In Jim Brochu's entertaining new solo play Zero Hour, the writer-performer gives us a flavorful glimpse at the remarkable life and career of the late, great actor-singer-painter Zero Mostel. Nearly two decades after his death, Mostel is remembered for his indelible accomplishments in such shows at Fiddler on the Roof and Rhinoceros but also for his infamous temper, his volatile behavior, and his tribulations at the hands of Senator Joseph McCarthy's ruthless communist investigation committee in the 1950s.

The show is meant as tribute, though it's scarcely a wart-free depiction of Mostel. The text consists of intriguing biographical and historical tidbits, peppered with Brochu's intermitten[...]