Standing On Ceremony now previews from 7 Nov 2011

Producers Joan Stein and Richard Frankel have announced that the up-coming Off-Broadway show Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays will now begin previews at the Minetta Lane Theatre on 7 Nov 2011, with an official opening night set for 13 Nov 2011, due to casting opportunities.

The show was originally scheduled to begin previews at the Minetta Lane Theatre on 18 Oct 2011, and open on 24 Oct 2011.

Directed by Stuart Ross, Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays is a collection of nine short plays by nine American Award-winning playwrights, each responding to one of the defining issues of our day - the on-going battle for marriage equality throughout the United States.

Ms. Stein and Mr. Frankel commented "We are delighted to present this celebration of marital equality that is not only funny, moving and enlightening but also may serve in some way to advance a cause which is so important to all of us."

The nine American Playwrights are Heideman Award winner Jordan Harrison, Edgar Award winner Jeffrey Hatcher, Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony Award nominee Moisés Kaufman, Emmy and WGA Award winner Joe Keenan, Tony Award nominee Neil LaBute, Sundance Jury Prize winner Wendy McLeod, Obie Award winner José Rivera, Obie Award winner Paul Rudnick, and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright.

Standing On Ceremony will include a rotating cast of actors to be announced shortly.

Conceived by Brian Shnipper, Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays began as a series of benefit events in Los Angeles. As was established in Los Angeles, a portion of each ticket purchased to every performance of Standing On Ceremony will be donated to marriage equality organizations.

The nine short plays that make up Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays are:

- The Revision by Jordan Harrison, an amusing look at how two men might rewrite their vows to more accurately reflect the limited options available to a gay couple.

- This Flight Tonight by Wendy MacLeod, which asks if there is any hope for happiness when a lesbian marriage begins in Iowa.

- On Facebook by Doug Wright, adapted from an actual Facebook thread chronicling one long fight among friends on the subject of gay marriage.

- White Marriage by Jeffrey Hatcher, in which a wife and husband discuss his "gay" sense of humor.

- This Marriage Is Saved by Joe Keenan, a satiric vignette about a disgraced evangelist and his wife who insist that his extra marital flings has only strengthened their marriage.

- Strange Fruit by Neil LaBute, the story of two men in love whose plans to get married "the old-fashioned way" are stymied when reality rears its ugly head.

- The Gay Agenda by Paul Rudnick, a sadly hilarious plea for understanding by an Ohio homemaker and member of Focus on the Family.

- London Mosquitoes by Moisés Kaufman, a poignant story in which a widower tries to make sense of the loss of his long-time lover.

- Pablo and Andrew at the Altar of Words by José Rivera, a moving play about two men who use their marriage vows to "say the things we never really say".