SOLANA BEACH, Calif. -
May 10, 2017 -
PRLog -- Award-winning actor/director Frank Ferrante re-creates his acclaimed New York and London stage portrayal celebrating America's greatest comedian - Groucho Marx. You will feel as though Groucho is back, as Ferrante sings, dances and performs classic routines on the North Coast Rep stage, June 12 and 13
th at 7:30pm.
The two-act comedy consists of the best Groucho one-liners, stories, routines and songs including "Hooray for Captain Spalding," and "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady." The audience becomes part of the show as Ferrante ad-libs his way throughout the performance in magnificent Groucho style. Ferrante portrays the young Groucho of stage and film in a way that is "nothing short of masterful" (Chicago Tribune) and reacquaints us with the humor of brothers Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields and Marx foil Margaret Dumont. "An Evening With Groucho" is a show perfect for all ages! Dreya Weber directs with accompaniment by Gerald Sternbach.
Tickets for
AN EVENING WITH GROUCHO are $35. To order tickets, please visit
www.northcoastrep.org, or call the box office: 858-481-1055.
North Coast Repertory Theatre is located at 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, CA 92075.
BIOS:
FRANK FERRANTE (Writer/Groucho) is an actor, director and producer described by The New York Times as "the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx's material."
Animal Crackers and
A Night at the Opera co-author Morrie Ryskind called him "the only actor aside from Groucho who delivered my lines as they were intended." Discovered by Groucho's son Arthur when Frank was a drama student at the University of Southern California, Frank originated the off-Broadway tle role in
Groucho: A Life in Revue (writen by Arthur) portraying the comedian from age 15 to 85. For this role, Frank earned New York's Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle nomination. He reprised the role in London's West End and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for 'Comedy Performance of the Year.' Frank played the Groucho role in the off- Broadway revival of
The Cocoanuts and has played Captain Spalding in several productions of
Animal Crackers winning a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his portrayal at Goodspeed Opera House and a Helen Hayes nomination in Washington D.C. at Arena Stage. In Boston, he played the Huntington Theatre in the record-breaking run of
Animal Crackers that landed Frank on the cover of American Theatre Magazine. Frank has now performed the Groucho role over 2500 times in more than 400 cities. His other regional roles include Max Prince in Neil Simon's
Laughter on the 23rd Floor at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre (which Frank also directed); George S. Kaufman in
By George (a one-man play written by Frank); Oscar in
The Odd Couple and leads in
The Sunshine Boys,
Lady in the Dark and
Anything Goes. Frank directed "M*A*S*H" star Jamie Farr in the Kaufman & Hart comedy
George Washington Slept Here and revivals of Simon's
Brighton Beach Memoirs,
Biloxi Blues,
Broadway Bound and
Lost in Yonkers. In 1995,he directed and developed the world premiere of the Pulitzer finalist
Old Wicked Songs. In 2001, Frank directed, produced and starred in the national PBS television program "Groucho: A Life in Revue." Frank has played over 1200 performances as the comic Latin lover 'Caesar' in the cirque show
Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco and in Palazzo in Amsterdam. Recently, Frank toured
An Evening With Groucho for eight weeks in Australia. On television, Frank played a speaking mime on Rob Corddry's Emmy Award-winning comedy "Childrens Hospital" and can be heard on the animated series "Garfield" as the voice of Lyman, Odie's first owner and on "SpongeBob SquarePants"
as Patrick's boss. Frank stars in the web series "Caesar's World" now viewable on Funny or Die. He is a question on on the TV program Jeopardy. "He took his portrayal of Groucho Marx to New York in 1986." The answer: "Who is Frank Ferrante?"
GERALD STERNBACH (Accompanist) Jerry is one of the busiest musical directors in LA with twelve Ovation nominations (2006 win), seven Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nominations, and two Garland Awards. He has accompanied a variety of artists including Marilyn Horne, Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Carol Burnett, Adam Lambert, Nancy Wilson, Lainie Kazan, John Lithgow, Judith Light, Paul Gemignani and Mel Brooks. Southern California credits include
Mel Brooks Live at the Geffen (filmed for HBO), World premiere of
Wishful Drinking, Stephen Sondheim's 75
th Birthday Concert at the Hollywood Bowl,
Grey Gardens, (associate conductor, Ahmanson Theater),
I Only Have Eyes For You (arranger/musical director, Montalban Theater),
Sondheim on Sondheim, Closer than Ever (International City Theater),
Love, Noel, Enter Laughing (Wallis Annenberg Center). Broadway/National Tour credits as associate conductor for
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Merlin, and
The Tap Dance Kid,
Les Miserables (LA company) National tour
Song and Dance. He's an adjunct professor at Cal State University for over eight years and was musical director at the Jerry Herman HS Music Theater Awards held at the Pantages Theater for four years. As a songwriter/composer, Jerry has contributed songs to three Ringling Brothers' Circuses,
Heartbeats (with Amanda McBroom),
A-5-6-7-8! (with Faye Greenberg),
Club Mom (with Elin Hampton) and
Biting Broadway! (with Jordan Beck, Richard Hochberg). His song (written with Faye Greenberg) "Mary," a tribute to Mary Tyler Moore, was sung by Eric McCormack on the 2004 TVLand awards in the presence of the original cast of the landmark sitcom, one of the thrills of his life. Jerry recently accompanied a nine week run of
An Evening With Groucho at Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
Account Phone Number