Acclaimed hit show ZERO HOUR Returns to Toronto

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The multi-award-winning hit show ZERO HOUR will be back in Toronto for a LIMITED RUN, producers Lia and Dana Matthow announced today. Written by and starring Jim Brochu, ZERO HOUR will run February 8 to March 11 at the Bathurst St. Theatre.

Jim Brochu brings Zero Mostel back to extraordinary life in Zero Hour. He re-creates the definitive backstory to this amazing performer’s appearances in such shows as Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Mel Brooks’ The Producers (film) and many more. Brochu is both hilarious and poignant as he recounts Mostel’s big life – as a Broadway legend, a larger than life personality and the target of Hollywood blacklisting. 

Zero Hour was the most honoured show of 2010, winning the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, the Los Angeles Ovation for Best Play and the Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award for Best Actor.

Brochu has said, “Zero had a great influence on my life and I was fortunate to get to know him when I was first starting out. He considered himself primarily an artist who took acting jobs to support his painting. I can think of no other person in show business who had more obstacles to overcome than him. He grew up poor. He survived the blacklist. A bus accident almost took his leg off. But he fought and survived, and then went on to win three Tony Awards.”

Here’s what some Toronto critics had to say:

“3-1/2 STARS (out of 4) – Passion is something we don’t see enough of onstage, so when Jim Brochu brings the late, great Zero Mostel to nerve-end quivering life in Zero Hour, it’s a wonderful thing to seeŠ. This is acting on the grand scale, full of blood and guts and glory and if you care about theatre, or about the evils that people have done (and still continue to do) in the name of politics, then you must see this show.”
– Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star

“3 STARS (out of 4) – Brochu gets everything right – from the bulging eyes and bulging belly, to the volatile voice, to those calm then suddenly violent hand gestures that were like comic karate. If you’re looking to bask – or perhaps quiver – in the presence of the late, larger-than-life star for an evening, Brochu delivers the goods.”
– J. Kelly Nestruck, Globe and Mail

“as well as perfectly reproducing Mostel’s physical and vocal bulk, Brochu does deliver a performance that stands in its own right. He may be trying on another man’s suit, but he isn’t just hanging on to his coattails.”
– Robert Cushman, National Post

“a madcap theatrical portrait of the legendary Zero Mostel that is absolutely delightful and, ultimately, deeply moving.”   -John Coulbourn, Toronto Sun

The multi-Oscar-nominated actress Piper Laurie directs Brochu. When it played off-Broadway and Los Angeles, Variety   said Brochu evokes the kind of prickle on the back of the neck usually delivered by David Lynch movies;” the LA Times noted that “Brochu reintroduces us to the funny, fantastically contrary Mostel in all his biting intelligence and imperfection;” and The New Yorker raved, “It all flows and provides plenty of big laughs as well as hushed drama. After a while, you stop caring whether a particular line is Brochu’s or Mostel’s; all you know is that you’ve been privy to the work of a great comedian.”

Acclaimed hit show ZERO HOUR Returns!

Written by and starring Jim Brochu, directed by Piper Laurie

Preview February 8, Opens February 9 with After-Show Champagne Reception,

Runs to March 11, 2012.

at the Bathurst St. Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. (south of Bloor St. W.)

Performance times: Wed at 7pm; Thurs and Fri at 8pm; Sat at 2pm and 8pm; Sun at 3pm.

Ticket prices (includes HST): Wed & Thurs –  $59; Fri, Sat & Sun –  $59 & $69.50.

(Discounts for seniors, equity & groups. Student Rush available one-hour prior to curtain.)

For tickets, call Ticketmaster.ca at 1-855-985-ARTS (2787) or purchase online at www.ZeroHourShow.com