Chad Allen was “outed” in 1996, when a man he was seeing sold photos of the couple kissing in a swimming pool at a party to the tabloids. But as far as Allen is concerned, he was never really in the closet in the sense that he never said he was straight and never had an arranged, sham relationship with a woman.

An actor since age 5, he's known to millions of TV fans for his recurring roles on Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, Our House, My Two Dads, St. Elsewhere, and the Donald Strachey Mysteries films, in which stars as a gay private detective. He has formed his own production company, Mythgarden, and one of its products is Save Me, a film about the “ex-gay” movement. Acclaimed at Sundance in 2007, the movie is due for nationwide release this year.

Chad Allen in The Little Dog Laughed

Since his outing, Allen has become well known and admired for his work as a gay activist. Now happily partnered, he's currently spending time in Hartford, Connecticut as the star of the TheaterWorks production of The Little Dog Laughed. Douglas Carter Beane's play follows Mitchell, a closeted, "Young Hollywood"-type actor; Alex, the bisexual call boy with whom he falls in love; Ellen, Alex's girlfriend; and Diane, Mitchell's super-high-powered agent.

I recently caught the show, in which Allen gives a wonderfully nuanced performance, and I got to speak with him afterwards in his dressing room.

AfterElton: During the talk-back after the show tonight, you mentioned that your relationship with your partner is going very well. Congratulations!
Chad Allen: Thanks. He's a great guy, an actor. He had been wanting to audition in New York for a while, so when this show came up I said, “Perfect. Come with me. Hartford is within striking distance from New York. You can come and go as you please.” We have lot of friends in New York, so he can stay there while he's in the city. We adopted a dog five months ago. That was a big step for us! She's here in Hartford, waiting for me to come home tonight.

AE: The only time I ever saw you on stage before this was Off-Broadway in Temporary Help. You were cast as a young drifter involved in a weird psycho-sexual triangle with a man and his wife. I have to say, it was one of the sexiest plays I've ever seen.
CA: Oh, it was so dirty! It really was. You never knew who was gonna f**k who, or who was gonna get killed. I love that kind of dark, twisted stuff – and the audiences enjoyed it, too. I also did the play in Seattle and in Westport. Paul Newman came backstage after the Westport production and said, “You know, it wasn't long ago that they wouldn't let smut like this on the stage. I loved it!”