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| The cast of Logo’s ‘Noah’s Arc,’ Doug Spearman (left), Jensen Atwood, Darryl Stephens, Rodney Chester and Christian Vincent, get ready for season two. (Photo by David Cooper/Logo) |
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trong class="textdark">NOAH (Darryl Stephens)
A writer who is your everyday, loveable romantic — except for cheating on his boyfriend at a sex party during the first season finale.
trong class="textdark">ALEX (Rodney Chester)
An HIV counselor who delivers some of the shows most classic lines, like, “Crack is whack!”
trong class="textdark">RICKY (Christian Vincent)
He’s never seen a guy he didn’t want to screw — or already hasn’t — but he might be in for a wake-up call this season.
trong class="textdark">CHANCE (Doug Spearman)
This college professor is a mature force within the group, but he's known to indulge in some youthful experimentation.
trong class="textdark">WADE (Jenson Atwood)
Recently straight, this heartbreaker seems to have settled nicely into the gay life — and in Noah’s heart.
 trong class="textdark">
JUNITO (Wilson Cruz)
If you’re looking for the perfect man, look no more. He works in a hospital, is more compassionate than Mother Teresa, and a smile that can save the world.
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FEATURE
By: RYAN LEE COMMENTS
 
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guy.”
In addition to the way the show incorporates HIV issues, Chester and Stephens say it’s also been rewarding for people to stop them in grocery stores and airports to offer testimony about the power of the series.
“It doesn’t matter if the show ends tomorrow or in five years, it still will be that I was part of something groundbreaking, that had never been done before,” says Chester.
Hearing from black gay youth is what touches Stephens most.
“They’re so amazingly thankful and happy to see themselves reflected in the show,” he says.
Despite the impact that the show has on gay youth, only two of the actors on the show are openly gay, Doug Spearman who plays Chance and Wilson Cruz (of “My So-Called Life” fame) who plays Junito. All of the other main actors on the show decline to answer questions about their personal life.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for “Noah’s Arc.” Prior to premiering on Logo, the show was protested by neighborhood and religious activists who complained about a predominately white production cast shooting in the mostly black South Central neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Controversy sparked again a few episodes into the first season, after a misunderstanding as to whether artists and officials from the Island Def Jam record label would allow their music to be used on a gay program. The confusion was cleared up, and “Noah’s Arc” continues to feature some of the hottest hip-hop and R&B songs out, like Beyoncéé’s “Déjà Vu” in the upcoming season premiere.
Another criticism of the show has been that its main characters embody gay stereotypes, from Ricky’s promiscuity, to Noah’s falsetto and flamboyant fashion sense. Both critiques resonate some with Stephens, who says throat surgery right before shooting left him with only two voice ranges — low and high, with high seeming to fit more with Noah’s personality.
“I have decided in hindsight that he can talk a little more like me, and his voice is a little bit less distracting in season two,” Stephens says. “[With fashion,] I feel like we’ve toned it down quite a bit for the second season.
“I will say that I feel Noah expresses his individuality at any cost, and he’s really pushing people’s buttons with the way he presents himself,” Stephens says. “But as the show started airing, I came to find out there are quite a few men who do carry themselves that way, and are that serious about fashion.”
Polk shops for Noah in London, where he lives part-time, and is unapologetic about the show’s “ahead-of-the-curve” experimentation.
“When I watch TV, I just don’t want to watch what I<
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