Every day is opening night.

Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Molly Barnett / Sam Corbett
rick@oandmco.com / molly@oandmco.com / sam@oandmco.com  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

New York, NY (11/04/2011) – Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays producers Joan Stein and Richard Frankel and Tectonic Theater Project (Moisés Kaufman, Artistic Director; Greg Reiner, Executive Director) are proud to join forces to present Standing on Ceremony: The National Event, to help take the play’s message of equality across the country. For one night only, on Monday, November 7, curtains will rise on Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays at more than forty theatres and universities in twenty-fives states to raise awareness and funds in support of marriage equality.

The Off Broadway production of Standing On Ceremony will kick off its open-ended run with this special performance at 8:00 PM, which will feature an introduction from Evan Wolfson, Founder and President of Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage nationwide, before the play that will be streamed live to participating theatres across the country and as far away as Sydney, Australia. Audience members can also watch a live streaming post-performance Q&A with Standing On Ceremony contributing playwrights Moisés Kaufman (also Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project), Jose Rivera, Paul Rudnick and Doug Wright, moderated by New York Times theatre writer Patrick Healy, and can participate regardless of their locale, by submitting questions via Twitter in real time using the hashtag #asksoc.

To date, more than 40 theatres and universities are confirmed to participate, in 25 states across America including: Texas, North Dakota, Florida, Kansas and Michigan, where both gay marriage and civil unions are banned; North Carolina, where the vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage was moved up to 2012; California, where gay marriage was legalized and then overturned by the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008; and many states where marriage equality is not yet a reality.

Participating theatres and universities includes:

Hendrix College: Conway, Arkansas
Pacifica Springdrift Players: Pacifica, California
Theatre Out: Santa Ana, California
ACT: San Francisco, California
La Jolla Playhouse: La Jolla, California
LA Gay and Lesbian Center: Los Angeles, California
Cal State SLO: San Luis Obispo, California
Mad Cow Theatre: Orlando, Florida
Monmouth College: Monmouth, Illinois
McPherson College: McPherson, Kansas
Single Carrot Theatre: Baltimore, Maryland
Millburn Stone Theater: North East, Maryland
Vineyard Playhouse: Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
Wayne State University: Detroit, Michigan
Western Michigan University: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Michigan State University: Lansing, Michigan
Hennepin Theatre Trust: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Stephens College: Columbia, Missouri
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis: St. Louis, Missouri
Montana Rep: Missoula, Montana
Guilford College: Greensboro, North Carolina
Paper Lantern Theatre: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Bismarck State College: Bismarck, North Dakota
Theatre B: Fargo, North Dakota
Mother Road Theatre Company: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Buffalo United Artists: Buffalo, New York
Pendragon Theatre: Canton, New York
Syracuse Stage: Syracuse, New York
Cuyahoga Community College: Cleveland, Ohio
The Majestic Theatre/Oregon State University: Corvalis, Oregon
Artists Repertory Theatre: Portland, Oregon
Brown University: Providence, Rhode Island
The Edge Theatre Company: Rock Hill, South Carolina
Roxy Regional Theatre: Clarksville, Tennessee
Actors Bridge: Nashville, Tennessee
Zach Theatre: Austin, Texas
Texas Tech: Lubbock, Texas
Plan B Theatre: Salt Lake City, Utah
Greenbrier Valley Theatre: Lewisburg, West Virginia
University of Wyoming/Spectrum: Laramie, Wyoming
Studio 180: Toronto, Canada
Sydney University Dramatic Society/ So What?: Sydney, Australia

For more information about participating theatres and how to see Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays on November 7 in your state, visit http://standingonceremony.net/buy-tickets/national-event/. Ticket prices vary depending on location and theatre.

ABOUT STANDING ON CEREMONY

Conceived by Brian Shnipper and directed by Stuart Ross, Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays began as a series of benefit events in Los Angeles, taking on a life of their own as an inspiring theatrical evening. The show begins previews at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane) on Monday, November 7 with an official opening night set for Sunday, November 13 and a premiere cast that includes Craig Bierko, Mark Consuelos, Polly Draper, Harriet Harris, Beth Leavel and Richard Thomas. A portion of each ticket purchased to every performance of Standing On Ceremony will be donated to Freedom to Marry as well as other marriage equality organizations.

Responding to one of the defining issues of our day — the on-going battle for marriage equality throughout the United States — some of America’s most illustrious and Award-winning playwrights, including Obie Award winner Mo Gaffney, Heideman Award winner Jordan Harrison, Tony Award nominee Moisés Kaufman, Emmy and WGA Award winner Joe Keenan, Tony Award nominee Neil LaBute, Sundance Jury Prize winner Wendy MacLeod, Obie Award winner José Rivera, Obie and Outer Critics Circle Award winner Paul Rudnick, and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright, have created a heartfelt, funny and altogether illuminating evening that celebrates the courage to be in a relationship – any relationship.

ABOUT TECTONIC THEATER PROJECT

Tectonic Theater Project is an award-winning company whose plays have been performed around the world. The company is dedicated to developing innovative works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering an artistic dialogue with our audiences on the social, political and human issues that affect us all. In service to this goal, Tectonic supports readings, workshops, and full theatrical productions, as well as training for students around the country in our play-making techniques. Tectonic Theater Project was founded in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman and Jeffrey LaHoste. Tectonic refers to the art and science of structure and was chosen to emphasize the company's interest in construction– how things are made, and how they might be made differently.

Its groundbreaking plays, The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and I Am My Own Wife, have sparked national discourse about their subjects and have inspired artists and audiences worldwide. In 2009, Tectonic Theater Project brought The Laramie Project to 100 cities across America, when it was performed simultaneously by high schools, universities and professional theatres.

ABOUT FREEDOM TO MARRY

Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide, pursuing the Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. They partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings. Freedom to Marry was launched in 2003 by Evan Wolfson, the civil rights attorney generally considered the architect of the national marriage equality movement. From a prophetic vision once shared by only a few, the marriage movement has rapidly gained traction with the American public, and in the past decade, we secured the freedom to marry in six states and the District of Columbia. Forty-four states continue to exclude same-sex couples from marriage, and through the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA), the federal government refuses to honor the marriages of thousands of legally-wed same-sex couples, depriving them of the 1,000+ federal protections and responsibilities that come with marriage. Freedom to Marry is leading the campaign to overturn DOMA and is working across the country to win marriage in more states and educate the public about why marriage matters to same-sex couples and their families.

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