John Lloyd Young Says 'Oy Vey!' To The Bay Area Reporter

Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young recently spoke to the Bay Area Reporter about his new film, "Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!" In the new comedy, Young portrays a young gay man, the title role, and stars opposite Jai Rodriguez.

The actor, who is straight, tells columnist Robert Sokol, "Gay stereotypes are perpetuated in Hollywood in mean-spirited ways. It's like they have to buffoon-ize gay characters so that audiences can feel more comfortable with them. People can be comfortable with the flamboyant florist, but if he's just a normal person, 'one of us,' then that's more threatening. I'm really opposed to that. It's 2009."

The Jersey Boys star continues, "We should be able to see a person who just happens to be gay. There needs to be balance, so that people can realize not all people or all groups of people are the way they are assumed to be." Young believes 'Oy Vey!' achieves those goals. "It's why I chose to do it."

On Sunday, August 2, Young will be appearing at HELP IS ON THE WAY XV: NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOWBUSINESS, the 15th Anniversary Gala and Northern California's Largest Annual Star-studded AIDS Benefit Concert & Gala. HELP IS ON THE WAY XV will be held at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, benefiting four Bay Area AIDS service organizations. For more information, read our article here.

To read the complete Bay Area Reporter interview with John Lloyd Young, click here.

"Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!" is writen by Evgeny Afineevsky, Joseph Goldman and Martin Guigui and directed by Evgeny Afineevsky.

The Tony-winning star of Jersey Boys is joined on screen by Saul Rubinek and Lainie Kazan, who play his parents, the film also stars, Jai Roderiguez, Carmen Electra, Bruce Vilanch, Vincent Pastore and Shelly Burch.

Press notes describe 'Ov Yev' as "a heartfelt comedy about a close-knit family's reaction to their beloved son coming out of the closet." Evgeny Afineevsky, Svetlana Anufrieva, Rich Cowan and Alexei Diveyeff-Tserkovny produce the motion picture.

Young has been announced to guest star as a "former wood shop instructor with a voice of gold" on the upcoming Fox series GLEE. Lloyd Young describes the role "as great fun, the whole cast is top notch and full of talented film and theatre actors."

FOX has picked up 13 episodes of the hourlong comedy from "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy. Fox hopes to schedule the show -- which is set in the world of high school glee clubs -- as soon as this spring, in order to take advantage of the "American Idol" lead in reports the entertainment publication Variety.

Press notes state, "The hourlong comedy "Glee," from 20th TV, centers on Will (Matt Morrison), a thirtysomething Spanish teacher at an Ohio high school who has the daunting task of taking over the school's glee club, which has become a haven for outcasts. Spring Awakening's Lea Michele will play the club's self-obsessed star female singer."

The show will reportedly feature at least four musical numbers per episode.

Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young created the role of "Frankie Valli" in the Original Broadway Cast of Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.For his Broadway debut in Jersey Boys, Young won the Lead Actor Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards, and he can be heard as lead singer Valli on the Grammy Award-winning Original Cast Recording. Before Jersey Boys, Young was a New York theatre actor in plays including the New York-area premiere of Michael Healey's THE DRAWER BOY, with Frasier's John Mahoney; and he was named one of 2004's Best Featured Actors in a Play by the NJ Star-Ledger for "Danny Saunders" in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok's dramatic adaptation of THE CHOSEN, opposite Theodore Bikel, directed by David Ellenstein. New York Theatre: "Charlie" in Julia Jordan's THE SUMMER OF THE SWANS for director Joe Calarco (Lucille Lortel Theatre), "Moritz" in the Douglas Langworthy translation of Wedekind's SPRING AWAKENING; and nail-biting number theorist "Claudio" in Rinne Groff's THE FIVE HYSTERICAL GIRLS THEOREM, for Obie-winning Target Margin Theatre. He was seen last summer as Marius in Les Miserables at the The Hollywood Bowl directed by Richard Jay-Alexander.