Sir Patrick Stewart was reading the script for this film while Star Trek - Treffen der Generationen (1994) was in production. He found it so sad that he used it to produce the appropriate feelings necessary for weeping during the scene where he finds out that his family back on Earth has perished in a fire.
When the priest (Nathan Lane) goes into the confessional and shows Jeffrey his theater posters, there is a poster for the 1992 revival of "Guys and Dolls" featured prominently on the wall. Nathan Lane starred in that production.
This movie is based on a play of the same name that was produced off-Broadway in 1993 at the WPA Theater. Director Christopher Ashley had also directed the play. The play's cast was: John Michael Higgins (Jeffrey), Edward Hibbert (Sterling), Bryan Batt (Darius), Tom Hewitt (Steve), Harriet Harris, Patrick Kerr, Richard Poe, and Darryl Theirse.
Bryan Batt was in the Broadway musical "Cats", which is an in-joke during the movie (his character is also in the musical as well.)
While shopping for clothes, Sterling remarks that he looks like a gay superhero. Stewart went on to play a superhero in the X-Men films. The comics feature two gay characters (Iceman and Northstar), four of the films were directed by a gay filmmaker (Bryan Singer), feature a "coming out" scene for Iceman, and feature two gay actors (Ian McKellen and Alan Cumming).