‘Let’s put on a show!” Mickey Rooney called to Judy Garland, and suddenly those crazy kids had words and music and a chorus line. Every year since 2008, the 24 Hour Musicals project has been bringing together people who have decided that can work in real life. This year, it begins on Monday.
In 24 hours, they put together four 15-minute musicals, from cast to performance. This endearing, if harebrained, concept benefits an arts charity, which is so briefly mentioned so as to make the whole thing seem more like a dare than a fund-raiser.
Elisabeth Sperling and Trish Dalton’s documentary traces 2009’s effort, which included actors Richard Kind and Rachel Dratch, composer Lance Horne and writer Rinne Groff. Watching these people create on little or no sleep offers a delightful window into just how deep the talent pool still is for New York theater. There’s no diva behavior, although there’s plenty of performance anxiety.
The effort pays off pretty well.
It’s a shame, with all the work and talent that’s documented here, that none of the musicals are shown at anything close to full length. Instead, it’s a greatest-hits approach of showing what are probably the best bits. Well, in the theater they do say you should always leave ’em wanting more.