Phillipa Soo, Billy Eichner, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ashley Park and More Join 100+ Artists for THE ARS NOVA FOREVER TELETHON

Ars Nova has announced additional details for The Ars Nova Forever Telethon, a 24-hour livestream featuring more than 100 artists celebrating Ars Nova's past and present, while raising funds to support the company's artistic programs throughout the unconventional 2020-2021 season. The free online event will begin at 6pm EST on December 4 and run non-stop until 6pm EST on December 5 at https://arsnovanyc.com/telethon. The Ars Nova Forever Telethon will be available on-demand until 6pm EST on December 8.

Taking inspiration from classic TV marathons, The Ars Nova Forever Telethon will feature 12 two-hour blocks of programming spotlighting some of Ars Nova's most beloved shows, artists, alums and friends. Some of the newly announced participating artists include Billy Eichner, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ashley Park, Freestyle Love Supreme, Robin Lord Taylor, Kyra Sedgwick, Brooke Shields, Lea DeLaria, Bridget Everett, Phillipa Soo, Ben Sinclair, James Monroe Iglehart, Joe Iconis, Betty Gilpin, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Matt Rogers, Amber Gray, Lilli Cooper, Heather Christian, Jason Tam, Ashley Pérez Flanagan and more who join previously announced hosts Rachel Chavkin, Sakina Jaffrey, Dave Malloy, Isaac Oliver, Larry Owens, and Natalie Walker. A detailed list of participating artists follows.

Programming highlights include:

The Kickoff, hosted by Ashley Pérez Flanagan and Grace McLean, features a family of Ars Nova artists, past and present, coming together to launch this 24-hour extravaganza.

In The Comet Comes Home, hosted by Rachel Chavkin and Dave Malloy, the cast and creative team of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 reunite to tell their story from Ars Nova to Broadway through performances, conversation, and tributes.

In So You Think You Can KPOP, hosted by Jason Tam, party with cast members from the Ars Nova production of KPOP as they celebrate the Broadway bound, game-changing music theater phenomenon.

Hip-hop improv masters Freestyle Love Supreme are ready to share the junk in their trunk during Thon-Tha-Thon-Thon-Thon with Freestyle Love Supreme, a celebration of their long road from Ars Nova to Broadway.

An all-star lineup joins hosts Matt Rogers (HBO Max's Haute Dog and co-host of Las Culturistas podcast) and Shalewa Sharpe (HBO's 2 Dope Queens) for a special double-header edition of Showgasm, Ars Nova's variety-show-meets-party.

Isaac Oliver, author of Intimacy Idiot, returns to Ars Nova for Isaac Oliver's Lonely Quarantine, a late night romp with special guests, games, and brand-new stories.

Musical theater aficionados Larry Owens and Natalie Walker host Boom Crunch Zoom Brunch: A Celebration of Theatrical Choices, a midmorning cabaret celebrating the greatest performance choices in Broadway history.

Some of Ars Nova's favorite comedians join hosts Mahayla Laurence and Matt Gehring for Cartoon Camp and provide live commentary for a very different kind of Saturday morning cartoons.

In The Witching Hour With The Neon Coven, experience weird and witchy dance party vibes from wherever you are with The Neon Coven, the performance collective behind the hit nightclub experience OSCAR AT THE CROWN.

Inspired by the Ars Nova production of Small Mouth Sounds and hosted by Sakina Jaffrey, Morning Meditations begins the weekend off right by slowing things down with an in-home retreat featuring deep breathing, reflection and relaxation.

In The Finale for The Future, hosted by Lilli Cooper and Joél Perez, Ars Nova's family of artists comes together to bring it all home with a sneak peek at the daring work that will define Ars Nova's future.

The Ars Nova Forever will also feature performances and appearances by Julia Abueva, César Alvarez, Frankie Alvarez, Cathy Ang, Brittain Ashford, Jaclyn Backhaus, Courtney Bassett, Gelsey Bell, Nick Belton, Katja Blichfeld, Brian Bogin, Rachel Bonds, Hannah Bos, Michael Breslin, Salty Brine, Starr Busby, Andrew R. Butler, Nikki Calonge, Josh Canfield, Kennedy Caughell, Karen Chee, Manik Choksi, Claudia Chopek, Heather Christian, Gavin Creel, Lea DeLaria, Blake DeLong, Sonia Denis, Vinny DePonto, Dickie DiBella, Billy Eichner, Erik Ehn, Naomi Ekperigin, Bridget Everett, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Patrick Foley, Peter Friedman, Laura Galindo, Nick Gaswirth, Alex Gibson, Betty Gilpin, Amber Gray, Deepali Gupta, Stephanie Hsu, Khiyon Hursey, Joomin Hwang, Joe Iconis, James Monroe Iglehart, Michael R. Jackson, Kyle Jarrow, Mitra Jouhari, Jinwoo Jung, Stephen Karam, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jennifer Kidwell, Billy Kiessling, Blaine Krauss, Arthur Lewis, Chris Lowell, Andrew Mayer, Karyn Meek, Sammy Miller, James Monaco, Kaila Mullady, Shoba Narayan, Lila Neugebauer, Ryan O'Connell, Emily Oliveria, Ashley Park, Paul Pinto, Pearl Rhein, Phil Romano, Kyra Sedgwick, Scott R. Sheppard, Brooke Shields, Rona Siddiqui, Leigh Silverman, Ben Sinclair, Tessa Skara, Peter Smith, Phillipa Soo, Scott Stangland, Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan, Babak Tafti, Robin Lord Taylor, Stephanie Wright Thompson, Alex Timbers, Anthony Veneziale, Cathryn Wake, Jason "SweetTooth" Williams, Beau Willimon, Bess Wohl, Lauren Worsham, Katrina Yaukey, John Yi, Paloma Young, and more.

Please visit https://arsnovanyc.com/telethon for more information including performance times and sponsorship opportunities.

The complete lineup for The Ars Nova Forever Telethon will be announced on December 1.

When theaters shuttered in March, Ars Nova made the commitment to pay all individuals who were scheduled to work through June 30, 2020, for a total of about $685,000. This fall, in addition to continuing its financial commitments to artists and staff, Ars Nova has distributed $100,000 in emergency grants to resident artists, created a new streaming platform to showcase their work, and launched Ars Nova Experiences to facilitate the creation of tactile works that are safe for the COVID age.

Ars Nova's Founding Artistic Director Jason Eagan commented, "The scale of our direct support for artists this season is only possible with the help of the community. So, when the slightly insane idea for a 24 hour telethon arose, we all perked up, as it creates a fun way to bring Ars Nova artists together virtually and seemed just as ambitious as our dreams of continuing to support theater-makers during this difficult time. We hope folks will rally around this event and make sure Ars Nova can flourish into the future."

The Ars Nova Forever Telethon is the marquee event of Ars Nova's yearlong fundraising efforts and will take place in lieu of an in-person Nova Ball in 2020. It's anticipated to be Ars Nova's most ambitious benefit to date. The Telethon is sponsored by Nicole Brodeur & Alex Payne, Dana Kirchman & Mark Wiedman, Alisa & Scott Lessing, Jenny & Jon Steingart, Diana DiMenna, Victor Edozien, Rick Feldman & Susan Horowitz, Tim Forbes, Deeksha Gaur & Joe Slaughter, Sylvia Golden, Jason Kemper & Thor Perplies, David & Jennifer Miner, Purrington Moody Weil LLP, Doug & Debbie Rappaport and Jenna Segal.