Zero Hour April 27, 2010

'Zero Hour' is set at theater legend Zero Mostel's West 28th Street painting studio where a naive 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.