A Week from Today: The Premiere (After 90 Years) of the Marx Bros. "I'll Say She Is"

May 23, 8:00pm & May 25, 5pm

I'm so excited...it's just one week away. I've been entrusted with the direction of the first ever (literally EVER) revival of the Marx Brothers' first Broadway show I'll Say She Is, which premiered in 1924 and put the Marx Brothers on the map, thanks to a glowing review by Alexander Woolcott. Crafty cohort Noah Diamond (who plays Groucho) is the instigator of this historical reconstruction of Will B. Johnstone's show. We're having two readings in Marxfest at the Player's Theatre on May 23 and May 25, with a full production later this year. This show is just as funny as any Marx Brothers movie (actually much funnier than at least half of them) and it has never been filmed! In addition to Noah, we have Melody Jane(Lotta Miles), Seth Shelden (Harpo), Robert Pinnock (Chico), Matthew Curiano (Zeppo), Kathy Biehl (Mrs. Mintworth), Glen Heroy, Bob Homeyer, Dan Hermann, Grace Gotham, Ivory Fox and yours truly filling out the ensmble, with chorography by Helen Pontani, and musical direction by Sabrina Chap.

Get your tickets right now! We've already been written about in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsday, NY Post, Village Voice, Time Out New York, the Villager, et al, and been on WBAI, WFUV, and the internet-based Hall-Casser Jayne Show. Don't get caught with your pants down! More on the show here: http://www.marxfest.com/illsaysheis/

Just like last year, I'm helping organize the variety show portion of the Theatre Museum's annual benefit. This year's will have a Marx Brothers theme to tie in with Marxfest. We're still booking at this stage, but performers will include the cast of I'll Say She Is, the gang from Parallel Exit, Abe Goldfarb (a.k.a Bastard Keith), Ariella Pizza and Michael Goldfried. More info here: http://www.marxfest.com/theatremuseum.html

The Marx Brothers were a force of nature; their madcap style of comedy has been sweeping audiences off their feet for a century. While it's tempting to think so, the world's most popular comedy team didn't emerge in a vacuum, and while they were the best in the business, they weren't one of a kind. In this talk I'll discuss the vaudeville origins of the Marx Brothers, introducing listeners to the many performers who inspired the team and paved the way for their unique style of performance, including Weber & Fields, the Avon Comedy Four, Smith & Dale, and Gallagher & Shean. The talk will also feature many similar comedians and teams who were contemporaries of the Marx Brothers including Clark and McCullough, Olsen and Johnson, Wheeler and Woolsey, Ed Wynn, Joe Cook Eddie Cantor, and others, and the legacy of these comedians on later generations.Read on, McDuff: http://www.marxfest.com/nypl.html

And More in Marxfest!

There are tons more events in Marxfest to choose from: go here for the full slate: http://www.marxfest.com/events.html

ALSO:

Coming in August:

The I'll Say She Is full production! Stay tuned!

Dead End Dummy

October and November, 2014

Coney Island USA and the Club at LaMama

A terrific experimental play written by Dick Zigun, founder and director of Coney Island USA, and directed by Terry O'Reilly of Mabou Mines, and featuring a cast of neo-vaudevillians including myself, Scott Baker, Carla Rhodes, Tanya Solomon, et al. Many more details to come!

Years in the making! I couldn't be more excited -- my original play about cross-dressing 19th century esquestrienne theatre diva Adah Isaacs Menken will be making it to the boards, with Elyse Singer directing and Theatre Askew producing. Too early to announce our exciting cast but I think it will be reasonable to assume that most of the stars from our earlier workshop will be back, bright eyed and bushy-tailed. Part Mae West, part P.T. Barnum, part Leonard Zelig...La Menken was part everybody, she was the embodiment of theatre itself. Come find out why we're all so obsessed by her!