Post by joem on Jan 28, 2017 9:40:07 GMT
As a huge Marx Brothers buff I was naturally drawn to this production which is on tour in London, having first toured in 2015
The premise is that a bunch of failing music-hall actors and an entrepreneur find a new angle to revive their careers, staging an unstaged Marx Bros script coveniently discovered whilst sheltering from the Blitz. The first half of the play is taken up with this set-up and the second part is taken up, largely, with the peformance.
The problem is twofold - the first half drags and the second part does not convince. There have been so many Marx Bros impersonators over the years - some of them very good - that much more work needs to go into it than a moustache, cigar and a curly wig. Whilst the script is original, many of the gags are recycled oldies put into this new context and -whilst resoanbly well-worked -they obviously suffer by comparison to the originals.
An affectionate tribute but one that rarely gets off the ground.
The premise is that a bunch of failing music-hall actors and an entrepreneur find a new angle to revive their careers, staging an unstaged Marx Bros script coveniently discovered whilst sheltering from the Blitz. The first half of the play is taken up with this set-up and the second part is taken up, largely, with the peformance.
The problem is twofold - the first half drags and the second part does not convince. There have been so many Marx Bros impersonators over the years - some of them very good - that much more work needs to go into it than a moustache, cigar and a curly wig. Whilst the script is original, many of the gags are recycled oldies put into this new context and -whilst resoanbly well-worked -they obviously suffer by comparison to the originals.
An affectionate tribute but one that rarely gets off the ground.