Jim Brochu, author and star of ZERO HOUR, Off-Broadway's newest hit, will celebrate the life and career of theatre legend Zero Mostel on Wednesday, December 9th at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (1972 Broadway at 66th Street). The event is free to the public.
Jim Brochu will be joined in this very special celebration of
Zero Mostel by special guests including
Frances Sternhagen,
Sheldon Harnick, Louis Kerz Hirschfeld, and Mrs. Burton (Lynn) Lane. The evening will be hosted by
Kurt Peterson and moderated by theatre historian
Peter Filichia.
ZERO HOUR opened on November 22nd to rave reviews, and the strictly limited engagement is set to run through January 31st at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46th Street). Three-time Academy Award nominee
Piper Laurie directs ZERO HOUR, which was originally produced in Los Angeles, where it received the Ovation Award for Best New Play.
Starring
Jim Brochu as
Zero Mostel, ZERO HOUR is set at Mostel's West 28th Street painting studio where a naïve reporter attempts to interview the famously volatile actor, prompting an explosion of memory, humor, outrage, and juicy backstage lore. It is July 1977 and the actor is giving his final interview before leaving for the pre-Broadway tryout of The Merchant in Philadelphia. Mostel only played one performance as Shylock before his sudden death at the age of 62.
ZERO HOUR traces Mostel's early days growing up on the Lower East Side as the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrant parents, through his rise as a stand-up comedian, from the Borscht Belt to Manhattan's most exclusive supper clubs, and from the devastation of the blacklist to his greatest Broadway triumphs, most notably as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and working through his love-hate relationship with
Jerome Robbins.
The Off-Broadway premiere of ZERO HOUR is produced by
Kurt Peterson and
Edmund Gaynes in association with The Peccadillo Theater Company.
For more information about ZERO HOUR, visit
www.zerohourshow.com.
Photo: Jim Brochu and Steve Schalchin
Photo credit: Eugene Lovendusky
