THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: ERAS
THE EARLY 24: 1995 – 2001
THE STORY: In October 1995, the first production of The 24 Hour Plays took place on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Inspired by Scott McCloud’s 24 hour comics (comic books composed in a single day), founder Tina Fallon saw an opportunity to bring together a community of creative artists in a time-limited experiment. The project was intended as a one-time-only event; clearly, that did not remain the case. From 1995 to 1999, Crux Productions oversaw the event — until the economics proved unwieldy and The 24 Hour Company was formed.
KEY PLAYERS: Founder of The 24 Hour Plays Tina Fallon, joined by Lindsay Bowen and Kurt Gardner in 1997 — and perhaps most importantly, future Tina husband, Sam Sifton.
A PLAY YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN: The future Pulitzer finalist Will Eno (pictured left) wrote his first play that first night in October 1995 on a manual typewriter!
THE BIRTH OF BROADWAY: 2001 – 2015
THE STORY: On September 24, 2001, just two weeks after the attack on the World Trade Center, luminaries of film and television gathered to perform The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway — a true instance of rapid-response theater. The show continues on Broadway annually. Partner productions emerged with a variety of organizations, and 2007 saw the birth of both The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals and The 24 Hour Musicals.
KEY PLAYERS: Producer Anna Strout joins the team for The 24 Hour Plays inaugural gala in 2001, quickly becoming a key player.
A PLAY YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN: A David Lindsay-Abaire original starring Andrew McCarthy, Rachel Dratch, Cheyenne Jackson, and Cady Huffman — and Local One stagehands giving Elizabeth Berkley a (fully-clothed) shower on stage.
NEW LEADERSHIP: 2015 – 2019
THE STORY: In January 2015, Tina Fallon stepped down as the Founding Producer of The 24 Hour Plays, handing off leadership of the company to current artistic director Mark Armstrong. The era is also marked by new partnerships, including shows benefitting The Lilly Awards and a new residency for The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, as well as the beginning of an expanded commitment to our independent charitable mission to respond to the world, build partnerships, and form communities.
KEY PLAYERS: Current Artistic Director of The 24 Hour Plays and the company’s first-ever full time staff member, Mark Armstrong.
A PLAY YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN: John Mulaney as diapered boxer “Baby Onesie” in Jonathan Coulton and Aimee Mann’s Split Decision, directed by Kathleen Marshall and featuring a cameo appearance from none other than producer Jordan Roth!
GOING VIRAL: 2020 – 2021
THE STORY: At the onset of the global pandemic in March 2020, The 24 Hour Plays staff was stymied. How could a show built around radically gathering continue operations at a time of social distancing? Soon, the team found the solution: The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues. In the next three years, the program would spawn 44 cycles with more than five hundred individual monologues and scenes.
KEY PLAYERS: Coleman Ray Clark, deputy director and pioneer of The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues; Madelyn Paquette, promoted in this era to General Manager of The 24 Hour Plays.
A PLAY YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN: Any one of six separate Viral Monologues starring Hugh Dancy over the course of the program’s life. They’re still available for free viewing on YouTube!
GROWTH MINDSET: 2022-PRESENT
THE STORY: Back from the global pandemic, The 24 Hour Plays launched into action with the triumphant in-person return of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The 24 Hour Plays: Los Angeles, and The 24 Hour Musicals, as well as the expansion of company staff from two to five. The return to in-person was accompanied by a massive expansion of partner shows into communities as diverse as Little Rock, AR; Wilton, NH; and Sacramento, CA, as well as the expansion of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals cohort — as well as a new residency and partnership with Pace University’s Sands College of the Performing Arts.
KEY PLAYERS: Staff members Mark Armstrong, Madelyn Paquette (now Managing Director), Serena Berman and Jake Beckhard — program co-directors of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals.
A PLAY YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN: 24 Hour all-star Jesse Eisenberg’s debut as a composer for The 24 Hour Musicals, The Chatty Dictator — starring George Abud as a violent dictator just looking for a friend he won’t put to death.
PRODUCTION ARCHIVE
THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: LOS ANGELES
September 2024 | March 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2017 | 2014 | 2013
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