Jason Marks as entertainer Zero Mostel in “Zero Hour,” onstage at the Weinstein JCC March 29-April 2 (Photos by Todd Schall-Vess)
Jason Marks brings entertainer Zero Mostel to the stage of the Sarah Bell November Theatre at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center for a limited engagement running March 29-April 2. “Zero Hour,” a 2009 play by New York actor Jim Brochu, is a one-person show set in Mostel’s New York City painting studio.
Marks, known for his award-winning work in the region’s theaters, first experienced Mostel’s comedic energy on a repeat episode of “The Muppet Show.” That antic program introduced him to entertainers he’d grow to admire. During his career, Marks has performed in roles Mostel made famous, including Pseudolus in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” and twice as Max Bialystock in separate mountings of “The Producers.”
“So it kind of made sense that it was finally time to tackle Mostel himself, and not just his stage roles,” Marks says.
The play first came to Marks’ attention through news of its premiere. He mentioned the show to director Debra Clinton as a great piece for the JCC. Marks explains that he’d not thought of the play as a vehicle for himself. “I was far too young to be playing the role at the time — and I’m still too young to be playing him now — but I’m older, wiser and have lived some life that has allowed me to reach a deeper place emotionally in understanding this man than if I had done so 10 or 15 years ago.”
About the time Clinton began thinking of turning Marks into a version of Mostel, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and now the whole thing seems like, well, kismet.
Clinton reflects, “Mostel was a human being whose story mirrored so much of the less-than-admirable chapters in 20th-century American history.” Those unfortunate events include antisemitism and the 1950s Hollywood blacklist, which, through accusations of communism or communist sympathies, deprived many in the film industry of their livelihoods. The significant component of intolerance within Mostel’s experience evokes the current times.
“It’s incredibly timely; it’s political, it’s historical — he’s a great figure of the American theater, and as time goes on, great figures often fade into obscurity,” Marks says. Besides the play fulfilling the mission of the Jewish Family Theatre at the Weinstein JCC, Marks hopes it either reminds audiences of, or introduces them to, the legacy of Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel. The characters realized by Mostel live on in continuing productions of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Forum” and “The Producers.”
A fine balance exists when portraying real people, and any actor in such a role must work to avoid imitation. “Jason has worked hard to establish a true physical and emotional sense of who this man is,” Clinton says, “and I think the moments work best when Jason is accessing his own personal story because of what and how Mostel’s words make him feel.”
This “Zero Hour” is the culmination of eight months of work, including Marks’ research into Mostel’s life, watching not only his films but appearances on television variety hours, and reading biographies and other materials.
Mostel is primarily remembered for his great comedic roles, but he undertook important dramatic turns, onstage as Leopold Bloom in the off-Broadway play “Ulysses in Nighttown,” Estragon in a televised adaptation of “Waiting for Godot” and a murderer from New Orleans in the film noir “Panic in the Streets” — featuring Jack Palance as a fugitive killer who could be a carrier of pneumonic plague.
His most dramatic appearance, however, came with testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The already blacklisted actor refused to name names and made the entire enterprise seem ridiculous. He later remarked, “What did they think I was going to do — sell acting secrets to the Russians?” In 1976, a year before his death, he portrayed blacklisted performer Hecky Brown in the film “The Front.”
Comedy and tragedy share the same house, and Mostel demonstrated that, in his professional and private life.
“The essence of who Mostel was is absolutely in my portrayal,” Marks says, “but it is certainly not a caricature of a very complicated man — it is my best intention to honor and embody his spirit as best I can. And that’s a wonderful gift for an actor.”
“Zero Hour” is onstage March 29-April 2 at the Sarah Bell November Theatre at the Weinstein JCC. Tickets are $20 for JCC members, $25 for nonmembers.
