STANDING ON CEREMONY: The Gay Marriage Plays Open Tonight

Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, which is now in previews and opens at the Minetta Lane Theatre tonight, November 13, assembles some of America's most illustrious and Award-winning playwrights, including Mo Gaffney, Jordan Harrison, Moisés Kaufman, Neil LaBute, Wendy MacLeod, José Rivera, Paul Rudnick and Doug Wright, all responding to one of the defining issues of our day -- the on-going battle for marriage equality throughout the United States - in a heartfelt, funny and altogether illuminating evening of short plays that celebrates the courage to be in a relationship - any relationship.

Conceived by Brian Shnipper and directed by Stuart Ross, Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays features a rotating cast of the best actors from theater, film and TV. The premiere cast includes Craig Bierko (The Music Man), Mark Consuelos ("All My Children"), Polly Draper ("thirtysomething"), Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Richard Thomas (Race).

Standing on Ceremony has partnered with Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage nationwide, for its Off Broadway premiere and will donate a portion of all ticket sales to Freedom to Marry and other organizations promoting marriage equality.

Earlier this week, Standing on Ceremony joined with Tectonic Theater Project (Moisés Kaufman, Artistic Director; Greg Reiner, Executive Director) for Standing on Ceremony: The National Event, to help take the play's message across the country (and the globe). For one night only, on Monday, November 7, more than 40 participating theaters across America and beyond presented their own productions of the play to raise awareness and funds in support of marriage equality.

Tickets for the Off Broadway run of Standing on Ceremony, priced from $59.oo to $79.00 (plus a $1.00 theatre facility fee), are now on sale via Ticketmaster.com and at the Minetta Lane box office (18 Minetta Lane).

Standing on Ceremony is produced Off Broadway by Joan Stein, Richard Frankel, Annette Niemtzow, Fakston Productions, Harley Medcalf, Jon Murray, Harvey Reese, in association with Diana Buckhantz and Niclas Nagler; Associate Producers, Luigi Caiola, Rebecca Falcon and Mary C. Solomon and Executive Producer, Joe Watson.