New World Stages Hosts LAST CALL Review — Taking a Frenemy to the Grave

LENNY You know what, Michael? “Only a fool takes an enemy to the grave”.

MICHAEL Who said that?

LENNY I think it was Confucius... or my mother.

So quips Lenny (Composer/Conductor Leonard Bernstein), after groaning in disbelief that he somehow ventured into the same darn Vienna bar that his longtime rival and adversary was in(Conductor Herbert von Karajan).

The two men’s paths had crossed a few times in their long careers— and not too happily.  On one level they throw barbs at each other’s career decisions.  Bernstein cannot fathom why Von Karajan keeps performing and recording the same works ad nauseam, and why he never picks of his pen, instead of a mere baton, to compose and create.  For his part, Von Karajan thinks Bernstein’s dabbling with Broadway bares Bernstein’s dilettantism in the extreme.

As the night unfolds— SPOILER ALERT!— Von Karajen schools Bernstein on the difference between guilt and the far more profound feeling of shame.  Sotto voce, Bernstein discovers his own episode of being a Good German.

New World Stages Scenic Design is Beyond Clever

Beyond their frenemy banter and repartee, we get to hear the inner thoughts of these two musical titans as each takes a turn at the urinal.  You too might find the magical set design by Chris Barreca that seamlessly converts a bar to a bathroom to be brilliant.

The accompanying acting especially brings these urinal scenes to life.  Recently out of botched prostate surgery, Bernstein needs to turn on the faucets to encourage his flow.  80 year old Von Karajen in turn needs a relief valve from his bottomless tea cup.  The actors so perfectly embody the fast approaching frailty of old men in each of their characters.

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT— did I say “men’?  With masterstroke casting, Leonard Bernstein is played by Helen Schneider, and Von Karajen is played by Lucca Züchner.  Both are relatively diminutive in stature but MORE THAN CONVINCING as the male characters they play. For this reviewer, the gender of these actors was forgotten more than remembered as they animated their performances with inflections and body language that so aptly create the characters of Last Call.

You might leave the theater wondering—as some audience members shared they were—how it might be different if men played these parts instead.  For this writer, it’s almost an inconsequential decision. This is a brilliant script, delivered with nuance by two outstanding actresses ready for the challenge.  ANOTHER SEMI-SPOILER ALERT—Get ready also to pleasantly be surprised why Victor Petersen’s musical cred is emphasized in the program notes. These three actors are stellar.  They superglue us to the unfolding story without lag.  Expect to leave the theater exhilarated.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED