| "Last Call," a new play by Peter Danish about Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan...perfs begin 3/12 at New World Stages | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 12:36 pm EST 01/08/25 | |
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| www.LastCallThePlay.com Last Call, a new play by Peter Danish (The Tenor, The Blind Date; Amazon’s #1 best-selling book I'll Give You Exactly Five Minutes) and directed by Gil Mehmert (ONCE; The Elephant Man, Of Mice and Men), begins performances at New World Stages, Stage 5 (340 W. 50th Street, New York, NY 10019) on March 12, with opening night set for March 16, it was announced today by producers Frank Blase and Marc Schneider. Last Call will play a limited engagement through May 4. For half a century, American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein and Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan were the world's most celebrated figures in classical music – and the fiercest of rivals. Their influence transcended music into popular culture, politics, and almost every facet of the modern landscape. Late in their lives these titans of classical music unexpectedly crossed paths one last time at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna. Inspired by true events, Last Call brings us to this meeting as both men struggle to find common ground through their music and their lives over one last drink. The play mixes storytelling and music, giving audience members a glimpse into the complex minds of these two music titans. Von Karajan was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. He helped found the London’s Philharmonia Orchestra in 1948, and in 1955 he became music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. A Nazi Party member from 1933 to 1942, Karajan was exonerated by an Allied tribunal after World War II, but his American debut in 1955 precipitated public protests. Bernstein, on the opposite end of the spectrum, was Jewish, and made his New York Philharmonic conducting debut in 1943. He went on to compose the scores of On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, and West Side Story. He made his conducting debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1966, beginning a lifelong relationship with the orchestra. In an intriguing twist, Bernstein and von Karajan will be played by two of Germany's leading actresses, the American born Helen Schneider (Norma Desmond in the German Sunset Boulevard, Sally Bowles in the German Cabaret; Eva Peron in the German Evita) as Bernstein and Lucca Züchner (On the Town; Cabaret; Hair - all in Germany) as von Karajan. Last Call also features Victor Petersen (Tanz der Vampire; The Addams Family; Chicago) as Michael – the waiter. Directed by Mehmert, Last Call has scenic design by Chris Barreca (Broadway: Rocky; Search and Destroy), costume design by Renè Neumann, (Germany: The Last Five Years; Fightclub) lighting design by Michael Grundner (Germany: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1912; The Light In the Piazza), original music and sound design by Lindsay Jones (Broadway: Slave Play; The Nap), and video and projection design by Austin Switser (Broadway: Frozen; The People In the Picture). Last Call is general managed by Perry Street Theatricals and the executive producer is Martin Platt. “A few years ago, I was in Vienna on vacation and I stopped by the Sacher Hotel for a piece of Sacher Torte,” said playwright Peter Danish. “My reading material was the recently published collection of Bernstein's letters. When the waiter brought me my cake and coffee, he noticed the book. He said he waited on Maestro Bernstein many times, and proceeded to tell me an incredible story about the night before Karajan's final performances in Vienna, when Karajan and Bernstein crossed paths in the lobby of the famous hotel and sat in the famous Blaue Bar for a last drink. This story inspired me to write this play”. Tickets, which range from $56-$119, are available at www.LastCallThePlay.com or by calling Telecharge at (212) 239-6200. Performances are: Wednesdays at 2:00PM and 7:00PM, Thursdays at 7:00PM, Fridays at 8:00PM, Saturdays at 2:00PM and 8:00PM, and Sundays at 3:00PM. BIOS Helen Schneider (Leonard Bernstein) Helen Schneider has a varied career in music, theater, recording, literature and film. She has released 25 albums spanning the worlds of pop, theater, opera and jazz. After receiving a gold record and numerous awards, Helen took a break from her musical career to study acting in New York City with Nancy Donahue (HB Studios). She's played numerous roles over the years including Hayah in the controversial theater piece Ghetto at Circle in the Square on Broadway. For her role as Frida Kahlo in Frida: The Story of Frida Kahlo at BAM/Brooklyn Academy of Music and ART/American Repertory Theater in Boston, she was nominated by the drama critics in New York for the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Musical. For her performance in Side by Side by Sondheim at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, she was nominated for the Carbonelle Award. Her award winning one-woman-show A Walk on the Weill Side was featured at the Spoleto Festival and at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Helen's acting career in Europe began in 1987 as Sally Bowles in the German premiere of Cabaret in Berlin. She appeared on the major stages of Germany and Austria in numerous productions, among them Norma Desmond in the German premiere production of Sunset Boulevard, Eva Pe´ron in Evita, Anne Sexton in Transformations, Anna in Seven Deadly Sins, Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, Victor/Victoria in Victor/Victoria, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow, June Carter in Hello I'm Johnny Cash, and Frida Kahlo in Frida: The Story of Frida Kahlo. She revisited Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and portrayed the Emcee in Cabaret, the Emcee in Ghetto Swinger, the Archduchess Sophie in Elisabeth, and Madam Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, all under the direction of Gil Mehmert. Helen has received the prestigious DIVA Award for her outstanding achievements in entertainment. In addition to her career on stage, Helen has appeared in cinemas in the films Eddie and the Cruisers, Into the Beat, and Electric Child. She is currently a regular on the German crime series Tatort. In 2019, Helen illustrated and designed the cover for the CBS literary contest winner Lenny's Summertime Adventures. In 2022, Nightingale Books of London published The Colorful World of Frida Kato , Helen's first illustrated children's book. Lucca Züchner (Herbert von Karajan), born in 1979, is a German actress, voice actress, and singer based in Munich. She discovered her passion for theater during an exchange program in the US, where she graduated from high school in Northern Idaho. Back home she was educated at the Bavarian Theatre Academy August Everding, Lucca graduated with a diploma in Musical Theatre in 2005, where she worked with the director Gil Mehmert for the first time in his highly recognized production of Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town at the Prinzregenten theater in Munich. Lucca has an extensive theatre portfolio, having performed in numerous productions at the Metropol Theater Munich and the Schauburg Munich where she again worked several times with director Gil Mehmert. Noteworthy performances include his award winnig production of Ach diese Lücke, diese entsetzliche Lücke at Metropoltheater Munich where she played the leading female character. In addition to theatre, she has appeared in musicals such as David Bowie’s Lazarus, Hair, Grease, and Cabaret, all over Germany and Austria and has also contributed to soundtracks and voice acting for animated features and commercials. Recently, Lucca Züchner has been recognized with several awards, including the Monika Bleibtreu Audience Award and the Bavarian Theatre Award for her interpretation of the Monolog Kitzeleien - der Tanz der Wut (Little Tickles). Lucca continues to contribute to the German theatrical scene with her diverse talents and dedication to the arts. www.luccazuechner.de. Victor Petersen (Michael - the waiter) Victor Petersen completed his studies with distinction at the acclaimed Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich, Germany in 2015. Alongside his education in Musical Theatre, the young countertenor was specially granted studies for Musiktheater/Opera at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich with Prof. Gabriele Fuchs. His professional debut was made at Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Munich and the Cologne Philharmonie during his second year of studies taking on roles for Das Dschungelbuch and Carl Millöckers operetta Der Bettelstudent. In 2014 he was seen in Reefer Madness and Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night at Prinzregententheater Munich. The same year, he was awarded the Young Talent Prize for Performing Arts from the Proskenion Foundation. Victor's impressive repertoire includes the German tour of The Addams Family and the role of Mary Sunshine in Chicago at prestigious venues such as the Palladium Theater Stuttgart, Theater des Westens Berlin, Le Théâtre Mogador Paris (France), Staatstheater Braunschweig, Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck (Austria) and Bonn Opera. He also starred as Professor Abronsius in the German production of Roman Polanski's Tanz der Vampire by Stage Entertainment Germany. As a specialist in baroque music, Victor was invited to perform at Herrenhaus Viecheln for a classical concert in 2020. His solo show Eine Frau Schau has showcased his versatile talents as both a singer, countertenor and actor across numerous guest performances across Germany, blending various musical genres. Peter Danish (playwright) Peter Danish is a best-selling author, playwright, filmmaker, and composer. His debut novel, The Tenor (2014), won best historical fiction awards (New England Festival of Books, Reader’s Choice Awards). His play Medjugorje: The Final Prophecy (2016), was adapted into an award-winning novel, a gripping narrative set in war-torn Bosnia, and I'll Give You Exactly Five Minutes (2015), an Amazon #1 bestseller offering a professional guide to public speaking. His play Final Days of Wolfe Tone won the (2016) BroadwayWorld Award for “Best Play” regional. His play The Blind Date was chosen best short play in the Manhattan Rep Winter short festival (2017) and subsequently adapted into an award-winning film, an official selection by over 30 major film festivals worldwide; now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. A composer, Danish collaborated with soprano Rita Harvey on Simple Prayers for Challenging Times, an album of prayers from various faiths set to original music. Volume 2 will be released in 2025 on Centaur Records. He serves as the Classical Music Editor for BroadwayWorld.com , and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild, the National Association of Theater Critics and the Music Critics Association of North America. Gil Mehmert (director) Gil Mehmert studied directing under August Everding at the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. After graduating he was awarded a Rotary scholarship and gained his first work experience in 1991/92 in various New York theaters, one of them being the Metropolitan Opera. To date, he has directed more than 130 stage productions in about 50 different theaters in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, China, South Korea and Japan. His works comprise a variety of genres from straight plays to musical theater. He has received numerous awards for his work, among them the Director ´s Award at Impulse Theatre Festival (2001), the leading event for independent theater in German-speaking countries, and the award for Best Direction of a Production at the Bayerische Theatertage (2005), one of Germany ´s largest theater festivals. His productions have furthermore received the INTHEGA award (2006, Of Mice and Men), the Hamburg Theater Award-Rolf Mares (2008, The Elephant Man), the Monica Bleibtreu Award (2019), the Austrian Music Theater Award (2021, Cabaret) and the Cologne Culture Award (2021, the new musical Himmel und Kölle). Gil has acquired a reputation as specialist for the stage adaptation of films. In 2014 he worked with Stage Entertainment to develop the musical Das Wunder von Bern (based on the popular German film) as author and director. The show had its world premiere at the Theater an der Elbe in Hamburg, a 1850-seat theater built specifically for the production, and ran eight times a week for more than two years. Gil Mehmert has also written the book for and directed the musical stage versions of Waris Dirie ´s Desert Flower (world premiere 2020) and critically acclaimed German films GOETHE! (2021) and Knocking on Heaven ´s Door (2021). His productions are characterized by a high degree of musicality and often feature the scenic inclusion of accompanying musicians or revolve around music as a theme, like in the recent German language premiere of ONCE (based on the film and Broadway production of the same name) for which he created a new version and also translated the dialogue into German. Apart from his theatrical works, Gil is a sought-after director for large-scale cultural live events. He directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the European Capital of Culture “RUHR.2010” (Live on German national TV) and the Open-Air Theater Spectacle of the hit musical Elisabeth in front of Vienna ´s Schönbrunn Palace in 2022 (Live on Austrian national TV). In 2021, he spent time at Bellevue Palace in Berlin to stage a memorial event for the incidents of November 9 at the request of the German government and its president Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Live on German national TV).In 2003, Gil became a professor at the renowned Folkwang University of the Arts, the largest school for theater and music in German-speaking countries. www.LastCallThePlay.com |
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