I'm willing to venture that musicals and gay men go together like Britney and the tabloids: The correlation between the two is so deeply ingrained, one needs the other to function. From Singin' in the Rain and My Fair Lady to Cabaret, Hairspray and Rent, the highly stylized production numbers and inherent fabulousness of these pictures have captured the attention — and hearts — of the queer set.

Widely hailed on last year's festival circuit as the best musical to hit the big screen since Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Richard Wong and H.P. Mendoza's audacious Colma: The Musical is a decidedly unique addition to the wonderful world of musicals. With its cynical humor, uncompromising indie bent and focus on underrepresented communities (the Asian-American and gay ones, to be specific), Colma truly stands out.

It follows the story of three best buds who live in a dead-end town — your archetypal dreary suburb, this one a short distance away from the cultural mecca of San Francisco — that serves as a burying ground for San Francisco's dearly departed, to the extent where the dead outnumber the living 1,500 to one. Rodel, Maribel and Billy have just risen above the biggest teen hurdle of all — high school — and suddenly find themselves thrown into the limbo land of transient retail hell, pre-college anxiety, and the frightening independence that one acquires on the rollercoaster ride through early adulthood.

As the threesome, comprised of aspiring actor Billy, party crasher Maribel and straight-shooting queer Rodel, spend their last summer together living it up in Tombstone Central, they discover that their future plans aren't nearly as compatible as they previously assumed, and that carving out one's future takes willpower and a truckload of confidence.

On top of featuring 13 ingeniously witty and surprisingly moving musical numbers, Colma can pride itself on being the first musical film made by Asian Americans. Produced on a shoestring budget by three friends who turned the spark of an idea into what they referred to as a “romantic summer project,” Colma's infectious energy, coupled with biting one-liners and a poignant ode to the fleeting nature of friendships, made it the indie revelation of 2006.

Richard Wong, the film's director, producer, cinematographer and editor, says that the creative team behind this little jewel (chiefly himself, the screenwriter-songwriter-actor H.P. Mendoza and producer Paul Kolsanoff) had anticipated that the film would elicit deeply polarizing responses, and they were completely caught off guard by the uniformly positive reviews the film has received.

Their forecast is entirely justifiable: Colma's realistic and bittersweet depiction of middle-class youth living in the suburbs is light years ahead of most candy-coated teen vehicles. It boasts acerbic dialogue that is often harsh but always delicious; demonstrates a penchant for political incorrectness; and features a minority cast — two of the three lead characters are Asian Americans, and one is gay. Although not likely to generate Passion of the Christ levels of controversy, one can see the how Colma's unconventional elements could add up to a modest firestorm — but that hasn't happened.

Not only has no such uproar occurred, but the film has been racking up mentions at different festivals. It also recently garnered two prestigious nominations: for Best Film Not in Theaters from the Gotham Awards and a Someone to Watch Award nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. At this point, these should be considered icing on the Colma cake, as it has already scored high praise on the gay film circuit (most notably at Outfest) and with Asian film festivals (it won Special Jury Prizes at festivals in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego last year).

Yet when asked about the trio's original intentions, Wong says that the thought of labeling Colma a queer Asian flick never crossed his mind. “We never even considered submitting to queer and Asian film fests,” he says. “It was always more about teenagers and the human experience. I would never take away what they [Asian and queer communities] have done for us, but that was not our original aim. We just set out to make a good movie.” As for people's compulsive need to compartmentalize every aspect of their existence — and that includes their trips to the local multiplex — Wong sees no need to kick the habit. “I think people need labels. They're not necessarily bad. It's naturally part of our own human experience. Colma would not have become the phenomenon it has without the help of the Asian and queer communities, and I'm proud to be a part of both.”

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