“Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom,” opening today at Ritz Landmark Theatres, is an entertaining feature film based on Patrik-Ian Polk’s TV series about four out African-American friends. The film continues to chronicle Noah’s life where the series left off two years ago.
This enjoyable, if sitcomy, romantic comedy has plenty of drama when Noah (Darryl Stephens) agrees to tie the knot and “jump the broom” — a wedding ritual that honors African-American history — with his lover Wade (Jensen Atwood) in Massachusetts.
Noah may be nervous about taking such a big step but, unfortunately, he has little help from his usually supportive friends. Alex (Rodney Chester) is frantically busy trying to single-handedly put together the entire wedding. Meanwhile, Ricky (Christian Vincent) is out seducing whoever he can and ignoring Brandon (Gary LeRoi Gray), the teenager he brought along for the weekend. Brandon has decided to come out to his parents, which does not go well, and he seeks comfort in the arms of his professor, Chance (Doug Spearman). However, this drives a wedge in Chance’s rocky relationship with his partner Eddie (Jonathan Julian). And even more hell breaks loose when closeted rapper Baby Gat (Jason Steed) turns up to flirt with Noah.
Amid all this chaos, however, Noah is mostly in control — well, save a drunken episode where he discovers something about him betrothed that makes his reconsider their nuptials.
Stephens, who originated the title role, spoke with PGN about his character’s arc, his thoughts on gay marriage and making “Jumping the Broom.”
Having played Noah for years, Stephens was able to learn and grow from inhabiting the character. The actor said he shares Noah’s “idealistic and romantic” qualities, and that he too has close friends.
Whereas Noah was young and insecure when Stephens first played him, the actor said he likes the idea that in the film Noah is bold: Stephens grew more comfortable in the role as the character grew. He appreciates the fact that in the TV show, Noah was often getting help from his friends, whereas in the film, Noah is the one helping Alex, Ricky and Chance out of their awkward situations. (Not that Noah doesn’t have a few uncomfortable moments himself.)
“I thought he was whiny in the series and, in the film, he is standing up for what he wants in his relationship and standing up to his friends,” Stephens said about the difference between the TV show and the feature, adding candidly, ”He’s finally grown some balls and come into his own.”
Off screen, Stephens came into his own too, publicly coming out as a way of being honest to the audience that supported the character he played.
Stephens described his motivation for coming out after spending a few professional years in the closet. “As I got more involved with the show and the community, issues like AIDS and Proposition 8, coming out and being a visible person of color began to resonate with me. Being in the closet publicly was pointless for me. If the industry I want to work in won’t hire me for being honest and who I am, then I’ll find another industry. I can have more of an impact with my truth than as an actor who had to lie about his personal life.”
With his mention of Prop. 8, Stephens mulls over the idea of getting married — as Noah attempts in the film.
“Honestly, I hadn’t considered [marriage] as a possibility for me. Because marriage for [most] same-sex couples is a fantasy. With the whole Prop. 8 situation, what occurred to me more is not the idea of getting married as defending my right to get married if I chose to do so. After all these weeks of activism, it is something I think about and would consider. I’ve seen friends of mine get married. It’s been an amazing shift in how I imagine the future of a gay relationship. It’s exciting and inspiring to redefine gay relationships and what we can be. I’m entertaining it.”
Turning the conversation back to Noah’s marriage plans, Stephens is gratified that “Jumping the Broom” gave him an opportunity to reunite with his co-stars. “We had not seen each other in a while, and I had not played the character in [several years]. I wasn’t sure I’d fall back into Noah’s character traits.”
Yet as soon as he met up with his cast mates, Stephens said, “the chemistry fell into place.” The cast plays together like a well-oiled machine, and the camaraderie among the actors is palpable on screen. Stephens is suitably proud of this achievement and said he has tremendous respect for his co-stars.
“We’ve been working since 2004, and the first thing we shot was a sex scene between Jensen Atwood (Wade) and me. It was two characters having sex for the first time. We had not in any way prepared to shoot a gay-sex scene, so Jenson and I from the very beginning had to work on creating that relationship in a very on-the-fly way.”
Years later, Stephens is still uncomfortable doing sex scenes — “I don’t know any actor who goes to set excited to do sex scenes,” he said wryly — but he does enjoy dancing on camera. In one of the more relaxed moments in “Jumping the Broom,” the cast breaks into a dance choreographed by co-star Vincent. And Stephens’ ebullience about this scene is evident when he says, “It’s liberating and honest. These men love each other and have this sense of self-expression that gay men have and other men don’t.”
Viewers who have followed Noah’s progression over the years will also have reason to celebrate with “Jumping the Broom.”