Eagan's Laura Osnes to host '24 Hour Plays' at Pantages Theatre

Broadway veteran Laura Osnes hosts this year's "24 Hour Plays," March 26. /Hennepin Theatre Trust

When they wake up on March 25, they will have no idea what they'll be doing for the next day but, by 8 p.m. March 26, a bunch of local actors will need to be ready to perform in "The 24 Hour Plays."

Children's Theatre Company and Broadway veteran (as well as two-time Tony Award nominee, for "Cinderella" and "Bonnie and Clyde") Laura Osnes will host the show at Pantages Theatre, featuring six short plays that have been devised (with a few guidelines) and rehearsed in a day. Local actors including Hope Nordquist, Tolu Eiksolu and Stephen Yoakam will be joined by Apple Valley native and TV/movie actor Maria Thayer ("Strangers With Candy," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall") and Kendra Kassebaum -- fresh from Broadway's "Come From Away" -- in the six plays.

Tickets to the evening are $35 and they're available at 800-982-2787 or hennepintheatretrust.org. Proceeds will benefit Spotlight Education, an arts program for local high school students, and theater scholarships for University of Minnesota Duluth students.