Page 29 - ATD14NOV2015

PEOPLE & ARTS A29
Saturday 14 November 2015

Benefit draws Jason Biggs, Julia Stiles and Kesha onstage

MARK KENNEDY Krasinski, David Krumholtz, In this 2014 photo, Jason Biggs arrives at the 66th Annual Lindsay-Abaire, Rachel
AP Drama Writer Margarita Levieva, Adri- Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Biggs will be joined by Axler, David Cross, Dael Or-
NEW YORK (AP) — Live the- enne Moore, Diane Neal, other performers in “The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway” the 15th landersmith and Jonathan
ater is stressful for any ac- Rosie Perez, Phylicia Ra- annual benefit which gets actors, writers and directors to come Marc Sherman.
tor, so just imagine how shad, Molly Ringwald, Ju- up with six original short plays over the course of a day. The The whole thing works this
crazy it can be if you’ve lia Stiles, Amber Tamblyn, show starts at 8 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 16. way: The playwrights will
been handed a script only Tracie Thoms and Vanessa (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) gather at 10 p.m. on Sun-
a few hours before having Williams. day and will write a short
to go onstage. “Saturday Night Live” will hours.” monkey touching the elec- play by 7 a.m. the next
That’s what’s facing about be well represented by Biggs agrees: “At some tric fence.” morning. As one might
two dozen brave stars on Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah point during the day be- Directors this year are guess, they can get very
Monday night at the 15th and Cecily Strong and Ra- fore the performance, Andy Fickman, Thomas silly indeed.
annual benefit “The 24 chel Dratch — a nod to we’re like, ‘Why do we do Kail, Leigh Kilton Smith, The celebrity actors —
Hour Plays on Broadway,” that show’s ability to nur- this? Why are we here? Patricia McGregor, Kathy who, to help the process,
which asks actors, writers ture people fast on their Why do we agree to keep Najimi and Eduardo Ponti. have brought in a prop
and directors to come up feet. Biggs and Stiles are re- coming back? It’s like a The writers include David and a costume, as well as
with six original short plays peat offenders at “The 24 reveal a skill and a secret
over the course of a day. Hour Plays on Broadway” desire — are cast and then
“The biggest lesson is to and call it a highlight every rehearse the work for the
have fun and not take year, even though there’s next 12 hours.
yourself too seriously,” said plenty of sweat and stress “The actors have it tough,”
Jason Biggs, the “American getting ready. said Biggs. “But at least
Pie” star. “You’re going to “There’s a weird addic- we’ve gotten some sleep
look like a fool — that’s the tion to it where you keep the night before. These
point.” wanting to come back to writers are there all night
Biggs will be joined by it every year even if you long, under the gun, try-
performers Sasha Alexan- were panicking leading up ing to come up with funny
der, Geoffrey Arend, Lor- to a performance,” said jokes and characters at 4
raine Bracco, Tony Danza, Stiles. “There’s something o’clock in the morning. I’d
Edie Falco, Ashley Fink, so great about seeing how much rather be the actor
Ari Graynor, Kesha, John much can get done in 24 in this scenario.”q