Maybe it’s the passage of time. Or perhaps it’s the indelible impression the Vlasic stork made in all those commercials.
No matter which, Groucho Marx’s shtick seems less fresh than it once was — certainly less cheeky. Faux Groucho: “…the best-tasting pickle I ever heard.” The real deal: “You go Uruguay and I’ll go mine.”
Either way, ba-dum-tish.
This became clear as “Animal Crackers,” the Denver Center’s roller-coaster ride of a musical comedy, zipped along and every once in a while creaked upward at the Stage Theatre. (It runs through May 11.)
The original 1928 Broadway show starred the Marx Brothers, as did the 1930 movie of the same name. The musical was the bubbly handiwork of George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind with music by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. This version, directed by Bruce Sevy,was updated by Henry Wishcamper.
Although “Animal Crackers” isn’t a play within a play, it comes with characters within characters, chiefly the Marx Brothers playing other roles.
Long Island socialite Mrs. Rittenhouse (Celia Tackaberry) is throwing a weekend bash for adventurer Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding (Jim Ferris), back from Africa.
During the weekend, a valuable painting goes missing. Naturally, there’s no shortage of suspects. Was it high-society rivals Mrs. Whitehead and her sister, Grace? Is the disappearance merely a brazen switcheroo gone awry or a case of all-out larceny?
As Spaulding/Groucho, Jim Ferris lets the wise-cracks fly with verve. But many of them have become groaners over the years.
While this might sound like a complaint, it really isn’t. Because Groucho’s brothers get to bask in the limelight.
Jonathan Randell Silver’s resemblance to Harpo Marx, aka The Professor, is uncanny. That could have been merely the achievement of gifted costumer Kevin Copenhaver and Silver’s mop of unruly hair. But as a drawer full of polished silver tumbles out of his sleeve, the audience knows it is in for a physically winning performance. As Chico Marx, a.k.a. Emanuel Ravelli, Jonathan Brody exudes an earthy charm.
Count “Animal Crackers” among those late-1920s-into-the-1930s romps that finds interlopers in the parlor noshing on the hors d’oeuvres of the upper-crust.
Thanks to the presence of struggling artist John Parker (M. Scott Mclean) and his reporter girlfriend Mary (Stephanie Rothenberg), there’s even a hint of Macauley Connor and Liz Imbrie from “The Philadelphia Story.”
Sevy directs with zest and an appreciation of the swank and ritz of many of the numbers. Conductor Erik Daniells’ orchestra threatens to pull off a different kind of grand theft. Onstage, the six musicians nearly upstage the comedy as they bring sheer elegance to Mrs. Rittenhouse’s crazed soirée.
The numbers range from the amusing (Groucho’s famous “Hello, I Must Be Going”) to the rather knockout.
Christine Rowan and Rothenberg do impressive double duty as good girls Annabella Rittenhouse and Mary Stewart and bad socialites Mrs. Whitehead and Grace. Despite Annabella and Mary’s romantic duets with their respective fellas — Jeremy Benton as gossip scribe Wally Winston and McLean as John — their finest moment is their friskiest. “The Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me,” feels like a winkingly wicked version of “Sisters” from “White Christmas.”
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bylisakennedy
“ANIMAL CRACKERS.” Book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. Music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby. Adapted by Henry Wishcamper. Directed by Bruce Sevy. Featuring Jim Ferris, Jonathan Randell Silver, Jonathan Brody and Celia Tackaberry. Through May 11. 2 hrs 20. At the Stage Theatre, 14th & Curtis streets. Tickets $43-$65 via denvercenter.org or 303-893-4100
