On Monday, April 9, Roundabout Theatre Company’s Roundabout Underground playwriting alumni gathered to present The 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Joshua Harmon, Jiréh Breon Holder, Meghan Kennedy, Alex Lubischer, Ming Peiffer and Jenny Rachel Weiner were among the six playwrights who presented six brand new short plays written & rehearsed over the course of a single day.
Jiréh Breon Holder’s Beautiful Music,featured André De Shields as Blue, Betty Gilpin as Madam, Denis O’Hare as Yellow and Leslie Uggams as Red, with Charles Randolph-Wright at the helm, Assistant Director Kevin Kantor and Assistant Stage Manager Rachel Winfield.
Check out the full lineup below.
Lea DeLaria or Tiffany Trump by Joshua Harmon, Directed by Mark Brokaw
Cast
Lea DeLaria/Tiffany Trump………..Lea DeLaria
Gideon……………………………………………Gideon Glick
Sas…………………………………………………Sas Goldberg
Josh………………………………………………Josh Hamilton
Assistant Director……………………….Ivey Lowe
Assistant Stage Manager…………. Bria Robinson
Uncanny Valley by Ming Peiffer, directed by Whitney White
Cast
Amos Reardon……………………………..Mike Carlsen
Mariana Perez………………………………Jackie Cruz
Osato Jones…………………………………..Andre Royo
Osato’s Assistant………………………….Max Reinhardsen
Shudu……………………………………………..Shaunette Renee Wilson
Age Old by Meghan Kennedy, directed by Marc Bruni
Cast
Dick………………………………………………….Reed Birney
Jane………………………………………………….Krysta Rodriguez
Harry and Sex Spanish Teacher…Jeremy Shamos
Sally………………………………………………….Sarah Steele
Assistant Director………………………….Miranda Hayman
Assistant Stage Manager……………..Geoff Boronoda
The Unicorn by Alex Lubischer, directed by Theresa Rebeck
Cast
Tilda…………………………………………………Nina Hellman
Jeff……………………………………………………Danny Hoch
The Unicorn……………………………………Richard Kind
Miss Anniston’s Assistant…………..Cristin Milioti
Wayne……………………………………………..Ben Rappaport
Assistant Director………………………… Victor Cervantes
Assistant Stage Manager……………..Michelle Tuite
I ❤ My Coven by Jenny Rachel Weiner, directed by Giovanna Sardelli
Cast
Amanda……………………………………………Genevieve Angelson
Grace…………………………………………………Anna Baryshnikov
Rona…………………………………………………..Beanie Feldstein
Bobby…………………………………………………Franchesca Ramsey
Greg……………………………………………………Arian Moayed
Assistant Director………………………….. Kyle Michael Yoder
Assistant Stage Manager……………….Hollis Duggans
Musical guests included Adam Gwon and Friends, Doug Lyons & Ethan Pakchar, and Addi & Jacq (a musical duo made up of Addi McDaniel and Jacqueline Kerrod).
All proceeds from the evening benefit Roundabout Underground and the New Play Initiative, programs focused on discovering and cultivating emerging playwrights and artists.
The 62-seat Black Box Theatre, below the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, allows Roundabout to take artistic risks that are better suited for a more intimate space.
Through the New Play Initiative, Roundabout proves its devotion to the development and production of new works by significant writers and artists. The Roundabout Underground program in particular provides substantial artistic and financial resources to emerging playwrights to stage their debut productions in New York and on Roundabout’s stages. In addition to producing their first play, writers receive a commission for a future play, showing a level of commitment to writers’ careers and the future of theatre in New York that is unparalleled. The New Play Initiative has discovered and brought audiences some of the most important new voices in theatre and is dedicated to creating a diverse canon for the future of theatre. To learn more about Roundabout’s commitment to the development of new work, visit New Play Initiative.
Roundabout Underground showcases new plays that will either give a debut production to an emerging writer or director, or allow an experienced director to go back to his/her creative roots. Jill Rafson (Director of New Play Development) serves as Artistic Producer for this initiative that continues to be a creative breeding ground for nurturing new talent.
Prior Underground productions include the acclaimed world premieres of Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate (2007), Steven Levenson’s The Language of Trees (2008), Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days (2009), Kim Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still (2010), David West Read’s The Dream of the Burning Boy (2011), Andrew Hinderaker’s Suicide, Incorporated (2011), Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews (2012), Meghan Kennedy’s Too Much, Too Much, Too Many (2013), Jeff Augustin’s Little Children Dream of God (2015), Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone (2015), Jenny Rachel Weiner’s Kingdom Come (2016), Martín Zimmerman’s On the Exhale (2017), Jiréh Breon Holder’s Too Heavy for Your Pocket (2017), and Alex Lubischer’s Bobbie Clearly (2018). Ming Peiffer’s Usual Girls will debut in Fall 2018.
THE 24 HOUR PLAYS bring together extraordinary artists to create time-limited theater around the world. In addition to The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway and The 24 Hour Musicals, regular events take place in London, Los Angeles, Dublin, Germany, Minneapolis, Athens, Helsinki, Mexico City and Florence. Through collaborations with organizations including The Old Vic Theatre, Dublin Youth Theatre, Urban Arts Partnership, Cornerstone Theater Company, The Orchard Project, Bennington College, Hennepin Theatre Trust, The University of Minnesota-Duluth and The Del Sole Foundation, The 24 Hour Plays have raised millions of dollars for charities. Each summer, The 24 Hour Plays partner with the New School for Drama to bring together the best actors, directors, playwrights and producers 25 and under for an intensive professional experience. Licensed affiliates have produced their own versions of The 24 Hour Plays in regional and professional theaters, colleges and universities, and just about everywhere you can find a curtain and a stage. 24hourplays.com/off-broadway/
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com
Backstage Pass with Lia Chang 