Standing on Ceremony: Beth Leavel and Richard Thomas

Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone) and stage and screen veteran Richard Thomas (most recently seen in 'Race') will complete the premiere cast of Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage plays when the production opens at the Minetta Lane Theatre on 13 Nov 2011, following previews from 7 Nov 2011.

They join the previously announced Tony Award-nominee Craig Bierko (The Music Man), Daytime Emmy nominee Mark Consuelos ("All My Children"), Emmy Award-nominee Polly Draper ("thirtysomething") and Tony Award-winner Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie).

Standing On Ceremony will feature a rotating cast of actors.

Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry said, "Freedom to Marry is happy to be partnering with the talented writers, actors, and team involved in Standing On Ceremony, as together we bring more people into our campaign to win the freedom to marry nationwide. Standing On Ceremony tells stories of life and love with laughter and tears, following committed gay and lesbian couples through the ups and downs of building a life together - in short, the reasons why marriage matters to gay people, too."

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 will partner 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".

Bios:

Beth Leavel received a Tony Award for her performance as the title character in 'The Drowsy Chaperone.' Other Broadway roles include 'Florence Greenberg' in 'Baby It's You' (Tony nomination), 'Emily' in 'Elf,' 'Donna' in 'Mamma Mia!,' 'Frau Blucher' in 'Young Frankenstein,' 'Dorothy Brock' in the revival of '42nd Street,' 'Tess' in the original company of 'Crazy For You,' 'Mrs. Bixb' in 'The Civil War,' 'Ellie' in Hal Prince's 'Showboat' and 'Anytime Annie' (her Broadway debut) in '42nd Street.'

Richard Thomas made his Broadway debut over 50 years ago, and has since appeared on the New York stage many times in productions such as 'Race,' 'Strange Interlude,' 'Fifth of July,' 'Democracy,' 'A Naked Girl on the Appian Way' and most recently in 'Timon of Athens' at the Public Theater. He has worked extensively in film and television in projects that include "Wonder Boys," "Taking Woodstock" and "The Waltons," for which he received an Emmy Award.