When playwright Peter Danish was vacationing in Vienna, enjoying a Sacher torte at the historic Hotel Sacher and reading the recent publication of a collection of Leonard Bernstein’s letters, his waiter noticed the book and told him a story about the famed American conductor and composer, whom he had served many times, and his encounter there with celebrated Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan on the night before the latter’s final performance in 1988. It inspired Danish to imagine the conversation between the two internationally renowned rivals, which became the subject of his new work Last Call, now playing a limited Off-Broadway engagement at New World Stages.
Following the suggestion of director Gil Mehmert, the two real-life men are played by women, whose stunt casting I found more distracting than credible and left me questioning why Danish agreed to it and what they thought it added to the talky show, filled with angry exchanges, ferocious insults, and competition for worldwide supremacy in their art. For me, it served to perpetuate the misogynist stereotype that women talk too much, are overly emotional, and can’t get along with each other, and, therefore, would be better suited than male actors to the hot-tempered roles.
Set in the Sacher’s empty upscale Blaue Bar, hung with a crystal chandelier, wallpapered with a pattern of blue flowers (scenic design by Chris Barreca), and illuminated with blue lights (lighting by Michael Grundner), the men face off in fierce fictionalized wordy debates on a range of topics and events from their lives and times, including everything from their differing approaches to classical music, Bernstein’s expansion into scores for stage and screen musicals, and his appreciation of Gustav Mahler, to mortality, von Karajan’s affiliation with the Nazi Party from 1933-42 (though he was never an active participant in the atrocities and was exonerated by a post-WW II Allied tribunal), and the subsequent protests of his 1955 appearance at Carnegie Hall, which had been arranged by Bernstein, who, unlike his rival, was Jewish and gay.
Mehmert actively moves them around the stage, walking, standing, sitting, and manspreading at the tables and bar, and even using the urinal (employing a clever and efficient rotation of the bar to the restroom), with Helen Schneider turning in an unconvincing portrayal of Bernstein and Lucca Züchner faring better as von Karajan – who speaks both English and German, with translations projected on the back wall (video and projection design by Austin Switser) – alternately taking the spotlight and striking the appropriate poses, as they do in segments of rehearsing and re-enacting their conducting (with sound by Lindsay Jones), in clothing that suits their familiar styles (costumes by Renè Neumann). We watch them trade insults, raise their voices, point their fingers, and become increasingly enraged, and hear voiceovers of the thoughts flowing through their minds that they don’t express to each other. There are also points on which they find some common ground, most notably their mutual esteem for Maria Callas.
In the supporting role of Michael, the extremely accommodating waiter and bartender, Victor Petersen delivers the most engaging, entertaining, and succinct scenes, speaking both English and German with von Karajan, whom he doesn’t initially recognize (though he knows Bernstein well), and embodies an apparition of another figure, for which he dons the woman’s recognizable costume on stage and performs a masterful countertenor aria.
Both maestros would die shortly after their chance 1988 meeting at the Sacher (von Karajan in 1989, and Bernstein in 1990), and the final scene of the play foreshadows their end and offers an unexpected act of camaraderie. While the script of Last Call evinces the playwright’s unquestionable knowledge of classical music, composers, and the careers and biographies of Bernstein and von Karajan, the casting feels gimmicky, the lengthy discourses lack a compelling dramatic arc, and the final resolution seems forced and lacking in credibility.
Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, without intermission.
Last Call plays through Sunday, May 4, 2025, at New World Stages, Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $56-119, including fees), call (212) 239-6200, or go online.
