Award-winning actor Chris Colfer will appear in the high-profile Auditorium Speaker Series at 2012 ALA Annual Conference from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 in the Convention Center.

Best known for his starring role as ‘Kurt Hummel’ in the critically acclaimed Golden Globe^® and SAG award-winning comedy “Glee,“ Colfer has authored his first children’s book, “The Land of Stories,” due to be released on July 17, 2012 from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. A fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairytales, “The Land of Stories” tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner Bailey.  Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, Alex and Conner leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic, where they come face-to-face with the characters they grew up reading about.

In other book-related pursuits, Colfer recently adapted “The Little Leftover Witch,” a pilot for the Disney Channel based on the children’s book of the same name by Florence Laughlin.

Colfer will next be seen starring in the independent film “Struck By Lightning,” which he also wrote and produced.  Brian Dannelly (“Saved”) directs the coming-of-age comedy which also stars Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney and Sarah Hyland.

Colfer’s performance as ‘Kurt Hummel’ has earned him a Golden Globe^®, two Emmy^® nominations, a SAG nomination and inclusion in the 2011 TIME 100, Time Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Colfer appears courtesy of his publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

John C. Reilly also joins the production, concluding the official cast roster which organizers announced Wednesday.

The cast of Dustin Lance Black’s play 8 is officially complete with the addition of three more stars: Kevin Bacon, Chris Colfer and John C. Reilly, organizers announced Wednesday.

The actors will join George Clooney, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Martin Sheen and some of Hollywood’s hottest young actors for a one-night-only showing in Los Angeles of the play that chronicles the historic court challenge to California’s Proposition 8.

The play, directed by Rob Reiner, will debut at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Saturday, March 3, for an exclusive fundraiser to support marriage equality efforts across the country.

Other cast members include Matt Bomer, Campbell Brown, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cleve Jones, Christine Lahti, Matthew Morrison, Rory O’Malley, Yeardley Smith and George Takei.

The story for 8 is based on the trial’s closing arguments in June 2010.  Some of the scenes also include flashbacks to other trial testimony, including a statement by the Prop. 8 supporters’ star witness, David Blankenhorn, who told the court  “we would be more American on the day we permitted same-sex marriage than we were on the day before.”

Clooney and Sheen will play plaintiffs’ lead co-counsel David Boies and Theodore B. Olson. Lahti and Curtis will play plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, a lesbian couple together for 11 years. Morrison and Bomer will play plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, a gay couple together for more than a decade.

Lynch will play prominent opponent of marriage equality Maggie Gallagher, co-founder and former chairman of the National Organization for Marriage. Reiner will play Blankenhorn, founder and president of the Institute for American Values.

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.  Bacon will play Charles J. Cooper, the lead attorney for the anti-marriage proponents of Proposition 8. And

Colfer will play Ryan Kendall, who testified about his experience being sent by his parents to so-called “reparative therapy” as a teenager.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

Kevin Bacon, Chris Colfer and John C. Reilly have been added to the performance of “8,” Dustin Lance Black’s play about the Prop 8 trial that will be staged at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on March 3.

The event is a benefit organized by the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the org of entertainment and political activists pursuing the case in federal court, and Broadway Impact, the nonprofit set up to mobilize the theater community in support of same-sex marriage equality.

Others in the cast include George Clooney and Martin Sheen as David Boies and Ted Olson, respectively, the lead counsels for the plaintiffs in the case. Rob Reiner is directing, and has a role in the play.

[SOURCE]

Awards fashion can be just as competitive as any nominee categories when it comes to shows like Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony. Just ask Chris Colfer and Meryl Streep.

We were tickled to learn both stars were sporting looks from British designer Vivienne Westwood, Colfer in a black tux from the Spring 2012 collection and Streep in a belted couture creation.

While the two certainly weren’t in the same style garment and wouldn’t likely compete for fashion press, we asked the young “Glee” guy anyway: Who wore Westwood best?

“She did! She did!” Colfer told us emphatically at the the People/Entertainment Industry Foundation SAG Awards after-party, shocked to learn they’d been outfitted by the same house. ”But I hope they put us in a magazine together.”

Streep lost the female actor trophy to Viola Davis of “The Help,” and the folks of “Modern Family” kept the “Glee” cast in their seats on Sunday. But looking good is the best revenge, yes?

Streep will continue on the road to the Oscars with her Margaret Thatcher biopic, “The Iron Lady.” Colfer remains a regular on Ryan Murphy’s high school musical, and is hoping to release his feature “Struck by Lightning” in the fall.

[Los Angeles Times]

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – The kids of William McKinley High will pay tribute to the late King of Pop on this week’s “Glee,” but for Chris Colfer (who plays Kurt Hummel on the hit show), performing MJ’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” was a bit rough.

“I was in a leather one-suit – like, a leather jumpsuit,” Chris told Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson at the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday. “The dance was fine, but just the fact that I was in a leather onesie was a little traumatic!”

Chris said the embarrassing get-up was reminiscent of a Bond bad guy, combined with a certain feline femme fatale.

“Very Catwoman-ish, [but] I would say more James Bond villain than Catwoman,” he told Shaun. “I wish it was Catwoman flattering! But no, it was James Bond villain.”

While the entire “Glee” cast enjoyed performing MJ’s iconic songs, Chris said Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams) was, by far, the most thrilled.

“Kevin McHale, without question,” Chris said, when asked which castmember was most excited about the episode. “He’s been idolizing him since he was a wee, wee lad.”

[Access Hollywood]