Fred Caruso, writer and producer best known as the creator of “The Big Gay Musical,” has died in an apparent suicide. He was 41.

His friend, Rick Crom, posted to Facebook on Tuesday to confirm Caruso’s death.

“Fred M. Caruso has left us by his own choice,” Crom wrote. “As an artist Fred was a tortured soul and ultimately that pain took him from us.”

In addition to writing and co-directing “The Big Gay Musical,” a film about two gay aspiring actors, Caruso produced the Off-Broadway musical comedy, “Newsical.” He also wrote and directed the 2011 film “Go Go Crazy.”

Before his death, Caruso apparently wrote and scheduled a note to go live on “The Big Gay Musical” Facebook page. It states that he had been “dealing with ending things for a while.”

“I have nothing left in me to create. I truly don’t think I have any idea what love or happiness is,” he wrote. “I have produced great theatre, movies (two of which I wrote and directed) and I traveled all over the world. I regret nothing especially the choice that I am making now.”

In lieu of a memorial, Caruso requested donations to the Trevor Project, a non-profit suicide hotline for LGBT youth.