Tue 29 Sep, 2009
Animal Crackers - REVIEW
Filed under: REVIEWSTags: 4 STARS, Don't Miss!, Goodman Theatre, Marx Brothers
EXTENDED THROUGH NOVEMBER 1!
By J. Scott Hill
I have a favorite picture of myself when I was little, maybe six years old. I had tried to use black electrical tape to give myself Groucho’s eyebrows and moustache, but it would not stick, so I took an eyebrow pencil and drew them in as best I could. I still have a worn, lime green issue of Disney Magazine from 1976 with a small picture of an eighty-something Groucho on the cover and a one page article inside; I remember getting the magazine new for free at the supermarket because Mom bought some Prell. I watched reruns of You Bet Your Life on WSNS-44, and Marx Brothers movie marathons on WGN. Several times, I even stayed awake to see Groucho on The Tonight Show.
Groucho died when I was nine. Elvis had died three days earlier, so it is a wonder that I heard about it at the time. I was devastated, inconsolable.
I don’t know every line of every Marx Brothers movie by heart, or lots of Marx Brothers trivia: I am not that kind of fan. I have always been near obsessed with comedy; watching Groucho Marx taught me ninety-five percent of what I know about comedy, and the study guide is Animal Crackers.
Animal Crackers was written for the stage specifically for the Marx Brothers by George S. Kaufman (of the Algonquin Round Table) and Morrie Ryskind. The parts of Captain Spaulding, Emanuel Ravelli, and The Professor are inseparable from Groucho, Chico, and Harpo, respectively. When I heard that the Goodman was reviving the eighty-year-old play, I was not hopeful; I was expecting something kitschy and nostalgic.
This production is no campy look back. The cast has been streamlined to only nine actors playing all the parts among them. Quick changes, and missed changes to humorous effect, have been added to the dizzying mayhem. Everyone is running around constantly — walking out as one character, walking in as another. Yet every character is distinct, and the forward motion of the story is always clear. Adapter/Director Henry Wishcamper has given Chicago a living, breathing, in-this-moment comedy on a grand scale. Animal Crackers at the Goodman Theatre is, simply put, the finest production of musical comedy that I have ever seen. Before I wrote this review, I went to the Goodman’s website and bought more tickets for a future performance, because once the reviews get published, the run will sell out quickly.
So much about this production is worthy of note. John Carrafa’s joyous choreography is pure hoofer: a tap duel, the old soft-shoe, belly dancing, a big Busby Berkeley-type number. Music Director Doug Peck has put together tight orchestration behind an entire cast of incredible voices. Set Designer Robin Vest has created a majestic ballroom with little more than an elliptical staircase and a grand piano. Jenny Mannis’s costumes and Charles LaPointe’s wigs are gorgeous and complex and varied in deliberate, essential ways to keep crystal clear which of several characters any actor is playing at any given moment.
Stanley Wayne Mathis does double duty as the clipped trans-Atlantic speaking butler Hives and the twangy western millionaire Roscoe W. Chandler. He swings deftly, seemingly effortlessly between such different characters; he is as droll as Hives as he is bombastic as Chandler. Be sure to get back from intermission on time: Mathis’s Act II warm-up number, “Keep Your Undershirt On,” is one of the sublime pleasures of this production.
The super-talented Ora Jones might upon first thought seem miscast as Mrs. Rittenhouse, but nothing could be farther from the truth. She shines so brightly, always very much in the style of Margaret Dumont, but fresh and new. She creates a more intelligent, more three-dimensional pigeon-breasted matron.
The Professor (Harpo) is played by Molly Brennan with both stupor and abandon. Clowning Director Paul Kalina has put together scene after scene of Molly Brennan giving the audience amazing physical comedy as The Professor. All the cherished gags are here: the leg grab, the coat full of stolen stuff, the dirty dealing at cards. Brennan gets zanier and zanier and never gives the audience a chance to even catch its breath.
Jonathan Brody as Emanuel Ravelli (Chico) is haunting. He looks like Chico Marx, he plays the piano like Chico Marx (replete with making his right hand a fake pistol and “shooting” the notes). He even sounds like Chico Marx, except that Dialect Coach Christine Adaire has helped him improve vastly upon Chico’s doubtful Italian accent.
I have to say it. Lots of other critics are going to say it too, but I have to say it. HOORAY FOR JOEY SLOTNICK!
Joey Slotnick is an ensemble member at the Lookingglass with a long and impressive history in Chicago Theatre. Still, most people will remember this veteran character actor as the first star of Keystone’s “Bitter Beer Face” ads in the 1990s. Joey Slotnick — the “Bitter Beer Face” guy — gives the comedic performance of a lifetime as Captain Spaulding/Groucho. Slotnick is not doing an impression of Groucho, or even an impersonation of Groucho. To say that Slotnick is channeling Groucho would take away from the amazing work he is doing. Slotnick IS Groucho. He walks as Groucho, he emotes as Groucho, he ad libs as Groucho. I cannot explain the metaphysics of this, but Joey Slotnick only appears on stage in a couple of early numbers; the rest of the time, somehow it is really Groucho. Slotnick accomplishes no less than a complete transfiguration.
DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW. The Goodman needs to find a way to extend this run. I cannot fathom that they aren’t planning to remount Animal Crackers in New York on Broadway with the entire original Chicago cast. For purest entertainment, for what everyone dreams an evening at the theatre will be like, the Goodman Theatre’s production of Animal Crackers will be talked about for years and years to come.
Groucho Marx has been dead for thirty-two years now, and yet I know as surely as I know my own name that I saw the Marx Brothers live onstage performing Animal Crackers last night at the Goodman. I am flabbergasted, I am overwhelmed, I am euphoric. I was completely blown away by nearly everything about this show. My one regret is that I did not rush the stage and carry Joey Slotnick out of the theatre on my shoulders, singing “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” to the top of my lungs.
4 STARS
(“Animal Crackers” runs through November 1 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago. 312-443-3800)
EXTENDED THROUGH NOVEMBER 1!
Goodman Theatre : Home
Animal Crackers production photos by Eric Y.
2 Responses to “Animal Crackers - REVIEW”
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Casey says:
What a wonderful show.
I couldn’t agree more with the review.
It was 2+ hours of sheer comedy.
Every performer was brilliant, and I thank the Goodman for producing such a fine piece of theatre.
J. Scott Hill says:
I am so glad to hear that this run has been extended. I know that, in the Goodman’s schedule, they have shows butted up against each other, so even a short extention is pretty phenomenal. Congratulations to the production on the extension.