Sacher match

A new play by Peter Danish opening at New York’s New World Stages in March will reimagine a meeting between Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan

Inspired by true events recounted to Danish by a waiter at the Hotel Sacher, Last Call centers on meeting between the conductors as as both men struggle to find common ground through their music and their lives over a drink in the Viennese haunt. “The play mixes storytelling and music, giving audience members a glimpse into the complex minds of these two music titans,” per a press release. Gil Mehmert directs.

But there’s a twist: the conductors will be played by two of Germany’s leading actresses, 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. Victor Peterson plays Michael, their waiter.

The production will feature 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). The play is general managed by Perry Street Theatricals and the executive producer is Martin Platt.

Previews begin March 12, the production opens March 16, and will run through May 4 at New World Stage’s Stage 5. Tickets are available here.

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