Rory O'Malley to Return to Carnegie Mellon for 8 Reading, 9/10

Carnegie Mellon University alumnus and Tony Award nominee Rory O'Malley (A'03) is returning to his alma mater to participate in a one-night-only reading of "8," a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8.

Earlier this month, Carnegie Mellon's Office of Alumni Relations and the School of Drama, with license from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, announced the performance, which is slated for 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 10, in the University Center's McConomy Auditorium.

O'Malley is an original cast member of the Broadway hit "The Book of Mormon," receiving both Tony and Drama Desk award nominations for his role of Elder McKinley. He was instrumental in bringing the show to Pittsburgh. He is a co-founder of Broadway Impact, an organization dedicated to marriage equality. In "8" he will be reading the role of Ted Olson, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. After the show, Jenny Kanelos, executive director and co-founder of Broadway Impact, will join O'Malley and the cast for a Q&A session with the audience.

Throughout 2012 and 2013, AFER and Broadway Impact are licensing "8" for free to colleges, community and regional theaters worldwide to spur action, dialogue and understanding. CMU was one of the first to sign on for the project in September 2011, according to Kanelos.

The play, which will be read by School of Drama students, was written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black."8" recounts the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian Californians of the fundamental freedom to marry. The story for "8" is framed by the trial's testimony and historic closing arguments in June 2010.

Tickets are free; students may obtain two per person with a valid CMU ID and the public may obtain one per person. Tickets must be picked up in advance at the University Center Information Desk.

For more information on the Carnegie Mellon performance, visit www.cmu.edu/drama or contact Dan Barnett, director of Campus Programs in the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, at 412-268-1209. For details on the project, follow "8"on Twitter: @8theplay or on Facebook.

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