Standing on Ceremony to close on 18 Dec 2011

The Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage plays as posted early closing notices and will play its final performance at the Minetta Lane Theatre on 18 Dec 2011 - it had been selling tickets through to 26 Feb 2012.

The show, directed by Stuart Ross, opened at the Minetta Lane Theatre on 13 Nov 2011, following previews from 7 Nov 2011.

The production opened to mostly excellent reviews: Bravo, Bravo! (newyorktheatreguide); Mostly genial, often funny (New York Times); Delivers laughter and tears (Back Stage) A feel-good show (Variety).

Producers Joan Stein and Richard Frankel said, "We were delighted by the reception this play received in New York, but it is now clear to us that its message is most vital and urgent in the forty-four states where same sex couples are still denied equal marriage rights. We are committed to finding this play a home in those places where it's needed most."

Originally announced to feature a rotating ensemble, the show's premiere cast features Tony Award-nominee Craig Bierko (The Music Man), aytime Emmy nominee Mark Consuelos ("All My Children"), Emmy Award-nominee Polly Draper ("thirtysomething"), Tony Award-winner Harriet Harris, Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Emmy Award-winner Richard Thomas (The Waltons).

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.

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.

Conceived by Brian Shnipper, Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays began as a series of benefit events in Los Angeles.

The production partners 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.

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".