My deadlines and I could ill afford the trek but I had to do it, had to drive down to Brea last night and see Frank Ferrante make like Groucho again. I took along my friend Earl Kress and he was just as impressed as I was, first time I saw Frank. If you knew what a pain it is to drive to Brea, you'd have a good idea of how much I enjoyed the loving and uncanny re-creation of the grouchiest of Marxes that was going on down there.
Abetted by a superb piano player named Jim Furmston, Ferrante walks on stage, turns himself into Groucho and proceeds to Groucho all over that stage for about 90 minutes. He tells great anecdotes as Groucho. He sings and dances as Groucho. Most impressively, he talks with the audience, ad-libbing as Groucho. The best compliment I can pay the guy is to say that in all three categories, he succeeds.
It's quite amazing. I suppose that with enough work, a decent stage performer could master the Groucho moves and learn all those anecdotes. A decent mimic could replicate the voice. But Ferrante goes beyond an imitation, somehow tapping into something primal and essential about Groucho. About three minutes in, you forget it's a guy in a Groucho suit. It's just Groucho. You don't even wonder to yourself, "Hey, how is he able to think like Groucho?" That's not something a mere impersonator could learn.
What don't I like about the show? Well, I don't like that he does it in outta-the-way (for me) places like Brea, for God's sake. He also doesn't do it often enough. Much of the year, Frank is employed as the lead performer in Teatro ZinZanni, which is a fancy and bizarre show performed in San Francisco and Seattle — Frank's usually in San Francisco — in a nightclub setting. But if and when he Grouchos near you, run and see him. According to his schedule, his next Grouchoing will be July 1 in Clayton, New York and July 8 in Mission Viejo, California. Mission Viejo is like Brea only more so.
Anyway, I'd better stop before you get the idea that I like this guy's show. If he's in your neck of the woods, go. And tell 'em Groucho Mark sent you.