Zero Mostel Art to Be Auctioned to Benefit BC/EFA At ZERO HOUR

During each performance of ZERO HOUR at the DR2 Theatre, Jim Brochu playing theatre legend Zero Mostel paints an original water-based oil on heavy sketchpad as he talks to his unseen interviewer. Though colors and shapes change with every show, the picture becomes a very meaningful part of the performance and one of a kind souvenir for any lover of art, Theatre Or Zero. These painting are for sale after each performance and will be signed, dated and autographed personally by Jim Brochu. Zero Mostel considered himself a painter first, a passion which actor Jim Bruchu remarkably happens to share.

All proceeds from the sale of these paintings goes to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Each painting has been dated and numbered from the very beginning of the run of Jim Brochu's ZERO HOUR, which recently celebrated its 100th performance Off-Broadway.

"In this solo bioplay directed by Hollywood veteran Piper Laurie, writer and performer Brochu is freakishly convincing as the blustery, brilliant Mostel. It's more than just the ridiculous comb-over, the bug eyes and the Tevye beard. Brochu seems to have captured the soul of the bombastic clown who could wring laughs out of an audience with a bit of mime or a booming punch line...a funny tribute to a funny man." - NY1

"Singularly captivating. Zero Hour is a success. Brochu is the spitting image of the bearish Mostel, down to the strands of hair barely covering his head. His wildly expressive gestures are particularly spot on. It brings Mostel back to life, just the way his fans want him." - The New York Times

"Very funny. Brochu's living restoration has brought Mostel's larger-than-life personality back into the spotlight for a laugh-filled, much-welcomed presentation. - Associated Press

"It all flows and provides plenty of big laughs as well as hushed drama. After a while, you stop caring whether a particular line is Brochu's or Mostel's; all you know is that you've been privy to the work of a great comedian." - The New Yorker

****(FOUR STARS/Critic's Pick) "We owe Jim Brochu a debt of gratitude for Zero Hour, an extraordinary act of reincarnation that restores the outsize actor to us in all of his daunting dimensions. From the moment that Brochu spins around to face the audience, he is a Hirschfeld drawing come to pulsing life. You can't help being swept up in the tornado of energy as Brochu's star turn conjures forth a Zero larger than life and death." - Time Out New York

"The rumors of Zero Mostel's death have apparently been greatly exaggerated. Jim Brochu recalls his subject so uncannily in looks, voice and anarchic spirit that one immediately wants to see him in revivals of Forum and Fiddler. Thirty-two years after Mostel's untimely death, it's a pleasure to have him back on the boards." - New York Post

Three-time Academy Award nominee Piper Laurie directs the production. ZERO HOUR is set at Zero 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 DR2 Theatre is located at 103 East 15 Street, New York (east of Union Square). Performances are Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday matinees at 2 PM, Thursday & Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, and Sunday matinees at 3 PM. Tickets are available through Telecharge.com 212-239-6200. For more information, visit www.ZeroHourShow.com.