Star to Direct Indie Gay Film

Broadway's Priscilla Queen of the Desert star Will Swenson will direct a film version of Facing East, a play by Carol Lynn Pearson. The Tony nominee for Hair will direct the independent film about the life of a Mormon couple whose faith is rattled by the suicide of their gay son.

"Getting through my own adolescence as a young Mormon was challenging as it was, but watching my best friend struggle with his identity as a gay teenager was heartbreaking," Swenson, who is straight, said in a statement.

Production starts in autumn, and a percentage of profits from the film will be donated to the Trevor Project.