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"   When one gets the opportunity to see a reading of a play titled Abraham Lincoln&amp;#039;s Big, Gay Dance Party, one does not turn said opportunity down.  There&amp;#039;s about a thousand assumptions you could make about a title like that (or maybe just one?) but I&amp;#039;ll just give you the quick and easy of it: a fourth-grade Christmas pageant in Lincoln&amp;#039;s rural Illinois hometown sets off a firestorm of controversy and a subsequent civil trial when it posits that Honest Abe might have been\u2014gasp! \u2014gay. The show gets its legs from the hysterical dialogue (which really shined in the cold reading I saw). But that doesn&amp;#039;t mean the script&amp;#039;s void of some well-wrought poignant moments about gay marriage and basic human rights.   It all comes packaged in three acts, each of which present one side of the story from the viewpoint of three main characters: a snarky big-shot reporter from the New York Times; the former Illinois congressman-turned-prosecuting-attorney in the trial; and the current Illinois senator who mounts a defense for the teacher who wrote and directed the play. And, in a most democratic conceit, at each performance the audience will decide in which order the acts are performed. How American, no? And there&amp;#039;s even plenty of jazz-hand-heavy dancing if that&amp;#039;s all you&amp;#039;re looking for.  Following smash-hit productions at the San Francisco Playhouse and the New York International Fringe Festival, Abraham Lincoln&amp;#039;s Big, Gay Dance Party, by Aaron Leob, will have its Off-Broadway premiere this summer, with a limited run starting July 27th. Tickets are priced at $50 and $65 for premium seats ($20 student rush).  Click here to buy or call 212.279.4200.  \u2013SETH PLATTNER//www.ticketcentral.com&amp;amp;gt; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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