Jennifer Aniston; Ashton Kutcher; Demi Moore
Jennifer Aniston; Ashton Kutcher; Demi Moore

NEW YORK, Nov 10, 2009 / FW/ — Now on its 9th year, THE 24 HOUR PLAYS ON BROADWAY attracts some of entertainment’s biggest names as they join forces to participate in a rite of extreme live performance: writing, directing, and performing six original short plays, all in just 24 hours!

This year’s impressive list include: Aasif Mandvi, Amber Tamblyn, Anthony Mackie, Ashton Kutcher, Billy Crudup, Brooke Shields, Claudie Blakley, David Cross, Demi Moore, Diane Neal, Emmy Rossum, Eva Mendes, Fisher Stevens, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, Jeremy Sisto, Julia Stiles, Leslie Bibb, Liev Schreiber, Michael Ealy, Michael Kenneth Williams, Naomi Watts, Rachel Dratch,
Rosario Dawson, Rosie Perez, Sam Rockwell, Tracie Thoms; playwrights, David Lindsay-Abaire, Nathan Jackson, Stephen Belber, Theresa Rebeck, Warren Leight, Nina Persson and Nathan Larson.

The creative process for THE 24 HOUR PLAYS ON BROADWAY began at 10PM on Sunday, November 8th – the night before the show – when a group of six writers, six directors, 24 actors, two musical guests, and a production staff gathered at the American Airlines Theatre.

Jan-Patrick Schmitz; Emmy Rossum
Jan-Patrick Schmitz; Emmy Rossum

After casts and crews have been briefed, each writer was tasked with composing a ten-minute play by 7 AM the following morning, when the directors returned to read and select their piece. The casts met for the first time at 8 AM and, over the next 12 hours the plays are rehearsed and produced for a live presentation.

At 8:00 PM, ink barely dry, the six new plays – interspersed with six musical acts – was performed for a live audience.

Held at the American Airlines Theater, the 2009 24 HOUR PLAYS ON BROADWAY is the third year that Montblanc, a global luxe manufacturer of classic fine writing instruments, handcrafted timepiece collections and timeless jewelry designs, is the title sponsor.

Benefiting Urban Arts Partnership, a charity that brings arts education programs into New York City public schools, THE 24 HOUR PLAYS ON BROADWAY performance contributes to the funding needed to keep these very important programs for students alive.

Montblanc’s continued support is born out of the brand’s pledge to encourage arts patronage and proper funding of arts education initiatives for aspiring young artists; a goal that is not only at the heart of Montblanc’s philosophy of helping others but is also at the center of the efforts executed by the charity beneficiary, Urban Arts Partnership.

Liev Schreiber; Naomi Watts; Billy Crudup; Eva Mendes
Liev Schreiber; Naomi Watts; Billy Crudup; Eva Mendes

“In these difficult times Montblanc is especially committed to supporting arts programs in the U.S. and wants to ensure that these beneficial activities are readily available to our youth,” said Jan-Patrick Schmitz, President & CEO, Montblanc North America.

“It is for this very reason that Montblanc remains committed to The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway and Urban Arts Partnership so we can lend voices and assistance to programs whose contributions help to nourish arts and culture and allow students to realize their creative dreams.”

This year marks the first time ever that Montblanc initiated an online writing contest through which aspiring writers were invited to submit writing samples for consideration for a walk on role as a contributing writer to one of the six plays that will be written and performed within 24 hours.

In addition to the writing contest, Montblanc will once again introduce a writing instrument that will be cleverly integrated by one of the writers into their play.

Preceded in past years by the surprise appearance of the Marlene Dietrich and Étoile fountain pens respectively, this year’s performance will introduce the Special Edition Ingrid Bergman, an exquisitely crafted writing instrument created in homage and celebration of one of the greatest international stars in the history of entertainment.

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