Stiles, Hargitay, McKay Sign Up for The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway

By Ernio Hernandez
20 Sep 2007

Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay

Julia Stiles, Mariska Hargitay, Mamie Gummer, Lili Taylor, Marlo Thomas and musical guest Nellie McKay have joined the stars who will perform in the upcoming The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway.

Montblanc will present The 24 Hour Company's seventh annual star-studded event, which will be seen Oct. 22 at 8 PM at the American Airlines Theatre. Proceeds will benefit Working Playground.

Joining the starry lineup of previously-announced stars — Rosie Perez, Billy Crudup, David Cross, Elizabeth Berkley, Michael Ealy, Anthony Mackie, Matthew Lillard and Kerry Washington — will be Mariska Hargitay, Peter Hermann, Mamie Gummer, Rachel Dratch, Janel Maloney, Fisher Stevens, Julia Stiles, Lili Taylor and Marlo Thomas.

Playwrights scheduled to create the six new plays include David Lindsay-Abaire, Julia Jordan, Warren Leight and Theresa Rebeck. The directors announced include Christian Parker and Ari Edelson. Singer Nellie McKay (The Threepenny Opera) will serve as musical guest.

The one-day process of The 24-Hour Plays begins at 10 PM the night prior to the performance. Traditionally, a group of theatre artists (playwrights, directors, actors and designers) meet and are briefed and photographed. The writers are then left to create a ten-minute play overnight. Come morning at 7 AM, the directors give the scripts a once-over, divvy them up and cast them. Actors are called for 8 AM and rehearse through the day. Technical rehearsals run from 5 PM to 7:30 PM. Doors open at 7:45 PM, and curtain rises at 8 PM and there it is: six shows, all in a day's work.

Over 100 writers and 1,000 actors have helped create 300 new short plays since the inception of The 24 Hour Plays in 1995. Last year, the troupe presented 24 is 10: The Best of The 24 Hour Plays at the New York International Fringe Festival in honor of the 10th anniversary of both companies. For the first time ten-minute plays from previous mountings were revisited.

Tickets to the event at the American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, are on sale by calling (212) 868-4444. For more information on the benefit and the company, visit 24hourplays.com.