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Animal Crackers (Wishcamper Adaptation)

Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  3w, 6m

Book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
Music and Lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
Adapted by Henry Wishcamper

This hilarious 2009 adaptation of the classic Marx Brothers musical features just nine actors portraying a wide array of characters in a rollicking musical farce.

Animal Crackers (Wishcamper Adaptation)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 6m
  • Duration
    Duration
    120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period, Romantic Comedy
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary
This hallmark of Marx Brothers lunacy was revived on stage by Chicago’s Goodman Theater and the Williamstown Theater Festival, among others. Audiences flocked as critics applauded the antics of Captain Spalding and company at Mrs. Rittenhouse's ritzy weekend gathering.
History
Henry Wishcamper's adaptation of Animal Crackers premiered at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in September, 2009. 
HIVES, CHANDLER, ET AL.
MRS. RITTENHOUSE, ET AL.
M. DOUCET, WALLY WINSTON, ET AL.
ARABELLA RITTENHOUSE, MRS. WHITEHEAD, ET AL.
GRACE CARPENTER, MARY, ET AL.
JOHN PARKER, HORATIO JAMISON, ET AL.
CAPTAIN JEFFREY T. SPALDING, ET AL.
EMANUEL RAVELLI, ET AL.
THE PROFESSOR, ET AL.
  • Time Period 1920s
  • Setting The Long Island estate of Mrs. Rittenhouse. The summer before the crash of 1929.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Physical Comedy
  • Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

Pure pleasure: Like Harpo, it’s always got another ace up its sleeve.” – Time Out Chicago

“The sleight of hand on display in the Goodman’s revival of this 1928 Marx Brothers vehicle is staggering, and that’s not even counting Harpo’s card tricks. Wishcamper’s innovation is to whittle the cast down to a hardworking ensemble of nine, all of whom double or triple. The conceit turns the show into a high-stakes game of three-card monte, effectively intensifying the farce.” – Time Out Chicago

“There are moments in Animal Crackers, the gloriously daffy revival of the Marx Brothers’ Vaudeville-era musical that opens the Williamstown Theatre Festival season, when you feel you just might be coming unhinged from reality. The inspired lunacy on the stage, boosted by surreal patter from Joey Slotnick in the Groucho role, achieves the levity and perfect balance of great animation.” – Albany Times Union

“The great strength of capable young director Henry Wishcapmer’s enjoyable and confident new version of this show is that it celebrates its quirky original milieu, rather than add layers of modern, deconstructive comic tension.” – The Chicago Tribune

“If you treasure the Marx Brothers, you're gonna treasure Animal Crackers. Guided by director Henry Wishcamper, the Goodman Theatre re-creates the Marx Brothers as a showbiz act (or phenomenon, rather) and also a period musical comedy, nailing them both.” – Windy City Times

Crackers is pure pleasure: Like Harpo, it’s always got another ace up its sleeve.” – Time Out Chicago

"Adapter/Director Henry Wishcamper has given Chicago a living, breathing, in-this-moment comedy on a grand scale. Animal Crackers at the Goodman Theatre is, simply put, the finest production of musical comedy that I have ever seen. 4 STARS.” – Chicago Theatre Review

Music

  • Musical Style Classic Broadway
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Small/Combo
  • Chorus Size Small

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

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Authors

Morrie Ryskind

Morrie Ryskind, the librettist of Louisiana Purchase, was born in New York City in 1895 and graduated from the Columbia University School of Journalism. His principal collaborator in the theater was George S. Kaufman, with whom he wrote the Marx Brothers musical Animal Cracke ...

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Author

Henry Wishcamper

Bert Kalmar

Bert Kalmar (1884-1947) and Harry Ruby’s collaboration spanned from the 1920s to 1940s, and took them from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway and eventually to Hollywood. Born in New York in 1884, Kalmar performed as a magician in tent shows and in vaudeville before founding a music p ...

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George S. Kaufman

George S. Kaufman was born in Pittsburgh in 1889. During his early career as a reporter and drama critic , he began to write for the theatre. For 40 years, beginning in 1921 with the production of Dulcy, there was rarely a year without a Kaufman play — usually written in coll ...

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Harry Ruby

Harry Ruby (1895-1974) and Bert Kalmar’s collaboration spanned from the 1920s to 1940s, and took them from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway and eventually to Hollywood. Born in New York in 1884, Kalmar performed as a magician in tent shows and in vaudeville before founding a music p ...

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