For three seasons, the enormously popular comedy web series MY GAY ROOMMATE has won an incredible following among young adults, Broadway fans and the LGBT community. The show, now streaming on Youtube (see link below) stars Noam Ash (who also created MY GAY ROOMMATE) as Nick Cohen, a gay college student whose on-campus life is made even more interesting – and humorous – when he shares his dorm with a straight collegian.
Having won both gay and straight fans alike, and having achieved significant critical praise, MY GAY ROOMMATE now takes its boldest creative step yet as it prepares to launch a new sitcom-length version of the series. This half hour, single camera version of MGR has successfully achieved funding via Kickstarter, (see link below), with production soon to begin on the pilot, and for further episodes.
This expanded, single-camera presentation of MY GAY ROOMMATE brings viewers an impressive array of stars from film, TV and theatre in its cast, including Jay Armstrong Johnson (ABC’s QUANTICO, ON THE TOWN, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) as Nick’s straight roommate, freshman Max Finnegan, who becomes Nick’s new best friend/wingman after finding out that he’s gay.
In addition, Savion Smith plays the dorm’s resident nerd Ernie, whose adeptness at technology is matched only by his tendency to say things that just about everyone wouldn’t say in public.
The impressive cast of MY GAY ROOMMATE: Top (L-R): Noam Ash, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Andy Mientus and Julia Murney. Bottom (L-R), Jenn Damiano, Kristin Gallagher, Mike Heslin and Scotty Dynamo.
Other notables include Andy Mientus (LES MISERABLES, CARRIE, SPRING AWAKENING, and the NBC musical drama SMASH) as Wesley, the head of the college a cappella chorus group The Windsor Boys, plus Scotty Dynamo as his fellow partner-in-song Brendan, and Mike Heslin as Nick and Max’s overly appearance-conscious suite mate Rupert.
Julia Murney (WICKED) also stars as the compassionate and determined Dr. Claymore, who due to major university budget cuts, has become a versatile jack-of-all-trades. In addition to being the dean, she’s also the on-campus physician, student counselor, financial aid supervisor, and even the head football coach!
Along with exciting new characters and hilarious storylines, plus a higher level of production quality thanks to its partnership with New York-based Ish Entertainment, MY GAY ROOMMATE will continue to bring viewers the same tried-and-true comedy that its legions of viewers have already come to expect from the acclaimed web series.
“The bigger format allows us to tell much more detailed and nuanced stories, and (to) really develop them over the course of the season,” Ash explains. “It lets us to go on the college journey with our characters, share in their (many) failures and surprise triumphs, and of course, laugh our asses off at the shenanigans they fall into.”
While producing MY GAY ROOMMATE as a half hour sitcom opens up countless opportunities for Ash to grow the series’ character and story elements, not everything comes easy as a result of working within that greater length of time. “In terms of challenges, everything is so much bigger! We have a far bigger cast and story. So, everything from writing, to filming, to editing, is far more challenging,” remarks Ash.
Savion Smith plays the dorm’s resident nerd Ernie in MY GAY ROOMMATE.
With a star-studded cast of Broadway veterans coming on board for the expanded MY GAY ROOMMATE, Ash feels that the series’ devoted fans will have even more reason for excitement.
“I am so excited about our cast. It’s really a who’s who of New York theater,” says Ash. “I think the show has always been highly theatrical and drew a lot of reference from musicals, which in turn has drawn a big theater fan base. I think (that) even though the show is a scripted comedy, it has a lot of musical elements to it that speak to the Broadway community.”
Ash not only sees MY GAY ROOMMATE as a great comedy series with memorable characters and storylines. More importantly, he sees it as a chance to make a positive difference upon its viewers, while showing them what’s truly possible when we move beyond labels, and our pre-conceived notions of people in today’s changing society.
“My biggest hope for MGR is to make people laugh. It sounds simple, but through comedy I think we can really build the world we want to live in,” says Ash. “(It’s) a world where there aren’t ‘gay stories’ and ‘straight stories’, or ‘gay shows’ and ‘straight shows’. There are only human stories (and) human shows. I hope through watching our boys go through their freshman year full of first time experience, we will all realize how we are so much more alike than we are different.”
Note: Regarding closed-captioning/subtitling of MY GAY ROOMMATE, Ash says that adding that feature to the new series is a possibility, but it depends on the platform it airs on.
To contribute to MY GAY ROOMMATE’s Kickstarter campaign, visit:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mygayroommate/my-gay-roommate-reloaded
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyGayRoommate
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MyGayRoommate/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/MyGayRoommate69
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