San Diego theatergoers very nearly missed 23-year-old Daniel Robinson’s Will Parker, a character Robinson describes as “kind of a dumb, jockish cowboy who’s in love with a girl who can’t say no.”

The girl in question, who sings “I’m Just a Girl Who Cain’t Say No,” would be Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s groundbreaking 1943 musical. Robinson has been praised on tour for his “winning, clodhopper style.”

The reason we almost missed Robinson is that his clodhoppers landed wrong, and he pulled a tendon in his foot.

”I’ve had many other injuries,” he said on the phone from his Oregon home, “but this is the first time my body’s actually said, ‘Okay, it’s time for you to chill out. You’ve been pushing yourself way too hard.’”

Robinson, who’s been a year on the road in Oklahoma! assured the Gay & Lesbian Times that his tendon would be healed in time to pick up his dancing, singing (“Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City”), rope-twirling, comedy part when Oklahoma! opens Jan. 11 at the Civic Theatre.

Will Parker is a naïve yokel who leaves the prairie for the big city and returns all agog over what he saw. Robinson elucidates: “Will gets to Kansas City and sees all these different things, buildings that are high and skyscrapers that are high, and the burly q [burlesque], and you know, with all the women. Then he comes back and sings a song about it, showing the dance moves he learned in the street.”

Robinson was raised in Hillsboro, Ore. “I grew up with my mother, a single mom, and began acting at a very young age at different community and professional theaters,” he said. “I did little, small, bit parts. I came out of the closet when I was 14. I got actually more heavily into the theater scene, because it was kind of my escape.”

He took interest in dance and received a dance scholarship to Beaverton (Ore.) Arts and Communications High School. Then he attended the University of Arizona and AMDA, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. There he received the vocal training that makes him a triple threat, headed, he hopes, to Broadway.

On being out at 14, Robinson said, “Oh, wow. It was definitely difficult, one of those things where people my age didn’t know, really, what it was. I did. I knew a lot about myself at 14. I knew what I wanted, and I knew who I was, and I wasn’t afraid to tell people. If they had a problem with it, I just kinda like didn’t make it a big deal. I was, like, you know, ‘You can accept it or you can’t; it’s not something I would rub in your face. And it’s not something where I’m going to wear rainbow shirts and wave rainbow flags. I’m just gonna be me and if you have a problem, you can just hit the road because I’m not prepared to deal with it.’”

Robinson’s attitude earned him a lot of respect in high school, where he became part of the Gay Lesbian Transgender Alliance, which bloomed through the two years he was involved. “It became more people just being people. It was a kind of diversity meeting.” Robinson credits his mom for being his advocate. “She was always there on my side. She’s a great mom.”

He loves performing in Oklahoma! “It’s a great show for people to see and a great show to do. It’s the backbone of musical theater. Audiences love it. People know everything. They even sing along.”

No wonder. In addition to the aforementioned “Kansas City” and “I Cain’t Say No,” the song list includes “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” “People Will Say We’re in Love,” “Out of My Dreams,” “The Farmer and the Cowman,” “Pore [sic] Jud Is Dead,” and the incredible, show-stopping, steam-rolling “Oklahoma!” This song is so popular that it became the state’s anthem.

Oklahoma! is based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play titled Green Grow the Lilacs. After a tryout in New Haven, Oklahoma! opened on Broadway in March 1943, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and choreographed by a then unknown named Agnes de Mille. It played a then-unprecedented 2,212 performances and the first national tour endured for 10 and a half years, playing before audiences in every state, which amounted to more than 10 million people.

Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones portrayed the romantically involved though reluctant Curley and Laurie in the 1955 film version of Oklahoma! Major revivals were produced on Broadway, in London’s West End and across Australia. In fact, there have been more than 30,000 productions, and still the popularity of this classic musical continues. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatre Library licenses an average of 600 productions annually. During 1992-93, the 50th anniversary year, there were more than 900 productions, and a commemorative U.S. postage stamp was issued.

The touring production to be seen in San Diego is adapted from Sir Cameron Macintosh’s 1998 production staged by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Susan Stroman for the Royal National Theatre of London.

Oklahoma! is on stage at the San Diego Civic Theatre from Jan. 11-16. Showtimes: Tue.-Wed. 7:30 p.m.; Fri. 8:00 p.m.; Sat. 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sun. 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. For ticket information please visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the Civic Theatre’s website or call Ticketmaster at (619) 570-1100.