Seven more actors have signed on for The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway: Ruby Cruz, Patrick Heusinger, James Lance, Busy Philipps, Shannon Purser, Mickey Sumner and Constance Zimmer. The one-night benefit, which honors director Thomas Kail this year, takes the stage at the Todd Haimes Theatre on Monday, November 2 at 7PM.
All seven come to the evening with screen credits: Cruz from the film Bottoms, Heusinger from Absentia, Lance from Ted Lasso, Philipps from Cougar Town, Purser from Stranger Things, Sumner from Frances Ha and Zimmer from Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.
They are added to a company first named earlier this month (see our first casting report), which includes Justin Bartha, David Burtka, Chris Chalk, David Cross, Hugh Dancy, Jin Ha, Josh Hamilton, Alano Miller, Keith Nobbs, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Amber Tamblyn. The organizers say the list is not yet complete.
The six plays are being written by Eboni Booth, Sarah Burgess, Julia Jordan, Steven Levenson, David Lindsay-Abaire and Jonathan Marc Sherman. Each will be directed by someone who has worked as an associate or assistant to Kail: Sherri Eden Barber, Tiffany Nichole Greene, David Ruttura, Kate Sullivan, Patrick Vassel and Deanna Weiner. Two of them hold directing posts on Hamilton, Greene as resident director and Vassel as supervising director.
The schedule is what gives the event its name. Everyone meets at 7PM the evening before for a short orientation; once the actors have gone home, the writers spend the night producing 10-minute plays. Casts receive their scripts in the morning, rehearse with their directors through the day, and perform at 7PM that night, with no second performance.
“The 24 Hour Plays is a terrific organization — one where I first worked on a Broadway stage and where I met many of my ongoing collaborators,” Kail said. “I’m delighted many of them will be participating this year and I can’t wait to see what this talented group of theater-makers cook up for the evening!”
Artistic director Mark Armstrong described the lineup as a mix of “repeat offenders and new friends.” The money raised goes to the organization’s year-round education and artist programs, among them The 24 Hour Plays Nationals, a free professional development intensive for early-career theater artists in New York and Los Angeles. Sponsors this year include The Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams Family Foundation and JPMorgan Chase.
Tickets for the November 2 performance start at $150 and are sold through the organization’s website, 24HourPlays.org, which also lists VIP packages and sponsorship options.
