Cast your vote for the MONTBLANC Writers Project for The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway
Update: Voting ends tomorrow (11/03/2009) at 12:00 pm EST, so cast your vote now!
Montblanc and Talenthouse recently opened the door for an emerging writer to participate in the 2009 production of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, a benefit for Urban Arts Partnership.
You can view writing samples and watch short video clips of each emerging writers’ submitted work and vote on your favorites through November 4, 2009. The chosen writer will write a play for the celebrity cast of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway to be performed on November 9, 2009 in New York City.
“Talenthouse’s partnership with the Montblanc’s writing initiative is consistent with our goal of helping seasoned as well as up-and-coming artists secure recognition from a global audience”, said Roman Scharf, CEO, Talenthouse. “Talenthouse encourages collaboration between luminaries across an array of disciplines and offers mentoring from acclaimed international artists.”
The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway will begin the night before the show with a group of five writers, the new emerging writer, six directors, 24 actors, two musical guests, and a production crew. After casts and crews have been briefed, each writer is tasked with composing a ten-minute play by 7 AM the following morning, when the directors return to read and select their piece. The casts will meet for the first time at 8 AM, are rehearsed over the next 12 hours and at 8:00 PM, the six new plays and musical acts will be performed for a live audience. Proceeds from the event benefit Urban Arts Partnership to support programs, which provide in-depth integrated arts education to over 60 schools, and 12,000 young people citywide, and foster long lasting partnerships that enhance the educational, artistic and cultural practices of each school community.
We are pleased to announce the six emerging writers who were chosen by a panel at the National Arts Center on October 15, 2009 below.
Please vote for your favorite writers and help choose the one finalist who’s play will be performed on Broadway. To vote, you must first sign into Talenthouse. Mouse over each writers writing sample (click on the full screen button on the right to read) and vote for your favorite writer (the thumbs-up icon).
  |
|
| Bekah Brunstetter Bekah writes plays that are funny and also sad, moving and also delightfully weird. She says,”This is how I process the world, an odd blend of comedy and tragedy, being yanked from one to the other”. Vote for her, and she’ll be sure to do her job with a smile, make people laugh, and perhaps bring cookies! |  |
| Harrison Rivers Harrison’s plays live on the edge of the real and the magical. He values empathetic characterizations, quiet conversations, romance, rural settings, and bold theatricality. He says “I seek to tell stories from new perspectives, to give a voice to people who have much to say but very little agency, to put the rarely exposed onstage”. |  |
| Josh Koenigsberg Josh brings a certain amount of experience to the 24-Hour Plays- he has participated in 5 previous competitions. He acknowledges the fear, and subsequent rewards of such an endeavor. “Putting up a 24-Hour Play is theater at its purest; it demonstrates that one should have no fear of creating art precisely because of the fear-inducing constraints it enforces”. |  |
| Mac Rogers Mac has learned a lot from his previous participations in 24-Hour Plays. “This gets you, as a writer, back to the elemental nature of both creativity and theater. You have to trust your initial impulse, as strange as it may be, and dig into wholeheartedly”. He looks forward to raising him game from his last two 24-Hour Plays. |  |
| Margaret McCloskley Margaret knows the trial and tribulations of being an artist. Working 60 hrs/week while continuing to grow as a writer, she has learned to pick and choose projects carefully. “I know the 24-Hour Company is a special organization and one that reminds me that there are other people out there like me- people who work hard and struggle and still manage to put out great work and create opportunities for themselves”. |  |
| Megan Mostyn-Brown Megan makes it clear: she loves writing plays. And she’s good at it. She writes a fashion copy for Elle Magazine’s website, and knows what it takes to be given as assignment that is due in 24 hours. Whether it be writing a quiz “What Fall Shoe Are You?” to completing a play in 24 hours, she knows how to focus, write quickly, and get something on the page without taking herself too seriously. |  |
|
|
The deadline for voting on Talenthouse is November 3rd 2009 at 12:00 pm EST with the winner of the Montblanc Writers Project for The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway announced just days before the event.
Good luck to all these amazing writers!
