June was quite an active month. Bindlestiff Open Stage at Dixon Place, The Big Apple Circus was losing it’s presence in NYC, Quick Change book was started and Conjuring in Asia got some attention.
“Mr. Diamond himself plays Groucho, and he might as well be Groucho. Matt Roper’s Chico and Seth Shelden’s Harpo are also meticulous, and Matt Walters completes the quartet with the less well-known Zeppo, the male romantic lead in the story but certainly not the center of attention.”
Next..you better get tickets NOW before it is TOOO late!
I was delighted at be able to photograph the show early in the run. I did the NY Fringe Festival two years ago and again this year with the ‘full production’.
Here are some moments for this funny, charming, hilarious, musical, Marx Brothers show!
The chorus line is wonderful!
Matt Roper (Chico), Seth Shelden (Harpo) and Noah Diamond (Groucho) are great!
Singing and dancing and fooling around. What else would you want from an evening of theater?
Noah Diamond (Groucho) in a moment of distress.
Melody Jane (Beauty) sits and watches in amazement at Seth Shelden (Harpo) and Matt Roper (Chico) dance a bit!
Melody Jane (Beauty) sits with Kathy Biehl (Ruby) in the drawing room ‘love chair’.
Melody Jane (Beauty) with Matt Walters (Zeppo) singing one of the original songs from the show.
So many other great shots of the show BUT I suggest you see it for yourself!
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Musical Direction and Arrangements: Sabrina Chap Choreography: Shea Sullivan Directed by: Amanda Sisk
“it reminds us how brightly the Marx Brothers’ brand of lunacy once blazed.”
I usually post ‘The Vaudevisuals Bookshelf’ once a week but this week is ‘Special’.
The publication of Noah Diamond’s new book “Gimme A Thrill“.
I will let you read the text on Amazon since I am a photographer mostly!
A BROADWAY LEGEND OF 1924 Includes more than eighty rare photographs, some published here for the first time. Before they made the films which are their principal legacy, the Marx Brothers were the stars of three Broadway musicals in the 1920s. Two of these, The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers, are popular classics, familiar from the Brothers’ immortal film versions, and from numerous stage revivals. But the boys’ 1924 Broadway debut, I’ll Say She Is, was never filmed or revived, and it slipped through history’s fingers. Although it was the most successful thing the Marx Brothers ever did on stage, it was unseen for ninety years after the original production closed, and has been considered a lost work. In 2009, writer, performer, lyricist, and Groucho Marxist Noah Diamond began a seven-year odyssey which led to the restoration, adaptation, and finally the historic first revival of this legendary entry in the Marx and musical theatre canons. Gimme a Thrill tells the whole story for the first time—the complete history of I’ll Say She Is from 1923 to 2014. Noah Diamond adapted the book and lyrics for I’ll Say She Is and has a long history of playing Groucho, on and off the stage. He is among the organizers ofMarxfestNew York City’s Marx Brother’s festival and has written and lectured widely on the Marxes and their work. With his partner Amanda Sisk, he wrote and produced the Nero Fiddled musicals, a series of political satires. His previous books are 400 Years in Manhattan and Love Marches On.
I first met this very talented Mr. Diamond while shooting an episode of the wonderful series ‘Vaudephone‘ which I co-produced with Trav SD. Here is Noah performing for us “The United Nations Song” for that series.
So now you can see why you should buy this book! Noah is brilliant in whatever he puts his mind to. And by the way you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn’t see the show coming this year.
Noah Diamond plays GROUCHO and also had his hand in recreating the lost Marx Brother’s show “I’ll Say She Is” which is opening at the Fringe Festival in NYC on August 10th, 2014.t 10 – 22
Here is an interview with Noah talking about all things Marx Brothers and the upcoming delightful “I’ll Say She Is” Marx Brothers lost play.
For more information about the play and to get tickets go here.
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Directed and Produced by Trav SD.