Photo Flash

PHOTO FLASH: Debby Boone, America Ferrera, Marc Kudisch, Anthony Rapp, et al. at 24 Hour Musicals

New York City
Debby Boone, America Ferrera, Marc Kudisch, and Anthony Rapp were among the performers in The 24 Hour Musicals, held at Gramercy Theatre, on Monday, March 7. In this benefit for The Exchange and The Orchard Project, eight writers and four directors were tasked with putting together four 15-minute musicals in slightly less than a full day.

In Jonathan Marc Sherman (book) and Michael R. Jackson’s (score) Childhood Sweethearts, a marriage counselor (Amanda Green) delves deep into the psyches of a couple (Kudisch and Julie Reiber) together since the third grade. Joelle Lurie also starred, in the role of the counselor’s significant other. Ted Sperling directed.

The collaboration of Kristoffer Diaz (book/lyrics) and David Kirschenbaum (music and lyrics), Things Can’t Always Be Awesome told the story of the how a mother (Boone) and her two grown daughters (Savannah Wise and Nellie McKay) deal with death, a fire and a zombie apocalypse. Jeffrey Kuhn played a variety of roles. Peter Ellenstein served as director.

Todd Almond (score) and Ann Marie Healy’s (book) musical The Exact Right Thing, directed by Danny Goldstein, found a young woman (Ferrera) being confronted by family and others (Nat Wolff, Tony Yazbeck and Kat Pallardy) as she’s about to take the witness stand during a trial.

The final musical, Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk’s The World is Ending featured Rapp, along with Ashlie Atkinson, Julian Fleisher, and Dee Rosciloi as various stressed-out organs in Charlie Sheen’s body as they try to keep him from exploding. The piece featured some of Sheen’s more outlandish recent sound bytes.