flashback sequences.

Casting calls will be held in New York and Toronto.