John Lithgow, Bradley Whitford and Matt Bomer Join Morgan Freeman and More in Starry Reading of 8

John Lithgow, Bradley Whitford and Matt Bomer have joined the starry roster of the one-night-only reading of Dustin Lance Black's Prop 8-themed play, 8, according to The Village Voice. Whitford will play defense attorney Charles Cooper, while Bomer will play Jeff Zarillo, real-life husband of Paul Katami (played by the previously announced Cheyenne Jackson). Zarillo and Katami were central litigants in the Prop 8 trial. Directed by Joe Mantello, the reading is set for September 19 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

Lithgow will return to Broadway later this season in The Columnist. He garnered Tony Awards for Sweet Smell of Success and The Changing Room and nominations for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, M. Butterfly and Requiem for a Heavyweight. His other Broadway credits include All My Sons, The Retreat From Moscow, The Play What I Wrote, The Front Page, Beyond Therapy, Division Street, Bedroom Farce, Spokesong and Once in a Lifetime. Lithgow earned Oscar nominations for Terms of Endearment and The World According to Garp and received four Emmy Awards for 3rd Rock From the Sun.

Whitford has appeared on Broadway in Boeing, Boeing and A Few Good Men. He is an Emmy winner for The West Wing. His many other TV and film credits include The Good Guys, Monk, Scent of a Woman, Billy Madison, Malcolm in the Middle and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Bomer is best known as the star of TV's White Collar. His other film and TV credits include Tru Calling, Chuck, Traveller, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Beginning and Guiding Light.

The trio joins a cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Anthony Edwards, Christine Lahti, Marisa Tomei, Cheyenne Jackson, Rob Reiner and Yeardley Smith.

The play follows the final days of the federal legal challenge to California's Proposition 8, which eliminated the right for gay and lesbian couples to marry in California. Black wrote 8 based on the actual trial transcripts and firsthand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with plaintiffs and families. The show features arguments and testimony from both sides of the issue.