He may be regarded as the most famous scientist of the 20th century, but Albert Einstein preferred tending his flower garden to global notoriety. The rarely seen human side of the Nobel Prize winner is portrayed in Einstein: A Stage Portrait, Jan. 15-Feb. 1 at Actors' Summit. The one-man show, which marks the 100th anniversary of Einstein's theory of relativity, stars Brian Zoldessy, director of theater at Cuyahoga Community College's eastern campus. "It's a wonderful opportunity to show the audience this incredible man who also loved being silly, smoking a pipe and eating ice cream," says Zoldessy, who has grown out his hair and mustache for the part. Here is what Zoldessy's role taught him about the mastermind.
MUSIC MAN
A devoted follower of Mozart, Einstein was an accomplished violinist. "He was almost concert caliber," says Zoldessy. "He hated to go to stuffy parties. But when he did, he brought his violin with him."
BATTLE FIELD
The German's research on splitting the atom indirectly led to the invention of the atom bomb — a creation he loathed. "He was very angry about being associated with the A-bomb," Zoldessy says. "He really believed if the world had gathered together sooner, Hitler could have been stopped."
