Zero Hour, Written by and Starring Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel, Headed Off-Broadway

Jim Brochu will star in the off-Broadway premiere of his play Zero Hour, which centers on the life of legendary actor Zero Mostel. Oscar-nominated actress Piper Laurie will direct the play, which begins previews at Theatre at Saint Clement’s on November 14 and is set to open on November 22. The limited engagement will continue through January 31, 2010.

Zero Hour is set at 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 Mostel, who gained fame as the star of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Fiddler on the Roof, is giving his final interview before leaving for the pre-Broadway tryout of The Merchant in Philadelphia. Mostel played only one performance as Shylock before his sudden death at the age of 62.

Brochu’s play was originally produced in Los Angeles in 2006, where it received the LA Stage Ovation Award for Best New Play. It has since played engagements in Washington DC, San Francisco, Houston and a 16-week sold-out run in South Florida, which won Brochu the 2009 Carbonell Award as Best Actor in a Play.

With composer Steve Schalchlin, Brochu wrote the award-winning off-Broadway musicals The Last Session and The Big Voice: God or Merman?

Zero Hour will be produced off-Broadway by Kurt Peterson and Edmund Gaynes in association with The Peccadillo Theater Company.