Cover photo: Matt Walters, Matt Roper, Noah Diamond, Allison Jane, and Seth Shelden in the 2016 Off Broadway production of I'll Say She Is. Photo by Mark X. Hopkins.
Before their film career, the Marx Brothers were the stars of three Broadway musicals. Two of these, The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers, became the first two Marx Brothers movies, and are regularly revived on stage. But their 1924 Broadway debut, I'll Say She Is, was lost to history, unseen since the Marxes delivered its final performance in 1925.
I spent several years researching, restoring, and adapting the book and score of this lost masterpiece. These efforts resulted in a series of staged readings at Marxfest, a workshop production at the New York International Fringe Festival, and an acclaimed Off Broadway productionat the Connelly Theater in 2016.
My book Gimme a Thrill presents the complete history of the show through 2014 (you can read the first chapter for free before buying several copies for everyone you know).
In anticipation of the upcoming expanded edition of Gimme a Thrill, you can read some of my thoughts and feelings about the historic 2016 Off Broadway production in these essays:
And here’s some of our favorite news and reviews of the 2016 production:
“How a Lost Marx Brothers Musical Found Its Way Back Onstage”
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker“I’LL SAY SHE IS Revives a Marx Brothers Revue”
Neil Genzingler, The New York Times“Back on Stage: A Lost Marx Brothers Musical”
Brian Baskin, The Wall Street Journal“I’ll Say She Is”
David Cote, Time Out New York“Marxism on the New York Stage!”
Paul du Quenoy, The New Criterion“Marx Brothers Holy Grail I’ll Say She Is Shines Again”
Donald Liebenson, rogerebert.com“I’ll Say She Is: Restored! Revived! Rejoice!”
Michael Dale, BroadwayWorld
For more, visit the press page.
