The ever-charming Jesse Tyler Ferguson talks about his upcoming TV series, his obsession with RuPaul's "Drag Race", and what its like to put on a musical in 24 Hours...

Hey Jesse! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk during your busy schedule. You've got a lot going on these days, Mister, so let's get right down to it, shall we? Formalities first: How are things? Life treating you well?

First off, thank you for asking me to do this. I LOVE to talk about myself :)
Life is really great. I have been staying busy all whilst enjoying the beautiful LA weather! (I was meaning to use the word "Whilst" somewhere in this Q&A. I am pleased that I knocked it out so soon!)

So you're about to partake in 24 Hour Musicals in New York soon. What's that all about?

The 24 Hour Project is a wild ride. Basically a group of writers create a 15-minute musical over the course of a night. The actors come in the next morning and learn the show, memorize it, stage it and then perform it that evening. The whole process from beginning to end takes 24 hours. It ends up being such an exhilarating experience for both the audience and the artists. Most actors, myself included, usually like to feel well-rehearsed and polished before getting up on stage. I think it is exciting for the audience to see us sweat a little. And for the writers, god bless them, it is exhausting. Everyone kinda coasts on pure adrenaline...well, the adrenaline and fear.

Now, you've done this before, so clearly you're a pro, but that sounds of lot of chaos and pressure to put together an entire musical in such a short amount of time. You nervous?

They have been doing the 24 Hour Plays for years but last year was the first annual 24 Hour MUSICALS last year, which I was involved in. I don't know if anyone can call themselves a "pro" of this crazy concept.

What I remember enjoying so much about doing it last year was this sense of complete unity. Everyone is in the same boat. Its a runaway train everyone chooses to board at the start of the day. It is a remarkably well-oiled machine. Everyone stays fairly calm. Well, last year there WAS a last minute mad dash to Claudia Sheer's apartment to retrieve her "Tooth Fairy" costume that she happened to have in her closet. (Don't ask).

There is almost no time to be nervous because you are trying to memorize lines and dance steps and harmonies. You walk out into the hallway and you have Victoria Clarke drilling her lines with Cheyenne Jackson. You have Celia Keenan-Bolger and Gavin Creel have a joint panic attack while Nellie McKay works out a song on her ukulele. Seriously. It's quite a scene.

It seems like something like this would require a great deal of spontaneity and thinking on-your-feet. How are your improv skills? 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee involved quite a bit of improv. Do you think that experience gives you an advantage for this?

My improv skills are OK. I think i am pretty good at "keeping the ball in the air". And in the case of SPELLING BEE, I had the good fortune of working with some AMAZING actors and improvisers. Really all I had to do was stay present and try to play off them. But I honestly don't think ANYTHING can prepare you for an experience like THE 24 HOUR MUSICALS. The best asset to have is an open mind and a massive amount of trust in your fellow actors.

This year's 24 Hour Musicals has such an amazing cast! Idina Menzel, Bebe Neuwirth, Cheyenne Jackson, Alicia Witt, Rachel Dratch, Mo Rocca, Stephen Pasquale, Tracie Thoms, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Ted Sperling, Tamara Tunie (to name a few). Anybody in particular that you're excited about seeing/working with?

I would be excited to work with ANY of these amazing performers. That is one of the most exciting parts of this experience. You get to rub elbows with people you might never have gotten to work with otherwise. Last year I got to be in a piece with Ashley Atkinson, Kerry Butler and Nellie McKay. I was fans of all three of them for years but never had the opportunity to work with them...it was really special. I am friends with a lot of the performers this year: Idina Menzel, Rachel Dratch, Mo Rocca, Steven Pasquale. It would certainly be a joy to be trapped in a room with any of those people for a full day.

Sounds like its going to be an amazing event...but you've got a lot of great things going on off the stage as well. For instance, you were just in LA filming something...details, please.

I was shooting a great pilot for ABC. It is currently called "My American Family"...but I think that title is changing. It follows three families with an interesting common thread. The show is very funny, very witty. Smart, smart writing...a GREAT cast. Steve Levitan and Chris Lloyd are at the helm of it. I have high hopes for the show. I certainly had a blast shooting the pilot.

You're no stranger to television. How does this role and this show differ from "The Class" and other TV shows you've worked on?

"The Class" was my baptism into TV. It was an AMAZING experience and even though the show was cancelled, I stand behind it one hundred percent. With that show I was so stimulated by the "newness" of television. I had only done theater in NYC, so to be in Hollywood on a Warner Brothers Soundstage with James Burrows directing me...it was a total shift of gears and I LOVED it. EVERYTHING was exciting.

Now, this show is my 4th show here in LA after "The Class", "Ugly Betty" and "Do Not Disturb". The "newness" of it all has naturally faded but it is still really exciting. "My American Family", unlike the last 2 sitcoms I did, is a single camera show. It is shot in a documentary style, much like "The Office". There is much more room for subtle humor and grounded characters. I have never done a show like this and I love it!

Even though "My American Family" is a satire that is supposed to poke fun at "alternative" or "unconventional" families, you and your co-star Eric Stonestreet and media portrayals of an overwhelmingly under-represented, yet highly-significant demographic. Gay families is a rather charged issue these days. How do you feel about that?

I honestly don't think about it too much. I didn't read the script with those issues in mind. What I was drawn to was a VERY well developed and VERY well written character. The script was emailed to me in December. I was in NYC in the middle of a snowstorm. I remember opening the file on my iPhone thinking I would just read a few pages. I couldn't stop reading it....I had to duck into a coffee shop to get out of the snow and finish reading the script...ON MY IPHONE! I knew from page one that the script was really special.

Do you feel any pressure or responsibility to represent these people in any particular way or send a message to the public with this character?

Pressure, no. I feel like my responsibility is to bring forth a genuine character. The writers have given me a very funny, very moving, very real character who happens to be in a stable long term relationship with a man. The originality of the character, Mitchell almost lies in his normality. I think many of the gay characters on television right now (and in the recent past) rely on a "gimmick". I loved "Will and Grace", I love Michael Urie on "Ugly Betty" but I think there is room for a more grounded realistic representation of a homosexual character. I think "Brothers and Sisters" does a great job with that. I am confident that we can continue with that tone. I think my responsibility lies in being up for that task...and I am.
I guess in hindsight I think the show has the potential to be groundbreaking and to be a great sounding board for some current issues. I would never put that "pressure" on it at this stage though. I think right now it needs to just be as good and smart as it can possibly be. If it becomes bigger than that and starts to carry social issues and messages, then wonderful. I would only want it to become that if it was first and fore mostly a great show.

What's your favorite thing on television these days? Guilty pleasures included.

I was OBSESSED with "Rupaul's Drag Race". It was a good day when I heard that it was renewed for a second season. I just hope they don't goose it up too much. I loved the tackiness of it. It looked like it was produced on a dollar. It was genius. I am a big "Lost" fan. I just started getting into "Damages". I don't watch it every year but I decided I would do "American Idol" this year and thank GOD I did. It is fantastic this season. (Go Adam!)

Anything else your fans need to know about in the forseeable future? Any plans to return to the stage?

I am always looking for opportunities to come back to theater. I have a few things brewing...nothing I can talk about yet. Everything is sorta weighing on whether or not "My American Family" gets picked up to series. Stay tuned!

The 24 Hour Musicals will be presented Monday, April 13th, at the Gramercy Theater at 8pm. Visit the website for details.