Touching Article by Peter Filichia

When Jim sat down to be interviewed by Peter Filichia, they both realized they were witnesses to a New York/Broadway scene that has long died. So, the article Peter wrote on Theatremania is just beautiful.

Upates on Video & The Production.

I have shot a lot of video here, and I promise to upload it, especially for our friends who love just hanging out with us on this amazing time here in the City.

But the problem with video is that when you whip the thing out, it changes everything. Suddenly everyone feels like they have to be on their best behavior and they start performing for the camera. In many ways, reality shows like The Real World, and especially The Real Housewives, where the wives in each city seem to be competing with each other for which can do the most outrageous things to each other in order to make good footage.

Whether it's upending a table and yelling, pulling at wigs or snidely commenting "behind their backs," it's all a big show. They're performing for us. I don't want that. I like it best when we're all just being ourselves.

Real life happens off-camera.

Still, I love having these home movies, and I love making them. There's another little snag, too. It's not just "us" anymore. Now we're around a professional production with Union rules. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Union. I'm just saying it's more difficult.

Anyway, I'm saying all that because people have been asking for more video. I promise it will come.

Missed: Frances Sternhagen, one of the great actresses of our day, came last night. I knew it in advance but didn't bring the camera. For some reason, it felt wrong to make this into a video event. This was her first time to see "Zero Hour," and we were anxious to know how she really felt because she worked with Zero on Ulysses in Nighttown, mentioned in the play, where a bunch of blacklisted actors, led by Burgess Meredith, put on a show for themselves.

I mean SHE WAS IN IT. She was THERE.

She told me a funny story before the show. Zero had a reputation for pulling tricks and stunts on people during the run of a show, to get them to break up. Brochu did this to me all through "Big Voice," you might recall.

She told me there was a scene in Ulysses where all the actors in the cast except Zero were sitting on chairs facing the audience. Zero stood before them with his back to the audience. He would do whatever it took to break them up, especially because the audience couldn't see a thing that he was doing.

Franny Sternhagen has a twinkle and glimmer in her eye that just never seems to die out. And she was so gracious. She said Jim really captured Zero perfectly, and she agreed to participate in an event we have coming up on December 9th at the Barnes & Noble across from Lincoln Center. Copies of the play, now published by Sam French -- they have just begun using "publishing on demand" to get their licensed plays out quicker, and be more flexible with changes -- will be available.

There hasn't been an official press release, so I don't want to say too much, but it should be fun. Several other guests who knew or worked with Zero will be telling stories and possibly even reading scenes from the play.

Speaking of fun, that discussion I wrote about a few days ago, the "Survivors of the Blacklist" panel discussion is getting some heat. The seats were snapped up in an instant. No matter how far away you get from it, there are still people around who were greatly hurt by the blacklist, and it's like an open wound. You start picking at the scabs and it all comes out.

Officially, Zero Hour opens Sunday night. But the audiences are finding us, and we've already had a couple of sold out houses. The reviews will hit next week.

Fun!

Nobody Leaves New York.

Last night, we were walking to the Theater at St. Clement's, where Jim is doing "Zero Hour," when I remembered that "Big Night Out" would be holding their monthly "sing" at the club where we'll be hosting the salon on Nov. 29th, a place called Etcetera Etcetera. Since I hadn't been there before, I thought I'd go upstairs and say "hi" to the host, Jennifer Wren, whom I met back in 2006 when we were doing Big Voice here.

She told me how much she loves singing "Nobody Leaves New York," which is a song I wrote with Amy Lynn Shapiro for the upcoming "Manhattan Clam Chowder." Then she said she'd love to have it in her key.

So we went over to the piano. She gave me a note, and I found her key, which is G. It was originally written in C. So she's up a major fifth. And I was so proud of myself. I'm usually TERRIBLE about transposing on the spot, but we made it all the way through with few mistakes. And she sounded fantastic. I mean, like, FANTASTIC.

So, I told her I needed to be over at Zero Hour since we are having critics in all week on the run-up to the official opening night this Sunday. But that I might be able to zip back over if she'd sing it again for an audience. And that's exactly what I did.

Just as Jim was going on for the second act -- and he was GREAT tonight, by the way. He KILLED the audience; they were with him every moment of the play -- I slipped out and ran over to her event just in time to jump on the piano. And, again, she was amazing singing this song.

But, while there, the young man waiting tables came up to me and said, "Hey, I know who you are. You're Steve of Steve and Jim. The Big Voice. I'm David. I helped you carry your keyboard out to your car when you sang in Long Beach for the Unitarian Universalist national convention."

Small world. I remembered him. He was asking us about making in the business. I told him getting to New York is half the battle, and how happy I was to see him. Then the waitress came up and asked if she could have the sheet music to "Nobody Leaves New York," and I said absolutely. Of course, now I have to transpose it on the score, but I was going to do that anyway.

I love New York. It's like we never left.

Musical Salon November 29

A little announcement from Mark Janas.

Hello Saloners,

I'm happy to announce that Salon will return on Sunday, November 29 (the Sunday at the end of Thanksgiving weekend) at Etcetera Etcetera, 352 West 44th Street (near the corner of 9th Ave. on the South side of the street) 7PM - 10:30PM. Doors open at 6:15 with sign up beginning at 6:30.

The venue is upstairs in the Restaurant and is lovely. It has a grand piano, lights, a sound system and someone to run them, and has a wonderful Italian menu at reasonable prices. A $10 cash cover will be be collected by an "Etceterette" at the door, and there will be a $10 minimum on food or drink. The prices here are more reasonable, so I'm guessing that even with the cover, most of you will be spending the same or less than you did at the Algonquin.

The theme for the evening is "WE GATHER TOGETHER." Here's a chance to sing of things you are thankful for, and to celebrate the spirit of the Salon, or indeed, any gathering of kindred spirits. I know I have certainly missed our seeing each other, as so many of you have expressed over the past weeks. As always, the theme only a suggestion, and you may perform anything you would like.

Our wonderful co-hosts for the evening will be the ever-entertaining Jim Brochu and Steve Schalchlin, creators of the hit Off-Broadway musicals "The Last Session" and "The Big Voice: God or Merman." Jim is in town performing his award-winning original one-man show, Zero Hour, about Zero Mostel, which opens this Sunday, Nov. 22nd, at The Theatre at St. Clements on West 46th St. at 7 PM. Steve is returning to us after a wild success with his choral/orchestral work "New World Waking" which had its World Premier at Davies Symphony Hall with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus featuring Jennifer Holliday as soloist.

Peter Napolitano will be sending a reminder and more information next week. Please mark Nov. 29th on your calendars and join us for what promises to be a very exciting new beginning.

Yours,

Mark

Some of the best singers in New York come to Mark's salon, a mix of rock, jazz, cabaret, Broadway, both traditional and current, but very street level. from kids just starting out to some of the most accomplished singers, whose careers are still just bubbling under, to well known singers from jazz and Broadway and the whole New York scene.

Binding it all together is Mark Janas' genius musicianship on the piano. He can literally play anything, from the most difficult classical pieces, to opera to every show tune imaginable. In any key. I feel like a mouse up next to him.

Plus, I get to sing my own damn songs! And I'm inviting others to sing along with me. Here is a link to My Thanksgiving Prayer. It's a pdf file you should be able to print right from your computer.

And we get to host! That means

The First Blog Reviews.

From Upstage - Downstage.

Let me be unambiguous: Zero Hour is the best one-person play since I Am My Own Wife. It is as rich and compelling a story as you will see on or off Broadway right now.

From The Third New York.

We saw a play on Saturday night, another one of those absolutely striking one-man shows, this time about Zero Mostel, the actor and comedian best known for playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and, of course, Max Bialystock in the movie the Producers. The play, written by an actor named Jim Brochu and also starring Brochu as Mostel, is amazing. For one thing, Brochu is nothing short of sensational as Mostel. He comes close to imitating him, but also does something much more important and moving: he captures Mostel's spirit, his explosive, larger than life anger, and his incredible, side-splitting sense of humor.

Jim Returns To Sardi's.

A Food Line At Our Theatre

I was walking up to our theatre, which resides in the St. Clement's Church on 46th Street when I saw a huge line of people. Knowing it was way too early for tickets, I got closer and realized that this was the weekly event: The giving of bags of groceries to people who were in desperate need of food. As I got even closer, I saw that the food was being distributed by a group of young people, barely in high school age.

I love New York.

Busy Day.

This was a "hurry up and wait" day. It was also raining. Outside, the banner had been hung, so that people could now see that Zero Hour was HERE! It was so exciting to finally see it and to know we're here.

I know people who struggle their whole lives just to do this once, to have a show in New York. But for us, this is our third shot so, more than anything else, we feel lucky and thrilled and thankful. And especially with this show, which we believe to have so much important material.

The set was up by the time we got to the theater, but the stage is so gigantic that Jim decided to bring in the walls just a bit so that it would have a more intimate feeling. So we spent the day, mostly, sitting around letting the tech crew move everything in. Also, the big skylight, which will be more prominently featured in this production had to be moved. It hangs from the ceiling, and that took a couple of hours to redo.

Still, the important thing is to get it right. Today will be another tough day. First, we have to do the tech rehearsal which we couldn't do yesterday. And, then, tonight Jim will do a dress rehearsal for an invited audience.

You forget how much work goes into staging a show, even one as seemingly simple as this, with one set and one actor. You need a team of workers, busting their butts almost around the clock.

Then, tomorrow night, the first preview.

I have been taking lots of video, but no time to edit anything. Too much to do!

Survivors of the Blacklist hosted by ZERO HOUR

If you're in New York, you might want to attend this free event, but call quickly. Seats are going fast.

ZERO HOUR, Jim Brochu's award-winning play about the life of theatre legend Zero Mostel, will host "Survivors of the Blacklist: A Panel Discussion" on Tuesday evening, November 24th at 7 p.m. at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46th Street). This very special event is free to the public (reservations strongly suggested).

Following a sneak peek of Zero Hour, performed by Jim Brochu, film historian and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne will moderate a discussion of the notorious Blacklist among a group of distinguished guests, many of whom were actually blacklisted in the 1950s. Scheduled to appear on the panel are Lee Grant (actor, director), Jules Feiffer (playwright, cartoonist), Victor Navasky (former editor of The Nation, author of Naming Names), Christopher Trumbo (playwright, son of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo), Joe Gilford (playwright, son of MAdeline Lee and Jack Gilford), Jean Rouverol (actor, author) and Cliff Carpenter (actor).

The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, US Congressman and senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, will introduce the panel. This historic gathering of those targeted by the blacklist, either directly or by relation, will address many of the issues taken up in Zero Hour, such as who was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and why. The discussion will also focus on the numerous parallels between the communist "witch hunts" of the 1950's and today's "war on terror."

ZERO HOUR will make its Off-Broadway premiere at Theatre at St. Clement's beginning Saturday, November 14th. Produced by Kurt Peterson and Edmund Gaynes in association with The Peccadillo Theater Company, the show will have its Opening Night on Sunday, November 22nd. The limited engagement is set to run through January 31st. Three-time Academy Award nominee Piper Laurie directs ZERO HOUR, which was originally produced in Los Angeles, where it received the Ovation Award for Best New Play.

Starring Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel, ZERO HOUR is set at 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. For more information about Zero Hour, visit www.zerohourshow.com

After Three Days, He Arose.

And... he's back.

It took three days, but he made it back. Probably because he saw me writing about him yesterday. But Jim finally coaxed him to the edge of his little lair with a bowl of food. But he poked his head out, ate, ducked back in, sneaked back out warily, ate a little more, and then went back in.

A few minutes later, I saw him on my side of the bed going for the cat box. And when he was out, I started tapping the bed, "Come on! Join us up here!"

He was suspicious, so he finished his business and ducked back in, but stuck his head out.

"Come on," I said. "Be with us!"

And, finally, he came out, and all 30 pounds of him jumped up on the bed and watched "So You Think You Can Dance" with us, criticizing the tall guy who, though cute, was just too heavy on stage (like he should meow), and he even went exploring a little around the room. Then, he spent the rest of the night sleeping on my feet, which is like sleeping under a sack of sand.

But he made it.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, today we go down and look at the set, which they say is almost finished. We'll spend the day watching that get finished up, plus the focusing of the lights, followed by a tech rehearsal.

Friday will be more tech, and then a dress rehearsal tomorrow night. And the first preview will begin Saturday night.

It's hard to believe it's upon us already.

I hope New York is ready for the return of Zero.

Steinbeck is Freaked.

We brought Steinbeck to NY with us, but he has stayed hiding beneath the bed. Weirdly, he was cool for two days. But, then, a couple of days ago, he ran under under there and refuses to come out. We brought his cat box to the edge of the bed and he will run out to pee, but then he goes back.

And he doesn't seem to be totally freaked because we hear him purring, and he lets us scratch him on the chin if we reach under.

Jim finally got him to eat something out in the room, but then he ran back.

Poor baby.

From Sheridan to Shylock

Jerry Tallmer writes about "Zero Hour."

New York: Day One

I walked from 95th and 5th all the down to Sardi's on 44th yesterday. Took me about an hour.

The sun was bright, the air was crispy cool, and the people were everywhere. It's one of the best times of the year to be in the City. Maybe it was out of fatigue, but I didn't bring my video camera along, and now I wish I had, but it doesn't matter.

I walked past all the museums on museum row, the Guggenheim, which still looks like a gigantic toilet bowl to me, crossed over into Central Park and into the Zoo. Just as I got to the giant clock, I heard bells, and saw all the animal statues overhead circling around.

And kids! Kids everywhere, smiling and laughing, and others being grumpy, while their parents tried to convince them this was fun.

Kept going south until I ran into a video shoot coming at me. It was Levi Johnston, surrounded by his famous entourage, but the focus was on him and a blond model. As the passed, I looked behind and saw that his coat was being held together by a line of orange clippies.

Got to Sardi's just in time to see Jim and meet the critic, Peter Filicia. He asked me, "What's the one thing you'd like to see in this article?" And I said, "That Zero is back and the world needs him and his righteous anger."

Ate a quick lunch, Ed Gaynes joined us for a sec and then we went to see the Danny Kaye show off-Broadway. The guy playing Danny was uncanny. This show has been running six months, and, as good as the performers were, it reminded me what a great book Zero has, and how much of a genius Jim is.

Then we sauntered over to St. Clement's where they were taking down a set. A girl in a Follies t-shirt came up to us and asked if we were parishioners. We told her we were the next show and she told us they were striking Brigadoon, that they have a local company which began back in 1924, started by some rich people, who hired someone to use their kids to put on Pinafore aboard their yacht with the audience sitting on the shore. (I love the '20s).

Then, they did it again and again, starting a theatre company which donated all the proceeds to charity. The company has done so ever since. Each company member donates their services and they put on a Gilbert and Sullivan show every year in the Spring and then a more Broadway type show in the Fall.

As we were leaving St. Clement's this tall, a good looking guy asked if we would hold the door for him, and it turned out to be one of the producers of Zero Hour, who runs the resident company there at the church.

We had a great conversation about Zero Hour and his company, the Peccadillo, learning that St. Clement's and the Cherry Lane are the two oldest off-Broadway houses in New York. He was very proud of their history, so I promised to do good video blogs about this.

By then, we were both hungry, so we zipped over to 46th and had matzo ball soup at the Polish Tea Room, and told the owner there that we were developing a new show based on his restaurant. He was very pleased.

By then, we were exhausted, so we stopped off at a subway station to get Metro cards, and then cabbed it back home. Steinbeck was happy to see us, and he showed his happiness by staying under the bed asleep.

I've had a little diarrhea the past few days, but it finally cleared up last night.

We flopped down on the bed and watched the season finale to "Mad Men," and then Jim went to sleep while I finished off the Dallas/Eagles game. Dallas won.

Sights in New York Pt. 1

We made it to New York for "Zero Hour," which starts previews on Friday. Today I walked about 3 miles from where we're staying down to Sardi's to meet with Jim, who was doing a press interview.

So, I was crossing 59th Street when I saw an entourage coming my way. A camera man and assistants were walking backwards, shooting someone coming my way.

Then, I realized it was Levi Johnston, son-in-law of the execrable Sarah Palin.

He was being taped, walking with a blond girl (and me without my video camera!).

As we passed, I looked behind and saw that his coat was being held together with a series of orange clips that ran all up and down and his back.

I love show business.