Samantha Barks, Skylar Astin, Melanie Griffith and More Set for The 24 Hour Plays in Los Angeles

A starry lineup has been announced for the 3rd annual The 24 Hour Plays, to be held on June 22 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. This one-night-only performance of short plays that are written, rehearsed and performed in a single 24-hour period benefits Urban Arts Partnership, an non-profit organization that benefits arts education programs for public school kids.

Actors who have signed on to appear include Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), Rosie Perez (White Men Can't Jump), Jason Biggs (American Pie), Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Hannah Simone (New Girl), Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show), Seth Green (Family Guy), Sasha Alexander (Rizzoli & Isles), Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect), Samantha Barks (Les Miserables), Anna Camp (True Blood), John Cho (Star Trek), Jamie Chung (The Hangover Part II), Michael Ealy (The Good Wife), Ashley Fink (Glee), Ian Harding (Pretty Little Liars), John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), Gillian Jacobs (Community), David Krumholtz (This Is the End), Lucy Punch (Bad Teacher), Romy Rosemont (Glee), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Molly Sims (Project Accessory), Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) and Tracie Thoms (Looper). The 24 Hour Plays will also feature musical guests between plays, including Natalie Mendoza (Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark).

The impressive roster of writers and directors who will create new works for the benefit includes Emmy winner Rachel Axler (The Daily Show), Emmy winner Ben Karlin (Modern Family), Will McCormack (Celeste and Jesse Forever), Bill Wrubel (Will & Grace), Jennifer Crittenden (Arrested Development), Emmy winner Jennifer Bicks (Sex & The City), Gabrielle Allan (Scrubs), Ryan Case (Modern Family), Peter Ellenstein (Artistic Director of the Inge Festival), Andy Fickman (Parental Guidance), Leigh Kilton Smith, Julie Anne Robinson (Weeds) and Fred Savage (Party Down).

The creative process for The 24 Hour Plays will begin at 10:00PM on June 21 when the group of writers, directors, actors and production staff gather at the Broad Stage. Based on preliminary discussions, each writer must compose a 10-minute play by 7:00AM the following morning, when the directors return to read and select their piece. The casts meet for the first time at 8 AM on June 22 and, over the next 12 hours, the plays are rehearsed and prepped for performance at the live benefit event.