A short item in The New York Times (free registration required) mentions that Ben Folds will take part in the next round of The 24-Hour Plays, a theatre project based in New York. Several writers and musicians gather for a 24-hour period to write, rehearse and ultimately perform short 15-minute stage plays and musicals. The format has been licensed around the world and over three hundred such projects have been undertaken since its inception in 1995. The next incarnation takes off Sunday, April 28 and culminates with a performance at New York’s Gramercy Theatre on Monday, April 29 at 8 PM. Tickets go on sale next month; other artists are yet to be announced. More information is available from The 24-Hour Plays site.
(April 19) Here’s an update with more details:
A team of nearly 100 stars from Broadway, film, television, and music, will cast, write, compose, direct, rehearse, tech, and perform four original musicals – all in the obscenely short time between an evening meet-and-greet on Sunday, April 28 and show time on Monday, April 29 at 8pm. The 24 Hour Company is teaming with the Exchange, an off-Broadway theater company, to create the fifth-ever 24 Hour Musicals. The event benefits the Exchange’s summer retreat, The Orchard Project, which kick-starts innovative new theatrical work from around the world.
The musicals will be written, cast, rehearsed, and performed at The Gramercy Theatre over the course of a single day, featuring an all-star line up of Broadway performers, stars from TV and film, great composers and writers, directors and – to top it all off – choreographers and musical directors. Participants will include singer-songwriter Ben Folds, Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock), Zosia Mamet (Girls), Josh Lawson (House of Lies), Deirdre Lovejoy (The Wire), Nikki M. James (TONY Award, Book of Mormon), Anthony Rapp (Rent, Without You), cabaret sensation Bridget Everett, Kristoffer Diaz (Chad Diety), Lisa Peterson (Obie Award, An Iliad), Jonathan Marc Sherman (Clive, Things We Want), Alicia Witt (Friday Night Lights, Law & Order), John Cariani (Law & Order, Fiddler on the Roof), Brian Crawley (Violet), Joe Iconis (The Black Suits), and Danny Goldstein (Godspell).
Tickets for the gala are between $115 and $500 and all include admission to the show and open bar at the Gramercy Theatre. To buy tickets, visit http://www.exchangenyc.org/24hm.
