Chris Colfer Joins Cast of Marriage Equality Play

Chris Colfer, Kevin Bacon, and John C. Reilly will join George Clooney, Jane Lynch, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in the staged reading of 8, Dustin Lance Black's play about the court trial for marriage equality.

Black used the actual words of the transcripts and firsthand observations of the court trial to overturn Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban, as well as interviews with the plaintiffs and their families. A press release say, "Chris Colfer will play Ryan Kendall, a young man who testified about his experience being sent by his parents to so-called "reparative therapy" as a teenager. John C. Reilly will play United States District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who found Proposition 8 unconstitutional after presiding over the historic twelve-day public trial. Kevin Bacon will play Charles J. Cooper, the lead attorney for the anti-marriage proponents of Proposition 8."

Matt Bomer, Jamie Lee Curtis, George Takei, Matthew Morrison, Yeardley Smith, Campbell Brown, Rory O'Malley, and activist Cleve Jones are also scheduled to appear in the Los Angeles production. Clooney was previously announced to play marriage equality defender attorney David Boies. The one-night-only staged reading, directed by Rob Reiner, will take place March 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles and is expected to raise $2 million for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the nonprofit that took the case to court.