Gay marriage play ‘8′ goes national during 2012
For anyone who missed the star-studded, one-night-only Broadway debut of the gay marriage play “8” or can’t get to Los Angeles this spring to see George Clooney lead a West Coast version, there’s hope: The play is coming to a theater near you.
The only bad news — no Clooney.
The pro-gay marriage American Foundation for Equal Rights and partner Broadway Impact are sponsoring dozens of productions ofDustin Lance Black’s play starring local actors across the country this election year. It’ll be shown in states where marriage battles loom, including Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
Adam Umhoefer, the foundation’s project director, said the glitzy Broadway show and upcoming California counterpart help fund getting the play mounted elsewhere. “Those big tent-pole shows bring attention to the play so that all these other groups across the country can work on their productions,” he said.
The play is mostly culled from the transcripts of the 2010 federal court battle that dealt with the legality of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.
Black’s play was first performed on Broadway as a one-time benefit reading in September starring Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin, Anthony Edwards, Bradley Whitford, John Lithgow, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti and Rob Reiner, who is developing a film based on the trial. The Broadway event raised more than $1 million and Clooney will lead his own starry version in Los Angeles on March 3.
