10. GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE March 3, 2000

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Mister Saigon

by Michelle Tomko

Cleveland-Well, it's back. With seventeen truckloads of M-16s, 450 costumes, a 300-pound Ho Chi Minh statue and, of course, that blasted helicopter.

Playing through March 12 at the Allen Theatre is that mega-spectacle that technically gives you the impression of an Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster as opposed to a musical, Miss Saigon.

But after the smoke clears, it is a musical, full of chorus boys. This writer spoke with one, openly gay actor Niall Yoshizumi, while the tour was in Arizona.

"Surprisingly, this is the only Asian role I've had." said the Japanese actor, who has been with the production one way or another for three years.

He now resides in San Francisco. But when asked about what it's like being on tour for so long, he said, "Essentially, we're homeless."

The cast members only get about three days off a month. But Yoshizumi, who is single, says, "I wasn't a person who goes out a lot. It's a great tour, there's a sense of community."

Niall Yoshizumi

Right now, he is a member of the chorus and he understudies the "Engineer," whom he gets to play about once a month. He will be in that role this weekend.

"I have no desire to not do musicals," he added "There's something about singing onstage."

When asked about the specific demands of this show Yoshizumi remarked, "There are only two scenes that the chorus is not in. I cut my head open two cities ago. It's a zero tolerance set. Set pieces come within a few inches of each other."

Yoshizumi did play a gay character back in 1984 in March of the Falsettos. “The play is mostly about gay Jews. I was the first nonwhite to play the role. The fear was about diversity on the stage. I'm all for non-traditional casting."

Now 37, Yoshizumi grew up in Fresno, Calif., where he came out to his parents when he was thirteen. "It was hard for them," he said

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Yoshizumi did admit that he, along with other members of the cast, have had relationships at some of their tour stops. The term he used was "serial dating."

When asked how he handles issues of homophobia and racism, he said his course of action has changed since he has gotten older.

"When ] was younger, I just tried to keep moving without questioning. The time has come for us to fight back." But Yoshizumi also says you have to know if it was "racist ignorance," or if the person had "malicious intent."

Asked about gay marriage, Yoshizumi said that it is a subject that "got forced to the forefront too early. Conformity has us blending in with the boy next door, aligning ourselves to an institution we are not a part of. We're fighting for the choice, not the actual act."

Don't expect to see anything about the dreaded "don't ask, don't tell" policy in this military musical. Although there are no gay themes, Yoshizumi says that there are “universal themes" that anyone can relate to.

"It's a love story," he noted. "It's really about a mother's love for her child. I'm still taken aback at how beautiful the show is."

When asked if there were any others queers in the 43-person cast, Yoshizumi said laughingly, "I'm not the only one. You'll just have to come see the show and figure it out.” ▼

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