Standing On Ceremony, The Gay Marriage Plays

Playing at the Minette Lane Theatre at 18 Minetta Lane. The play opened on November 13, 2011 and runs thru February 26, 2012. It consists of nine plays and runs for 1 1/2 hours with no intermission. The cast changes every six weeks.

The plays are as follows:

"The Revision" by Jordan Harrison and "This Flight" by Wendy MacLeod.

"On Facebook" by Dough Wright. Doug received a Tony and a Drama Desk nomination for "Grey Gardens" in 2004. He was nominated the Pulitzer and Tony for Best play for "I am My Own Wife". In 1995 he won an Obie for "Quills".

"White Marriage" by Jeffrey Hatcher, "This Marriage Saved" by Joe Keenan and "Strange Fruit" by Neil LaBute.

"The Gay Agenda" by Paul Rudnick. He won an Obie, Outer Critics Circle Award and the John Gassner Playwright Award.

"London Mosquitoes" by Moises Kaufman. Moises was the director/writer for "33 Variations" which was nominated for an Tony Award for Best Play. "I Am My Own Wife" and "Bengel Tiger" were nominated for an Obie, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lartell Awards. He has been nominated for two Emmy's for writing and directing for the HBO production of "The Laramine Project".

"Pablo and Andrew at the Alter of Words" by Jose Rivera. He was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA and WGA for "The Motocycle Diaries".

The cast consists of:

Richard Thomas. Most recently on Broadway for Race. He is well known for his role in "The Waltons" as John Boy. He won an Emmy for this role.

Craig Bierko was nominated for a Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for the 2000 revival of "The Music Man".

Mark Consuelos is know for his role in the soap "All My Children". He was nominated for an Emmy for that role.

Polly Draper was on the TV series "The Big C" and "Thirtysomething" which she was nominated for an Emmy.

Harriet Hanin is a recipient of the 2002 Tony and Drama Desk Award for feature a actress in a musical for "Thoroughly Modern Millie".

Beth Leavel received a Tony, Drama Desk, NY Outer Critics Circle and LA Drama Critics Awards for "The Drowsy Chaperone". "Baby It's You" she was nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk Awards.

The set is plain, there are chairs facing the wall with two big urns with silver and white flowers. A giant drape is to the right with two large gold wedding bands thru it. There are three chairs on either side with two stands in the center facing the audience. The name of the play and the author appear on the upper left wall. The actors do their dialogue center stage or from their seats. The script is in front of them.

The cast is solid together. When the cast members are playing the others appear intent on what is being performed. Each story is different in theme, they are admirable. Some are funny other serious. There is wasn't one you would not enjoy.

"My Husband", "The Gay Agenda" and "London Mosquitoes" were my favorites.

Harriet Harris is hilarious and Richard Thomas is compassionate in their roles.

The cast and stories were great. I hope the next six actors do the stories justice as this cast has done.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor