Hollywood got a lot of mileage out of World War II, spinning stories for decades after the last shot was fired. But those movies didn’t tell you everything. For one thing, few addressed the reality that the U.S. government rounded up American citizens of Japanese descent, took away their homes and property and consolidated them in camps.

Perhaps silence on the subject shouldn’t be surprising, for aversion to shame can be powerful. But playwright R.A. Shiomi has created a tremendously compelling drama that digs deeper into the lives of some of those Japanese-Americans and finds that there were among them war heroes with fascinating stories to tell.

Erik Ohno Dagoberg, from left, Clay Man Soo, Tony Larkin, Stephanie Anne Bertumen and Kendall Kent in the premiere of R.A. Shiomi’s “Secret Warriors” at History Theatre in St. Paul. The story of a group of Japanese-American soldiers who aided the U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific during World War II, the show runs through April 19, 2025. (Rick Spaulding / History Theatre)

“Secret Warriors” premiered this weekend at downtown St. Paul’s History Theatre in one of the most powerful productions in the company’s 47-year history. Serving as a timely exploration of what defines American-ness, it’s a captivating play that’s not only enlightening in the tales it unveils, but is richly entertaining as well, thanks to the efforts of director Lily Tung Crystal, an excellent nine-person cast and an imaginative design team.

You may not know that several key figures in World War II’s final battles in the Pacific and the island-by-island negotiations of Japan’s surrender were heroic young Japanese-American men who studied the language of their ancestors at a military base in Savage, Minn. The program later moved to Fort Snelling, and had graduated over 6,000 student soldiers by 1946.

Erik Ohno Dagoberg, from left, Tony Larkin and Paul LaNave in the premiere of R.A. Shiomi’s “Secret Warriors” at History Theatre in St. Paul. The story of a group of Japanese-American soldiers who aided the U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific during World War II, the show runs through April 19, 2025. (Rick Spaulding / History Theatre)

For “Secret Warriors,” Shiomi has created composites of several soldiers from the program, its focus swiftly turning to two: a shy California farm boy and a cocky street tough from Seattle. They become friends despite their differences and soon find love at Minneapolis U.S.O. dances, meeting the young women who help unspool the story as correspondents.

While the first act is an enjoyable and educational slice of life about these clearly conflicted soldiers — dedicated to the U.S. war effort while their families sit in internment camps — the play’s second half is a magnificent piece of theatrical storytelling. One of the two has become an instrument of peace as he negotiates hard-won surrenders, the other a clever daredevil on the frontlines. Erik Paulson’s set revolves as we go between them, the tensions of waging war and creating peace equally intense.

The production is propelled by two brilliant breakout performances from the central soldiers, each of them undergoing a fascinating transformation. Clay Man Soo brings subtle shadings to Koji as he blossoms into a brilliant diplomat, empathy his superpower, while Erik Ohno Dagoberg takes the American archetype of the snarky soldier in unexpected directions as Tamio.

While the whole cast is strong, Paul LaNave is a standout as the commanding officer who becomes a friend and ally, while Rich Remedios commands the stage in two incarnations as the soldiers’ hot-tempered instructor and the Japanese captain who engages in a battle of wits with Koji.

Kudos are also due the lighting of Wu Chen Khoo, Meghan Kent’s costumes and Kathy Maxwell’s video designs of wartime footage, which are projected onto a wall with a big circular hole in its center. Perhaps that design was intended to underline the idea that there might be a big hole in your understanding of how that war was won.

‘Secret Warriors’

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When: Through April 19

Where: History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St., St. Paul

Tickets: $64-$15, available at 651-292-4323 or historytheatre.com

Capsule: Enlightening and entertaining, it’s a landmark in History Theatre’s history.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

ST. LOUIS — The Twins kicked off their season on Thursday in St. Louis, falling 5-3 to the Cardinals on Opening Day. Things didn’t get much better over the weekend. They finished with three hits in Saturday’s game and got romped on Sunday, swept by the Cardinals to begin the season.

Here’s three takeaways from the Twins’ season-opening series:

The Twins’ preferred infield defense

Through the first three games, the Twins’ preferred infield configuration while Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee are both on the injured list has Willi Castro at second base and Jose Miranda at third along with Ty France at first and Carlos Correa at short.

While Castro can play almost anywhere, manager Rocco Baldelli seems to prefer his defense at second base, where he said he believes the utilityman has good chemistry with Correa.

Castro will see at-bats in other spots — he’s the only back-up shortstop option and the only other third base option currently, too — but when he’s at second and France at first, that limits the potential at-bats for Edouard Julien and Mickey Gasper. Gasper started one game during the series at DH and Julien came in late in Sunday’s blowout and did not see an at-bat in the series.

Bader seems to be in line to get plenty of at-bats

The Twins used the same lineup twice in their three-game opening series. That lineup had Harrison Bader in left field with Trevor Larnach serving as the team’s DH.

Bader was brought in this offseason as the team’s fourth outfielder. He’s a Gold Glove defender, winning the award in 2021, and will back up Byron Buxton in center field when he needs a day off. But it also seems apparent that he’ll get plenty of at-bats even when Buxton is in the lineup. Those, Baldelli said in spring, would likely come with him in left field.

With both corner outfielders — Larnach and Matt Wallner — left-handed hitters, many of those will come against lefties, but it seems as if a good number could come against righties, as well.

“That was the biggest thing coming into the new year and going through the free agency process: just finding, first and foremost, a competitive organization to play with and play for,” Bader said. “And beyond that, is to have an important role in that.”

Twins already in hole

The Twins aren’t panicking about three games, but it goes without saying: This wasn’t the way they were looking to start the year. There was plenty of hard contact in the series and not a ton to show for it offensively as the Twins finished the series in St. Louis with just six runs in three games.

“I don’t think anyone’s worried in this clubhouse,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “I think going into the game … we (led) MLB in exit velocity by like three-plus miles an hour and last in (batting average on balls in play). Like that does — that’s not sustainable.”

No, it isn’t.

Some bad luck and good Cardinals’ defense has surely played into it. Now, the Twins get to play the Chicago White Sox, the perfect team to get back on track against.

“We just have to stay true to what we know we’re trying to do at the plate,” Baldelli said. “We just need to keep having good at-bats, keep barreling balls up and things are going to work offensively. It was actually not a bad offensive display.”

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NEWARK, New Jersey – As promised, Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes skated his team with some gusto on Sunday morning in St. Paul before they boarded a plane bound for New Jersey. He was not at all pleased with several aspects of his team’s game in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Devils, and vowed to address some of the shortcomings at TRIA Rink before the team headed to MSP.

But the story on the ice quickly became what looked like the month’s first full-participant practice for injured forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. When forward Mats Zuccarello left the ice for a maintenance break, Kaprizov took his place in top-line rushes, providing a spark of hope that perhaps the offensive boost the Wild have needed so badly since Christmas might be coming sooner rather than later.

Hynes, ever the patient realist, made it clear that while the guys who wear 97 and 14 will make the trip to New York City for games versus the Devils, Rangers and Islanders this week, he still does not expect either of them to play, barring new information when Kaprizov visits with his New York doctor.

“I think it’s ‘where is he at now’ after his last checkup,” Hynes said, noting that both players were fully involved in practice, but have not yet faced any contact. “Now he’s done some things, and expanded, now where is he really at, and maybe that might give us a little more clarification.”

As for the disappointing night versus the Devils, the Wild get another crack at New Jersey on Monday, and took a long look at some of the things the coach didn’t like in their first meeting.

“We had a good video meeting this morning and just addressed some certain areas that we needed to tighten up,” Hynes said. “Some of it was detail things where we gave up some easy offense, which we don’t traditionally do.”

The Wild face the Devils at 6 p.m. CT at the Prudential Center in downtown Newark.

Gophers forward Connor Kurth signs with Lightning

When the Minnesota Gophers make their list of returning scorers for the 2025-26 season, it will reveal plenty of offensive opportunities available for the ambitious young skater who wants to wear maroon and gold.

On Friday and Saturday, four of the Gophers’ top five scorers from their 2025 Big Ten champion team signed pro contracts and departed college hockey early. On Sunday, it became a perfect five for five, as forward Connor Kurth inked an entry-level deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning and will forgo his final season of college eligibility.

Kurth, who is from Lindstrom, Minn., was picked by Tampa Bay in the sixth round of the 2022 NHL Draft and had attended development camp in Florida last summer. In 11 games as a Gopher, he had 32 goals and 39 assists, and put up career-best numbers last season after a hot start where he posted a dozen points in the first six games of his final college season.

While former Gophers Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel made their NHL debuts with the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, Kurth is expected to spend the rest of the season with Tampa Bay’s AHL team in Syracuse, N.Y.

Hynes still has Terrier pride

During his time as a student-athlete at Boston University, Hynes was teammates with Jay Pandolfo, who was an on-ice force for the Terriers on teams that qualified for the NCAA Frozen Four in every year of his college career, including a NCAA title win in 1995. After a lengthy NHL career, Pandolfo returned to his alma mater three years ago as head coach, and this weekend led them to their third consecutive Frozen Four trip.

Asked about his old teammate on Sunday, Hynes noted that Pandolfo has a perfect 10-0 record in regional play as a player and as a head coach.

“We have a really good friendship and he’s done a great job,” Hynes said. “Obviously he’s recruited really well, and his coaching has obviously been good…Obviouly that program is close to my heart, so the job he’s done and the leadership he’s provided has been exceptional.”

After semifinal losses to the Gophers in 2023 in Tampa and to Denver last season in St. Paul, the Terriers will look for Pandolfo’s first Frozen Four win in St. Louis when the 2025 tournament opens on Thursday, April 10.

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ST. LOUIS — There were an eerie number of similarities on Sunday to Bailey Ober’s first start of the 2024 season. Both starts came during the third game of the season, on a Sunday in the state of Missouri. And in each, Ober was rocked for eight runs.

If the rest of Ober’s upcoming turns out similar to last year’s campaign, it would lessen some of the sting of Sunday’s blowup outing.

Ober was behind from the get-go, issuing a pair of walks and a wild pitch in the first inning. The second inning started with a single, double and three-run home run and things really blew up in the third inning of the Twins’ 9-2 loss to St. Louis on Sunday at Busch Stadium.

After laboring through each of the first two innings, Ober allowed five straight hits to begin the third, the last of which was a Pedro Pagés three-run home run, the second of those he had given up in the game.

His day ended shortly after, when he made way for long reliever Randy Dobnak after just 2 2/3 innings pitched. In addition to struggling with location, Ober’s velocity was down, as it had been during spring training. That, he said this spring, was from working through kinks in his delivery as he tried to get his timing down.

Ober’s performance put the Twins in a hole from which they could not recover. The Twins got their first lead of the season in the first inning when Byron Buxton brought home Matt Wallner with a single to left, but it was short lived, lasting until just the bottom of the second.

Their only other run in the game came in the fourth inning when Willi Castro, off to a hot start at the plate, slugged a solo home run. The Twins finished with just five hits in the game, which was delayed by nearly an hour as a storm passed through the St. Louis area.

Dobnak, who came on in relief of Ober before the rain delay, continued on after, throwing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball and helping preserve the Twins’ bullpen.

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