LIVE BLOG: The 24 Hour Plays: Ryan McCartan Inspires

Homegrown actor Ryan McCartan, best known for his recurring role as Diggie on the Disney Channel’s sitcom Liv and Maddie, and for his role as Brad Majors in Fox’s 2016 musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, has come home to perform in The 24 Hour Plays at the Pantages in Minneapolis.

Raised in Eden Prairie and a graduate of Minnetonka High School, McCartan took time to speak to high school and college students during this trip and engage them in an acting workshop. Hear what advice Ryan has for up & coming talent and how Spotlight helped him become the actor he is to today.

A Puerto Rican Muslim and a Russian “half-Jew” Walk into a Bar…

A Puerto Rican Muslim and a Russian “half-Jew” walk into a bar…Ouch. — They should watch where they’re going. Or rather, you can watch them live at The 24 Hour Plays at Pantages Theater, Minneapolis… although someone else might be wearing the taqiyah and yarmulke. Hear these two actors explain:

Votes, Monsters, Crutches

What would happen if Cookie Monster broke a leg the year a new president took office? He’d likely show up on stage with crutches and a shirt that desperately needs to be laundered. Here’s the latest installment of outtakes from The 24 Hour Plays brainstorming session.

The Morning of

Hopefully Timothy Busfield and Melissa Gilbert have gotten a good night’s sleep because they will have a full day ahead of them as they and fellow cast mates learn their lines for one of six plays that are still being perfected, and will be performed this evening at Pantages as a part of The 24 Hour Plays project.

We spoke with the happy duo on Sunday, just before midnight, at Pantages after they were introduced to the writers. They shared with the writers their ideas for the type of roles they would like to play. They even brought along some props to keep the creative juices flowing.

Given Emmy Award-winning Busfield has played numerous characters in his illustrious career, including as Elliot Weston on thirtysomething and Danny Concannon on the TV series The West Wing, what role would he look forward to playing? He tells us in this interview. Whereas Melissa Gilbert, who has an affinity to Minnesota due to her ties to the Guthrie Theater when they produced a stage version of The Little House on the Prairie, says another “M” state has her heart. Find out why from this interview.

The Creative Process

The actors, cast and writers threw some props into a pile to get their creative juices flowing. Watch this space for more than a dozen upcoming videos of the process as the cast discussed their talents and what types of characters they would like to play in Minneapolis version of The 24 Hour Plays.

10:00 p.m. Sunday

The writers are ready to meet the actors!

3 p.m. Sunday

My dog-eared box set of the Little House on the Prairie book series that I’ve owned since my pre-adolescent years still sits on a bookshelf in my home. The Laura Ingalls Wilder classics remain synonymous for me to my favorite then-child actor, Melissa Gilbert, who portrayed the author in the TV series. So it will be my privilege to live blog about Ms. Gilbert’s participation in The 24 Hour Plays at the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis, March 12-13, 2017.

Ms. Gilbert joins her husband, Emmy Award-winner Timothy Busfield (thirtysomething, The West Wing), and actors Justin Kirk (APB/Fox, Weeds/Showtime) Devin Kelley (Frequency/The CW, Resurrection/ABC) Ryan McCartan, (The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again/FOX), Joel McKinnon Miller (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/FOX, Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams) and other cast members with Minnesota ties.

The 24 Hour Plays cast will perform six new works written overnight by Alan Berks, David Darrow, Julia Jordan, Heather Jean Meyer, Christina Ham, and Harrison David Rivers. The writers have two hours on Sunday, March 12, to meet the cast and directors, followed by eight hours (midnight-8 AM) to create their works from scratch. A public performance of the showcase will begin at 8 PM, Monday March 13.

For this special event, the Twin Cities Arts Reader will provide live coverage delivered by guest writers Karen “Kit” Bix, Sheree Curry (me) and Arty Dorman. Look for the posts to begin Sunday evening.

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Sheree Curry

Sheree Curry is an award-winning blogger and business journalist. She holds an MS in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.