Groucho Marx is considered to have been one of America’s greatest comedians. He performed with his brothers under the name ‘The Marx Brothers’ and was a successful comedian, actor, writer, and singer. I wasn’t really aware of The Marx Brothers prior to attending Stage West’s presentation of An Evening with Groucho. His comedy and style were a little familiar to me, but Frank Ferrante’s depiction of the famous comedian did not shed light on his legacy. Ferrante is talented and can sing as well as tell a great joke, but the show felt like it was only geared toward those who are intimately familiar with the Marx Brothers’ work. If you are unfamiliar, An Evening with Groucho was most entertaining when Ferrante improvised with the audience. Otherwise, it was a dull evening.
The show opens with Mark Rabe on stage as the pianist and musical accompaniment to Ferrante. When Groucho comes on stage, Rabe plays all the tunes for the musical numbers. Ferrante provides us with details of Groucho’s life with his brothers, his famous show titles, and his talent in the movies, on stage, and in front of audiences. But sometimes the show is just a series of titles. He’ll say what’s your favourite show of mine? And there will be references to games shows and films that were lost on me. Ferrante shines most when he is walking through the audience, meeting people, and making the crowd laugh. He makes a joke during the second half where he says “the show just started,” and I would have to agree with him. Dressed in a black suit, red tie, and a painted-on mustache, Ferrante is definitely charming.
An Evening with Groucho makes reference to a lot of Marx Brothers material and if you are unfamiliar with this material, the jokes sail right over your head. This might be okay for a little while, but the entire production is based on this source material and runs for 90 minutes. It would be better if the entire evening was improvised or if the content was more introductory to Groucho Marx.
Stage West’s production of An Evening with Groucho runs until November 12th. More information is available online.