One Night Stand

"One Night Stand" is nail-biting, poignant and very funny--a depiction of the mysterious workings of the creative process and the gut-wrenching anxiety that comes with performing. The movie features some incredibly talented Broadway stars (Cheyenne Jackson, Mandy Gonzalez, Alicia Witt, Richard Kind, Rachel Dratch, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and many others) and gives you a glimpse into their process--what it's like to pull together a performance and make it look effortless, when in fact it is anything but. The movie is inspiring and totally captivating. I think it would be great to share with children, and anyone interested in the arts.

For anyone who wants a behind-the-scene view of the making of a Broadway show, this movie is for you. It tells the story of a group of actors, directors, writers, choreographers thrown together for 24 hours. They go from blank computer screen to full performance in one day. It's funny (love Rachel Dratch), it's tense and really informative. I just couldn't imagine that lyrics can be written, composed, and sung within such a short time--and on no sleep at all. It's a motivator for anyone involved in the creative fields--amazing what can be accomplished when deadlines loom. Well done, Elisabeth Sperling, so well edited.

Apparently first released in 2009 in Australia (where I got my copy), this 2012 U.S. release documents the second "24 Hour Musical" benefit held at the Gramarcy Theatre in Manhattan where a group of rising composers and lyricist/writers were put together with a solid group of stage actors, directors, choreographers and lighting technicians to put together four 15 minute musicals between 8pm one night and an 8pm benefit performance the next.

The process is ragged, intense and scary and ultimately surprisingly satisfying. At only 70 minutes, the documentary would have benefited from an additional ten to fifteen minutes screen time in the performance section showing the pay-off of all the effort - and a relaxation of the presumed restriction on showing unlimited stretches of the "finished" performances so that the audience gets a better feel for the quality of the work. The film makers DO give a healthy measure of that quality by shuffling brief clips of each of the four musicals (which were performed one after the other on stage) across each other so that all four ate seen essentially simultaneously with the audience left to sort them out in their minds. All of them leave us wanting more of mini-shows (expanded sketches really) NO one is likely to mount again. The flashes of wit and error and salvation from the cast - with reaction shots from the creators and theatre audience are delightful even so - and any time one gets a chance to see performances of the likes of these performers (especially the three expert comedians in the doctor sketch!) it is a chance not to be missed.

The 24 Hour Musical project seems to be ongoing - it would be wonderful if we got another filming of one or two of them!

"One Night Stand" is a wonderful musical comedy documentary where Rachel Dratch, Cheyenne Jackson, Richard Kind, a bunch of other great actors and many talented writers and composers try to write, memorize, stage and perform four short musicals in 24 hours. This turns out to be somewhere between extremely difficult and impossible. Watching them try is both hilarious and terrifying.

"One Night Stand" might be your only chance to watch real, legitimate actors you have seen on, say, "Modern Family" feel like they are going to fail and die. Rachel Dratch, who must sing, looks like she has volunteered to be locked in a room with a hive full of bees.

All that, and the movie is funny, too. Plus, you get to watch ideas as they evolve from the feverish scribblings of desperate composers the night before to fully evolved bits on stage. There's a great sequence where Scarlett Strallen, best known for playing Mary Poppins, learns and then eventually performs a dance move known as a "stripper drop." This is a movie that will not disappoint.