Matt Bomer, Cheyenne Jackson, Rory O’Malley, et al. Set for 8 Benefit on Broadway

Bob Balaban, Matt Bomer, Campbell Brown, Larry Kramer,
John Lithgow, Rory O’Malley and Bradley Whitford will join previously announced stars Anthony Edwards, Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei in a benefit reading of 8, a new play based on the Proposition 8 trial over same-sex marriage in California, written by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black, to be offered on September 19 at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Additional casting will be announced in the near future.

As previously reported, Joe Mantello will direct the performance

Characters in the play, which will be taken from trial transcripts, will include Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, the lawyers for the two gay couples who sued California over the ban; Charles J. Cooper, the lead defense counsel; Kristin M. Perry and Sandra B. Stier, a lesbian couple who were among the plaintiffs; and the judge, Vaughn R. Walker of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California.

The evening will benefit the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which financed the federal court challenge to Proposition 8. Following the reading on Broadway, AFER and Broadway Impact, an organization co-founded by Gavin Creel and Rory O’Malley, will license 8 to schools and community organizations nationwide.

For more information about how an organization can produce the piece, click here.

For more information and tickets to the Broadway reading, click here.