L.A. Reading of 8 Brings Its Story Home March 3; George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch Star | Playbill

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News L.A. Reading of 8 Brings Its Story Home March 3; George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch Star The Los Angeles reading of Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black's 8, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch, is presented March 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theater.

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George Clooney

Academy Award-winning "Milk" screenwriter Black authored the play that utilizes the original transcripts from the 2010 Perry v. Schwarzenegger case, which sought to overturn the 2008 voter-approved Prop. 8 legislation that denied same sex couples the right to marry. The trial ultimately led to a California federal judge's ruling that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional and unfairly discriminated against homosexuals.

The American Foundation for Equal Rights also announced that thanks to Google and YouTube, the live reading will be made available for free online. It will begin streaming at 7:30 PM PST. Rob Reiner directs 8, which is presented at the Wilshire Ebell Theater.

You can click here to RSVP to watch the March 3 live stream.

The cast for the evening follows: Academy Award winner George Clooney, Academy Award nominee Brad Pitt, Golden Globe Award winner Kevin Bacon, Golden Globe Award winner Chris Colfer, Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly, Matt Bomer, Campbell Brown, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Vanessa Garcia, Christine Lahti, Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison, Rory O'Malley, Jansen Panettiere, James Pickens, Jr., Martin Sheen, Yeardley Smith, George Takei and Bridger Zadina.

Jane Lynch
photo by Mark Davis/FOX
The cast includes Academy Award winner Clooney as David Boies, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case. Pitt plays United States District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who found Prop. 8 unconstitutional; with Bacon as Charles J. Cooper, the lead attorney for the anti-marriage proponents of Prop. 8; Colfer as Ryan Kendall, a young man who testified about his experience in "reparative therapy" as a teenager; Sheen as plaintiffs' lead co-counsel Theodore B. Olson; Lahti and Curtis as plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, a lesbian couple together for 11 years and the parents of four boys; Morrison and Bomer as plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, a gay couple together over ten years. Lynch is cast as National Organization for Marriage co-founder Maggie Gallagher; and Reilly as David Blankenhorn, founder and president of the Institute for American Values.

"This play will continue to show Americans — one by one — that truth and justice will prevail over prejudice and fear," AFER board president Chad Griffin said in a statement. "Try as they might, the anti-marriage proponents of Proposition 8 cannot hide their discriminatory arguments from the American people. Until every citizen can equally enjoy the fundamental freedom to marry, AFER will continue to fight in the courts of law and the court of public opinion — and we will win."

8theplay.com.

 
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