BWW Preview: Frank Ferrante's AN EVENING WITH GROUCHO Comes to Rancho Mirage

Palm Springs area residents will have the pleasure of seeing Groucho Marx come alive again when Frank Ferrante brings his one-man show to the Coachella Valley Repertory (CVRep), in the last of CVRep's summer 2015 cabaret series. "Groucho," as played by Mr. Ferrante, will entertain audiences with his zany shtick (is there any other kind of shtick?) for three performances on the weekend of August 28th through the 30th.

For those too young to know, Groucho (Julius Henry Marx to his parents) was the middle of the five Marx brothers, a brilliant comedy team active on stage and in film in the 1930's and 1940's. From 1947 to 1961, Groucho hosted first a radio program, and then a TV show, filled with meshuggeh antics, bad puns, and ad libs. Oh, and there was a duck, long before the AFLAC commercials.

Frank Ferrante, who was discovered by Groucho's son Arthur, originated the off-Broadway title role in GROUCHO: A LIFE IN REVUE (written by Arthur), for which Mr. Ferrante won the 1987 New York's Theatre World Award. Now, he tours as Groucho, speaking in Groucho's New Yawk accent, waving Groucho's trademark cigar, and wiggling Groucho's oversized eyebrows. The two-act comedy consists of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes, and songs, including "Hooray for Captain Spaulding," and "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady." The audience becomes part of the show as Mr. Ferrante ad libs his way through the performance in grand Groucho style, accompanied by his onstage pianist.

AN EVENING WITH GROUCHO will play on Friday, August 28, 2015 and Saturday, August 29, 2015, at 7 p.m. each night, and on Sunday, August 30th, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 each by phone at 760-296-2966 and on the web, at www.cvrep.org. All performances are close to being sold out.

CVRep's regular 2015-2016 season will begin on October 28th, and will consist of four plays, united by the theme of "identity." They are:

HAPPY HOUR, by George Eastman (October 28 - November 22, 2015). This is a humorous and touching look at a son dealing with his aging father's growing inability to live on his own. This will be CVRep's first world premiere of a full-length play. Well-known stage and screen actor Gavin MacLeod and Los Angeles-based actor John Hawkinson play the father and son.

A CLASS ACT, Music & Lyrics by Edward Kleban, Book by Linda Kline and Lonny Price (January 20 - February 14, 2016). This biographical musical about Ed Kleban, the Tony award-winning lyricist for A CHORUS LINE, dramatizes Ed's often hilarious, ultimately heartbreaking journey. Ed's goal was to write both the words and music for a Broadway show, but only after his death of cancer at the age of 48 did his dream come true.

I AM MY OWN WIFE, by Doug Wright (March 9 - March 27, 2016). Before there was Hedwig, there was Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, with whom the playwright conducted interviews over several years. The play tells the fascinating tale of the real-life German transgendered woman who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime, but often resorted to nefarious means to do so.

4000 MILES, by Amy Herzog (April 20 - May 8, 2016). After suffering a major loss on a cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo moves in with his feisty 91-year-old grandmother. Over the course of a month, these unlikely roommates infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately touch each other's souls.

CVRep is located in The Atrium, at 69-930 Highway 111, Suite 116, in Rancho Mirage. Tickets for three and four-play subscriptions are on sale now. Ticket sales for individual productions will begin on September 2nd.