Menzel, Neuwirth, Jackson and More Set for The 24 Hour Musicals

Idina Menzel, Bebe Neuwirth and Cheyenne Jackson will lead the all-star company of the upcoming presentation of The 24 Hour Musicals. Benefitting the Exchange, a not-for-profit group aimed at developing new theater, the event will feature four brand new musicals to be written, cast, rehearsed and performed in a single day by a lineup of Broadway performers, composers, writers, directors, choreographers and musical directors led by Tony Award-winning orchestrator Ted Sperling. The results will be presented on April 13 at the Gramercy Theatre.

Joining Menzel, Neuwirth and Jackson are Rachel Dratch Saturday Night Live, Minsky’s, Jesse Tyler Ferguson The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Class, Rina Groff Saved!, Steven Pasquale Rescue Me, Reasons to be Pretty, Mo Rocca The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, CBS Sunday Morning, playwright Jonathan Marc Sherman Things We Want, The Knickerbocker, Tracie Thoms Rent, Cold Case, Tamara Tunie Law & Order, NYPD Blue and Alicia Witt Vanilla Sky, Law & Order. Participating artists are subject to change, and additional artists will be announced.

The creative process for The 24 Hour Musicals begins April 12 at 9pm, when all participating artists will convene at the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park with a prop or costume piece to inspire the writers. After the company is briefed, the actors and directors will leave the writers to create the book, music and lyrics for their 15-minute musicals in just eight hours. The following morning at 7am, the directors will return to read the completed musicals and finalize casting. An hour later, the actors will return to begin a 12-hour rehearsal process. Then at 8pm, with the ink barely dry, the four new musicals will be performed for a live audience. Although the actors only have one day to memorize lines, lyrics and music, create characters and learn blocking, the musicals are performed without scripts in hand.

The 24 Hour Musicals is presented by The 24 Hour Company, which has produced over 300 short plays since 1995 written, cast, rehearsed and performed in a single day in association with the Exchange, which supports a number of artists and companies through its Orchard Project retreat as well as the Kesselring Fellowship, a writing award it presents in partnership with the National Arts Club.