Glenn Close To Host THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER Pre-show

The coda to the Laramie Project, The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, will premiere at Lincoln Center's AlIce Tully Hall on October 12, the anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death on which the play is based. As part of the opening event, stage and screen star Glenn Close will host a pre-show that will be webcast to over 150 theaters nationwide that will also be presenting this sequel piece.

The webcast will also include welcoming remarks by Matthew Shephard's mother and a post-show Q & A moderated by National Public Radio Arts and Culture correspondent Neda Ulabay.

In a statement Greg Reiner, executive director of the Tectonic Theater Project, reveals, "We now have over 150 theaters participating in this historic event and are thrilled to be joined by Judy Shepard, Glenn Close and our other special guests at the NY premiere. The interest and enthusiasm that the epilogue is receiving is very exciting and demonstrates to us the power the [Matthew] Shepard story still holds for people, as part of our collective history and as a lesson to all about homophobia, what is means to be gay in a small town and how stories must be re-told to ensure that the legacy of these kinds of incidents is correct. The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later will engage the audience as did the original, and we expect there will be many who are surprised to learn what Laramie is like a decade after Matt's murder."

The play is written by Tectonic Theater Project members Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber. Kaufman wrote and directed the original Laramie Project which premiered at the Denver Center Theater in 2000.

Tickets are still available for the New York City event at AlIce Tully Hall by visiting www.lincolncenter.org or by calling (800) 721-6500. Information about tickets to all other events can be found via www.laramieproject.org.