The Zero Club - A Nuclear Musical Comedy
| Hours: | Starts at 7:30pm |
| Ages: | Kids, Teens, Adults |
| Cost: | $$ see below |
| Category: | Theater & Shows |
In 1985, Henson-Conant transformed Breitbart’s idea into an award-winning musical. Now, in 2006, the story of a motley group committed to battling their fear of nuclear annihilation through the use of humor – not to belittle the fear, but to confront it – is brought to life again! This is an unstaged writer’s presentation of the musical narrated by the composer.
For one night only, see members of the original cast perform dialogue and songs while Henson-Conant tells the tale of an ordinary girl who infiltrates The Zero Club and becomes caught in a web of personal ties and secret fears. Packed with music, comedy and pathos, “The Zero Club” is reborn for a new generation. For “Megatons of Fun” --- be there!
WHAT’S THE MUSICAL ABOUT? “The Zero Club” is the story of Molly, one woman whose life is changed by the club. Molly’s fiance, Ned, is a nuclear arms entrepreneur. He’s about to unveil the world’s smallest nuclear warhead and has secretly built a luxury fallout shelter where he and Molly will hide out with “pairs of all the best domestic pets,” to emerge after the inevitable holocaust as a newer, better combo of Adam and Eve and the Noah’s ark family.
Ned hears that The Zero Club is planning to demonstrate at his unveiling and sends Molly to infiltrate the club. When she does, Molly realizes the club’s founder is none other than her childhood hero, Octavia Valentine, the former TV-star, “Space Girl.” Octavia is committed to singing and dancing about nuclear war, holding not merely a square dance, but a “Pentagon Dance” and inviting everyone to have “Megatons of Fun” at a “party that’s the greatest blast of all” – all in the name of combatting complacency with confrontational comedy.
“The Zero Club” is about Molly’s struggle to find a future she can live in, torn between the people she loves and the fears she’s afraid to look at.
WHAT IS A WRITER’S PRESENTATION? Traditionally, a “writer’s presentation” is a chance for the writer to bring a work directly to the public – telling the story and/or singing the music. This version of “The Zero Club” stays true to that notion, while also marrying it with the traditional concert performance. The result is an unstaged musical with the narration provided by the composer herself and dialogue read and songs sung by the cast.
IS NUCLEAR WAR REALLY FUNNY? No. But in the immortal words of The Zero Club: “If we weren’t serious…we wouldn’t be laughing.”
WHY BRING IT BACK? From the beginning, the purpose of “The Zero Club” was to break through the force Helen Caldicott calls 'psychic numbing.' In a post-9/11 world, Henson-Conant saw an even greater need to try and break through that numbing and find “a point of contact so we can confront the fear in ourselves in a real way.” “You have to understand that the “Ground Zero Club” was founded more than twenty years before the attacks of September 11th,” says composer Deborah Henson-Conant. “We produced the show in '85, and within a few years nuclear annihilation seemed like a non-issue, passe, dated, a quaint vestige of the cold war. Suddenly, after September 2001, the issues and emotions in the play were even more alive for me than they were in the 70’s and 80’s. I needed the songs more than ever. For me, Ground Zero is not a specific place. It’s the place of impact. Every heart, every life is a tiny ground zero – and we can't afford to be frozen in that place.' “The Zero Club” is a way to look at that terrifying point of impact together; to use humor to break the thrall of terror so we can actually do something about our fears.
BACKGROUND: “The Zero Club” was first produced in 1985 with grants from the Mass Council on the Arts, WBZ and “Meet the Composer” and won composer Henson-Conant a prestigious Massachusetts Artists Fellowship. This is the first presentation of the script and music of 'The Zero Club' in Massachusetts since its 1985 run.
FOR MORE INFO about the musical or composer Deborah Henson-Conant: www.HipHarp.com
| COST | ↑ top |
$16 Adults / $12 Students, Kids
| WEBSITE | ↑ top |
| LOCATION | ↑ top |
7 Medford Street, Arlington, MA, 02474 map
Phone: 781-646-4849
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