MISSION HILLS : Actor Focuses on His Role as Son, Brother

As a Broadway actor, Alan Muraoka has taken on challenging roles, but none so tough as the real-life one he faces today--that of being the devoted son of a mother who is battling cancer.

But the 32-year-old thespian, for all appearances, will step up to the challenge with the same dedication and commitment that has carried him through a career that has had both rewards and frustrations.

Muraoka is the male lead in the national touring company that is bringing the hit Broadway musical “Miss Saigon” to various locations throughout the country. The actor received special permission from the company to fly back to Los Angeles from Detroit, where the show is currently playing.

He wanted to come home for the holidays. Back to Mission Hills, where he grew up, and back to his mother, Carol, who learned in August that her breast cancer, which had been in remission, had returned.

This Christmas, the Muraokas’ home served as a staging ground for a family trip to Las Vegas, where they spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The Muraokas decided on Vegas because it is a favorite vacation spot for Carol Muraoka, who loves to gamble. The family also thought Las Vegas would be a good place to hold a reunion in her honor.

They sent invitations to a Christmas Day banquet to family members and friends, and were surprised and delighted when 80 people accepted.

“She’s a special lady,” Muraoka said of his mother, who worked in a Toluca Lake day-care center for 37 years before retiring.

In July, Carol Muraoka and her husband, Victor, flew to New York to watch their son perform in “Miss Saigon,” the story of a tragic love affair between an American soldier and a Vietnamese girl during the fall of Saigon. Muraoka was the fourth actor to play the lead role of the Vietnamese engineer, who tries to use the girl to get to the United States.

“We were very happy and proud,” Victor Muraoka said.

The starring Broadway role capped a 10-year career that has included playing a secondary lead in the musical “Shogun” on Broadway, understudying the lead in the Tony Award-winning “M. Butterfly” on its national tour, and understudying a secondary lead in the musical version of “My Favorite Year” on Broadway.

Muraoka has also done television and film work. In his junior year at UCLA, he won a $1,000 scholarship, the Carol Burnett Musical Theater Award, for which he created and performed a comedic musical bit.

Despite his successes, the actor said the dearth of quality roles for Asian-American actors has caused him to rethink his future in acting.

“I’m looking at other career possibilities,” he said, but added: “If other roles like (“Miss Saigon”) come along, I could see myself continuing in this career.”

Such concerns were set aside during his short vacation, which ended when he flew back to Detroit on Tuesday. Instead, he had the opportunity to focus on his family, which includes his older siblings, David and Kathy.

“To me, it’s the true meaning of Christmas,” he said. “It’s love and family, and it’s remembering the good times and the possibilities of good times to come.”