The Upstate’s annual crazy, fun, sleep deprived, live event is happening this Saturday when Anderson’s Market Theatre presents its seventh 24 Hour Musical.
Every summer, Market Theatre brings together performing artists and volunteers from around the Upstate with the goal of producing a Broadway-style musical production in only 24 hours.
The selected show – either The Little Mermaid or Cinderella – will be revealed to the cast and crew at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 6. Then at 7 p.m., actors begin learning lines and rehearsing dance numbers while others work on costumes and sets.
At 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7, Market Theatre will present the full-scale musical at Henderson Auditorium in the Rainey Fine Arts Center on the campus of Anderson University. The show is free to attend, however donations are encouraged with all proceeds benefiting Foothills Alliance.
“We literally get there at six and eat dinner, they present it at 6:30, then at 7 we go straight into rehearsal,” said Noah Austin, an actor who is participating in his sixth 24 Hour Musical. “We’ll start with the biggest number so everyone is in the choir rooms learning the songs, then we’ll split up for the different tasks of learning the scenes and different songs.”
Nap and coffee breaks are worked into the schedule, and all lines and songs are memorized, said Market Theatre Corporate Development Director Michelle Denmark.
More than 100 area actors auditioned online for the 24 Hour Musical, with around 40 selected.
“They know they’re part of the show, they just don’t know what the show will be until Friday night,” Denmark said.
The Market Theatre was founded in 2015 by former Anderson University students Dalton and Meghan Cole and Noah and Carlie Taylor with a $12,000 startup grant from Accelerate Anderson Downtown Challenge. Housed in the Anderson Arts Center, the market launched its inaugural season with The Fantasticks in February 2016.
Today, Market Theatre offers a year-round mainstage season, including the annual 24 Hour Musical, free Shakespeare in the Park, theatre for youth productions, plays and classic musicals. Its free performances of Mamma Mia! this July drew 1,000 attendees per night for a six-night performance in Carolina Wren Park in downtown Anderson.
For more information, visit MarketTheatre.org or call (864) 729-2999.
