Saturday, March 22 at 8pm

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Adults: $39

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Zero Hour contains strong language and adult themes.

Watch excerpts from Zero Hour on You Tube, scene 1

Watch excerpts from Zero Hour on You Tube, scene 2

Volcanic! Outrageous! Immensely talented! Hilarious! Zero Mostel was the 'larger than life' star of "The Producers", "Fiddler on the Roof" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Mostel's stage and screen triumphs - as well as his heartfelt response to the anti-communist witch hunts of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s - are brought to life in "Zero Hour" written and performed by Jim Brochu. Zero Hour is a madcap, Broadway bound portrayal of the tragic fate of a late, great King of Comedy.

"ENTERTAINING! Zero Hour's mix of comedy, tragedy, showbiz history and nostalgia results in a fresh and inventive piece." - Theatremania

"RIVETING! A brilliant portrayal of the Broadway Titan!"

                                                                   - The Desert Sun

JIM BROCHU, BIO:

Recently, Jim Brochu’s caricature was hung on the wall of Sardi’s Restaurant in New York City, a singular tribute to a thirty-year show business career as an actor, writer, director and producer. Currently he is nominated for three L.A. Stage Ovation Awards for Best Actor in a Play, Best Playwright and Best World Premiere Play - all for his work on Zero Hour, his autobiographical one man show about the life of the late, great Zero Mostel.

He was nominated in 2005 as Best Actor in A Musical and won the award for Best Musical for The Big Voice: God or Merman?, presented to him and partner, Steve Schalchlin by the legendary Jerry Herman.

The Big Voice also won the 2003 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Score of a Musical and was included in the  Top 10 Best Theatre Lists in both Los Angeles and Dallas that year.

After studying drama at Carnegie-Mellon University, he spent a season learning his craft at the Surflight Summer Theatre in Beach Haven, New Jersey and made his New York debut in Sid Slon’s production of The Taming Of The Shrew at Town Hall. His off-Broadway credits include Robert Lowell’s Endicott And The Red Cross at the American Place Theatre, Ephraim Kishon’s Unfair To Goliath at the Cherry Lane, Avery Korman’s Skye at Lincoln Center, Don Pippin’s The Contrast at Theatre East and Frank Loesser’s Greenwillow for the Equity Library Theatre.

His television work includes regular stints as Father James on All My Children, Judge Julius Weyburn on The Young And The Restless, Officer Jerry Chandler on the cult-classic Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and the befuddled bailiff on NBC’s Sirota’s Court with Michael Constantine.

His acting career has taken him to regional stages all over the United States, including the Washington, D.C. Theatre Club, the Alliance Theatre  in Atlanta, S.T.A.G.E.S. Repertory Theatre in Houston, The Trinity River Arts Center in Dallas, The Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, Theatre Building Chicago, The Folly Theatre in Kansas City, two seasons at the Goodspeed Opera House where he originated the role of Flint in Something’s Afoot, and the DejaVu Theatre in Los Angeles where he won the Backstage West-DramaLogue Award as Best Actor for his performance as Marvin in Robert Patrick’s T-Shirts.

While working as a stage actor, he appeared in two legendary television commercials: first as a Dancing Raisin for Post Raisin Bran and then as the "Lemon from Outer Space"  with Madge the Manicurist for Palmolive. His television work includes regular stints as Father James on All My Children, Judge Julius Weyburn on The Young and The Restless,  Officer Jerry Chandler on the cult-classic Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman  and the befuddled bailiff, Arthur Ainsley on NBC’s Sirota’s Court with Michael Constantine.

He appeared opposite Bea Arthur in several episodes of Maude and with Telly Savalas on Kojak. Although the part was small, he can also boast that he made his motion picture debut in The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight opposite another newcomer, Robert DeNiro. His acting career has taken him to regional stages all over the United States, including the Washington Theatre Club, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, two seasons at the Goodspeed Opera House where he originated the role of Flint in the murder mystery musical Something’s Afoot, and at the legendary Café DejaVu in Los Angeles where he won the Backstage West-DramaLogue Award as Best Actor for his performance as Marvin in Robert Patrick’s T-Shirts.

While playing Tevye at the Waldo Astoria Dinner Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri – he bet the producer that he could write a play in a week and won the bet. The play, Cookin’ With Gus, was immediately published by Samuel French, has been performed all over the United States and has been translated into several languages for productions all over the world. A huge hit in Quebec, Canada; it was recently taped in French by HBO.

One play led to another and soon Jim was writing full time. For the theatre, he has written and published (Sam French) the comedies  The Lucky O’Learys  with Helen Hunt and Kathleen Freeman,  Fat Chance  with Virginia Capers,  The Lady Of The House with Rue McClanahan and the off-Broadway smash-hit musical,  The Last Session,  which he also directed.

After The Last Session’s New York run (for which he received Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Nominations), the show was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the ten best plays of the 1998-1999 Los Angeles season, garnering him the Oscar Wilde Award and the GLAAD Media Award. Brochu won another Backstage West Award for his direction of the show, along with the Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle Award as Best Playwright.

In Hollywood, his comic writing ability came to the attention of Sid and Marty Krofft who hired him to write their ABC Saturday morning kid’s show Wonderbug and the primetime NBC  variety show Pink Lady and Jeff,  which TV Guide recently named as one of the worst TV shows of all time.  “It killed the variety form as we know it,”  says Brochu,  “but it was hard to write sketch comedy for two Japanese girl singers who spoke no English. Everything had to be written in stone - phonetically.”

He vowed not to write for TV until he got an offer he couldn’t refuse - a call from his idol, Lucille Ball, who had read his play  The Lucky O’Learys  and thought it would be a perfect vehicle for herself and Audrey Meadows. By the time he finished writing the pilot for 20th Century Fox, Miss Ball was not up to doing the project and it never developed. However, what did develop was a deep friendship between Ball and Brochu that resulted in them spending every afternoon together until she died in 1989. Jim chronicled Lucy’s life as she told it to him over the backgammon table in his book, Lucy In The Afternoon, published by William Morrow and named as an alternate selection by The Literary Guild Book Club.

He branched into directing with a production of  Cole Porter’s Can Can starring Yvonne DeCarlo at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City and has gone on to helm over 35 productions, working with stars such as John Travolta, Carol Channing, Donald O’Connor, Garry Marshall, Sid Caesar, Red Buttons, Jerry Lewis, Florence Henderson, Donny Osmond, Larry Hagman, Rip Taylor, Carol Lawrence, Betty Garrett, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Edie Adams, Fayard Nicolas, Penny Singleton, JoAnne Worley, Perry King, Robert Morse,  Peter Allen and Christopher Reeve.

The critics are raving about…

LOS ANGELES TIMES

by F. Kathleen Foley (July 14, 2006)

CRITIC’S CHOICE!

By reports, Zero Mostel was a mass of contradictions who vacillated between the explosive and the tender-hearted.  Directed by Paul Kreppel, “Zero Hour" captures Mostel's rich contradictions in a loving but unvarnished homage as entertaining as the man himself. Jim Brochu seems almost fatefully destined to play Mostel, not only because he knew Mostel and can bring a deeply personal perspective to his portrayal, but because he is an almost uncanny physical match for his subject. Brochu's fine writing highlights the central events of Mostel's life — including his McCarthy-era blacklisting and his recovery from a devastating bus accident — without ever-belaboring chronology. In a subtly bombastic turn, Brochu reintroduces us to the funny, fantastically contrary Mostel. In all his biting intelligence and imperfection, he has been sorely missed.

L.A. WEEKLY

by Deborah Klugman (July 12, 2006)

CRITIC’S CHOICE!

During the 1950s, Zero Mostel became as famous for his politics as for his comic talents. Summoned before HUAC, he not only refused to name names but, unlike many witnesses, goaded his interrogators instead of quavering before them. Writer/solo performer Jim Brochu’s biographical drama is structured as a meeting with a New York Times journalist in 1977 shortly before the comedian’s death. The piece with Brochu portraying a blustering Mostel as arrogantly seizing control of the interview by asking his own questions while snidely taunting his unseen guest as he sketches the man’s portrait. Directed by Paul Kreppel, the narrative then travels from Mostel’s early years as the seventh child born into a large Orthodox Jewish family to his post-blacklist professional successes, achieved more than once in edgy collaborations with Jerome Robbins, whom Mostel despised for naming names and by its end we’ve come to respect and in some ways even feel close to this outsize personality, whose physical girth was matched by an educated wit and a sprawling humanity.

THE DESERT SUN

by Jeff Britton (July 12, 2006)

CRITIC’S CHOICE!

It takes a big man to fill the shoes of the late Zero Mostel and Jim Brochu slips into those loafers perfectly in "Zero Hour," his brilliant portrayal of the Broadway titan  This tribute to Mostel, which he wrote and extensively researched, is even more riveting. Brochu's vignette-filled script is deliciously dense as it unravels this complicated man in all his many paradoxical facets. With his huge expressive blue eyes and his few strands of hair combed forward, Brochu bears a striking resemblance.  A general tirade greets the reporter, a foretaste of what's to come when he vents his fury about the McCarthy era blacklists. The show also reveals Mostel's softer side, eliciting empathy as he details a close brush with death. His debut in Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" ("the absurd leading the absurd") and his White House visit with Eleanor Roosevelt ("I gave her her first blintz") offer juicy backstage lore. The time flies by blissfully.

SHOW MAGAZINE

by Joseph Feinstein (July 19, 2006)

Brochu bats a thousand with Zero Hour. The swagger, ferocity, anger, frustration, but mostly the comedic genius of Samuel "Zero" Mostel as played by Jim Brochu comes to life in the West Coast  Jewish Theatre's production at the Egyptian Arena Theatre. Mostel seems to inhabit Brochu, and that force, those big eyes, that hammering voice is all evident in this excellent portrayal. We never fail to see Zero the comedian, the clever, witty, sarcastic fellow who carries large chips on his shoulders, yet dispenses his lines with an ever-present sense of humor. At no time can you look away, for you are mesmerized by Brochu's words, gestures, and eye contact. His highs and lows, his screams and whispers, his deliberate movements or stationary moments while drawing, sketching and painting are all so well-directed by Paul Kreppel that we are kept on the edge of our chairs. Mr. Brochu has created a hit which will be received with rapt audience attention anywhere he plans to take the show. Zero always felt he was "the third choice" by producers when they needed an actor. I can assure you this play should be your first choice for exquisite theater.

POV

by Michael Menzies (August 12, 2006)

Rush to see Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel in a performance of such size that it could barely fit in Montana. When he first appeared all the breath was knocked out of me: it was Zero Mostel! He was a force of nature - a storm brewing, thunder, lightning and the sun suddenly coming out. He was all weathers, all temperatures; all magnificent - like a Hirschfeld drawing come to life - I swear I counted ten Nina's. He has such danger on stage: it's like watching a savage bear on a fraying leash, ready for the "snap" of the restraint when he pounces on the audience and devours us. And devour us he does with passion and energy and humor and emotion. I was on a rollercoaster of a ride - laughing and crying and cheering and so enraptured and enthralled - nothing else entered my mind.

BACKSTAGE WEST

By Wenzel Jones (July 20, 2006)

The initial, almost startling appearance of Jim Brochu in the role of Zero Mostel, so calls to mind a Hirschfeld caricature of the great comic actor that there is no need for a window of time during which the audience decides whether or not it will accept one distinctive actor playing another. Brochu creates a character that never fails to engage whether or not you know anything about Mostel. His performance is like a painting - a dab of bluster, a wash of insecurity and vibrant fields of talent and charisma applied to a sturdy canvas of humanity which create a rich portrait of the man.

THEATREMANIA

by Les Spindle (July 10, 2006)

In Jim Brochu's entertaining new solo play Zero Hour, the writer-performer gives us a flavorful glimpse at the remarkable life and career of the late, great actor-singer-painter Zero Mostel. The play begins in Mostel's Manhattan art studio in 1977, as he is preparing to play Shylock in a play called The Merchant. (Mostel died during an out-of-town tryout in Philadelphia.) The premise is that a New York Times reporter has come to interview Mostel; in exchange Mostel insists on painting a portrait of the newsman.  In a fully believable development -- based on what we know of Mostel -- the actor takes over the interview, and his bombastic mix of tirades, jokes, digressions, and laments becomes a crash course in his tumultuous life. The multi-talented Brochu captures the all-important wild-eyed look and the actor's idiosyncratic outbursts are fully credible. Zero Hour’s mix of comedy, tragedy, showbiz history, and nostalgia -- results in a fresh and inventive piece.

VARIETY

by Julio Martinez (July 11, 2006)

When Jim Brochu makes his entrance as Zero Mostel, he admirably embodies the flamboyance mood swings and dead-on comic timing of this legendary yockmeister. He is at his best when demonstrating Mostel's ability to level an audience with his exquisitely executed emotional booby traps. Brochu's Mostel flails through his life and career, unabashedly thrusting the reporter into whatever role suits his immediate fancy, be it sounding board, artist's model, foil, confidante, enemy or pal. The piece is chockfull of captivating Mostel bio tidbits --his early desire to become an artist (including his studies at City College of New York), his first real comic outing in 1941 at the downtown

nightclub Cafe Society (on the same bill with Billie Holiday), his courtship and eventual lifelong marriage to former Rockette Kathryn Harkin (whom his orthodox family completely rejected), his never fully realized film career and his transcendent career on Broadway.

TALKIN' BROADWAY

by Sharon Perlmutter (July 10, 2006)

First, Zero Hour is funny - sometimes tremendously so. Once or twice, I found myself not only laughing out loud, but shaking at the memory of the joke several minutes later. But this Mostel doesn't always go for the laugh; his temper can ignite instantaneously, and sometimes his quick shifts from open and friendly to full-voiced insanity are themselves funny. But the play isn't always funny, it is a potent piece of theatre that has something to say.

REVIEWPLAYS.COM

by Cynthia Citron (July 9, 2006)

Zero Mostel, by his own definition, was a “heap of contradictions.”  He was also, according to Jim Brochu, angry, perverse, rude, insulting, and hilarious. Brochu, who onstage looks amazingly like Mostel, invests the role with a blazing passion and a palpable anger.  For actor and playwright Jim Brochu, however, “Zero Hour” has to be one of the greatest achievements of his very extensive career.

NEWS FROM ME

by Mark Evanier  (July 8, 2006)

Jim Brochu in his new one-man play, Zero Hour has managed to magically — don't ask me how  — turn himself into Zero Mostel. Brochu captures the basic absurdity of the way the man thought, rambling from topic to topic, going from non sequitur to non sequitur and having them somehow flow logically from one to the next. It's probably as close as you could ever come to spending time with the genuine article. Should you be in or around Hollywood through mid-August, I suggest you go. And if you're not in this area, just wait. I have a feeling Jim Brochu is going to be  doing this all over America before he's through.

LOS ANGELES CITY BEAT

by Don Shirley (July 22, 2006)

The volatility and theatricality of actor and painter Zero Mostel make him more fit for solo show treatment than many a famous man. Jim Brochu’s script evokes memories of the blacklist and a bus accident to darken the greatest-hits chronology, and Brochu’s sharp performance displays Mostel’s fangs as well as his charm.