24 hr plays starring Andy

BWW News Desk · Date: Aug 17, 2006

24 hr plays starring Andy

Date: Oct 16, 2006

Lillard, Marguilies, Schreiber, Vardalos, et al. Join The 24 Hour Plays
By: Brian Scott Lipton

Juliana Margulies
(© Joseph Marzullo/RetnaMatthew Lillard, Julianna Margulies, Liev Schreiber, and Nia Vardalos are among the stars who will join previously announced participants Jennifer Aniston, Elizabeth Berkley, and Rachel Dratch in The 24 Hour Plays on Monday, October 23 at the American Airlines Theatre, beginning at 8pm. The event will benefit Working Playground, a not-for-profit cultural organization that uses the arts to educate and inspire students in New York City schools.

Also scheduled to participate are actors Erika Christensen, David Cross, Michael Ealy, Gaby Hoffmann, Anthony Mackie, Sam Rockwell, Pablo Schreiber, Fisher Stevens, Catherine Tate, and Wallace Shawn; playwrights David Lindsay-Abaire, Adam Rapp, and Theresa Rebeck; and directors Miguel Artera, Andrew McCarthy, Ian Morgan, Indhu Rubasingham, and Josie Rourke.

For more information, visit www.24hourplays.com.

Date: Oct 23, 2006

October 23, 2006 -- JULIA Roberts had it easy; Jennifer Anis ton has it hard.

When the "Pretty Woman" star appeared on Broadway last spring, she had a tried-and-true play and weeks of rehearsal time.

Tonight, Aniston will make her Broadway debut in a play written and rehearsed in a single day.

At least she won't be alone.

Julianna Margulies, Liev Schreiber (and his brother Paolo), Nia Vardalos, Rosie Perez, David Cross, Sam Rockwell, Erika Christensen and many others will be performing along with her in "The 6th Annual 24 Hour Plays on Broadway."

The one-night-only occasion, at the American Airlines Theatre on 42nd Street, is a benefit for the Working Playground, a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1991, dedicated to supporting arts programs in underserved New York City public schools.

Here's how the concept works. As you read this article, the performers, working with such directors as Miguel Artera (who helmed Aniston's film "The Good Girl") and Andrew McCarthy (the actor, here working as a director), will be rehearsing six 10-minute plays literally written the night before by such playwrights as David Linday-Abaire, Adam Rapp and Theresa Rebeck.

The results, judging from previous forays both on Broadway and off, will probably be wildly uneven. But there's a real thrill inherent in watching all of these pros performing the theatrical equivalent of walking a high wire without a net.

Tickets ($200-$300) are sold out, but you can ask about cancellations at Smart Tix, (212) 868-4444, or by visiting 24hourplays.com.