Back in 2006, my good friend Jim Brochu wrote a play called Zero Hour. When you went to see it, you spent an hour (actually, an hour and forty-two minutes) with Zero Mostel.
Well, actually, it was Jim playing Zero Mostel, who was more than a little deceased by that time. But Jim knew Zero and he knew a lot about Zero and, of paramount importance, he understood a lot about Zero. A cavalcade of friends and relatives of The Great Zero turned out to see the play, praise the play and remark that it was like being back with the man for too brief a time.
It debuted in July of 2006 — Jim will correct me if I'm wrong — at the Egyptian Arena Theater in Hollywood. Going to see a production by a buddy can be hazardous because, you know, what if you think it stinks? What do you say to them afterwards? I've occasionally resorted to lines like "It was an evening I'll never forget" and "Only you could have done it" — which rarely fool the friend but they can pretend it's a compliment and the friendship is usually saved.
I took Carolyn who knew of my trepidation and I think we were about five minutes into the show when I whispered to her, "We're fine." The play and Jim's performance were way more than fine. At the after-party, I had no trouble telling Jim honestly how much I loved it. I did though have the problem of getting his attention because everyone else in the audience was trying to tell him that. The show won an Ovation Award for World Premiere Play.
He later did Zero Hour other places, mostly in New York, and he changed a few things, all for the better. He no longer does it, partly because he's moved on to other projects and partly because he's lost too much weight. Gloriously though, he's put a video of Zero Hour up on YouTube to share it with the world. It's a mesmerizing play because Mostel was a mesmerizing human being with a mesmerizing life, much of it filled with anger and outrage. When you have the time to watch it start-to-finish, do so and be mesmerized…