LAST CALL Opens in March at New World Stages

Last Call, a new play by Peter Danish and directed by Gil Mehmert, will begin performances at New World Stages, Stage 5 on March 12, with opening night set for March 16, it was announced 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”.

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