''Animal Crackers'' is a

musical play Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

with music and lyrics by

Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early ag ...

and

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.George S. Kaufman George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and other ...

and Morrie Ryskind. The musical starred the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

Original production

''Animal Crackers'' opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

on October 23, 1928, at the

44th Street Theatre The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 216 West 44th Street in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It opened and operated for three years as the Weber and Fields' Music Hall. Its rooftop theatre, the Nora Bayes Theatre, present ...

, and closed April 6, 1929, running for 191 performances. The musical was produced by

Sam H. Harris Sam Henry Harris (February 3, 1872 – July 3, 1941) was a Broadway producer and theater owner. Career Sam Harris was born on Manhattan's Lower East Side to poor Jewish parents. After a stint as a cough drop salesman and boxing manager, Harris' ...

, staged by Oscar Eagle, and starred the four

and

Margaret Dumont Margaret Dumont (born Daisy Juliette Baker; October 20, 1882 – March 6, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films; Groucho Marx called her "practically ...

in the Brothers' second Broadway hit. Hermes Pan appeared as a chorus boy. The play was filmed in 1930 with most of the principal leads repeating their roles from the stage production, and most of the musical numbers cut. After '' The Cocoanuts'' ran for almost three years at the Lyric Theatre, the "anarchic" ''Animal Crackers'' became the third and last Broadway show for the Marx Brothers (''

I'll Say She Is ''I'll Say She Is'' (1924) is a musical comedy revue written by brothers Will B. Johnstone (book and lyrics) and Tom Johnstone (music). It was the Broadway debut of the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Groucho, Harpo Marx, Harpo, Chico Marx, Chico, and ...

'' was the first). It would be their last stage show, after which they focused on film.

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

's heyday was finishing, as talking movies were beginning to become popular. While the Marx Brothers performed in ''Animal Crackers'' in the evenings, they were busy during the day filming '' The Cocoanuts'' at Paramount's Astoria Studios in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeas ...

Song list

;Act I *Opening :Hives and Dancers :The Maids — The Sixteen Markert Dancers :The Guests — Ensemble *"News" — Wally Winston and the Sixteen Markert Dancers *"

Hooray for Captain Spaulding "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" is a song, composed by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby originally from the 1928 Marx Brothers Broadway musical ''Animal Crackers'' and the 1930 film version. It later became well known as the theme song for the Grouch ...

" — Hives, Jamison, Mrs. Rittenhouse, Captain Spaulding and Ensemble *"Who's Been Listening to My Heart" — Mary and John *"The Long Island Low-Down" — Wally Winston and Grace *"Go Places and Do Things" — Ensemble *Dance *"Watching the Clouds Roll By" — Mary and John *Piano speciality — Emanuel Ravelli ;Act II *"When Things Are Bright and Rosy" — Wally Winston and Arabella *Reprise — Mary and John *"Cool Off" — Grace and Ensemble *The Royal Filipino Band *Harp speciality — The Professor *"Four of the Three Musketeers" — Spaulding, Jamison, Ravelli, Professor *Finale — Company *" Three Little Words" † ‡ *"

Oh By Jingo! "Oh By Jingo!" (also "Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee You're The Only Girl For Me"), is a 1919 novelty song by Albert Von Tilzer with lyrics by Lew Brown. The song was featured in the Broadway show " Linger Longer Letty", and became one of the biggest T ...

" (by Lew Brown and Albert von Tilzer)† *"Show Me a Rose" ‡ *"The Social Ladder" † *" I Wanna Be Loved by You" †† *"Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You)" †† *"The Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me" ††† *"Everyone Says I Love You" ††† † added for Goodspeed production
‡ added for Arena Stage and Paper Mill productions
†† added for Paper Mill production
††† added for the Goodman production

Original 1928-9 Broadway cast

*Reprised the role in the film adaptation. **Character not in the film adaptation.

Later productions

The musical was revived in 1982 at the

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

, Washington, D.C., directed by Douglas C. Wager and choreographed by Baayork Lee. It was also revived in 1992 by Goodspeed Musicals, Connecticut. A production in 1993 at the

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live i ...

, New Jersey, was notable for being

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

's first professional role. It was produced in the U.K. by the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre, where it was first mounted as part of the 1995–96 season, running from the 21st of December until the 3rd February. It was then revived at that theatre's Swan Street Studio from 12 March to the 14th April 1998. It was taken on tour, and played the Sculpture Court of The Barbican Centre in a circus tent in June 1998; after further touring, it transferred to the West End at the Lyric Theatre, opening on March 16, 1999, and closing on May 15, 1999 (the run brought to an early close, having been booking until September). Starring were Ben Keaton (Spaulding),

Toby Sedgwick Toby Sedgwick (born 16 August 1958) is a British movement director, actor and theatre choreographer. He achieved critical acclaim for his expressive " horse choreography" for life-size puppets used in ''War Horse'' (2007), which played at Wes ...

(the Professor), Joseph Alessi (Emanuel Ravelli), and Jean Challis (Mrs Rittenhouse). ''Animal Crackers'' was produced to open the 2009–2010 season at the

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the la ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, opening September 18, 2009, and closing on November 1. The revival starred

Joey Slotnick Joseph Slotnick (born October 2, 1968) is an American film actor and voice actor. He is known for roles in ''Twister'' (1996), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Elevator'' (2011), ''The Single Guy'' (1995–1997), and ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003-2006). Life and c ...

(Spaulding), Molly Brennan (the Professor), Jonathan Brody (Emanuel Ravelli), and Ora Jones (Mrs. Rittenhouse). In addition, with a cast of only nine, several of the roles were doubled up by actors. ''Animal Crackers'' also ran from May 6, 2011, to June 4, 2011, at

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston The Lyric Stage Company of Boston is the oldest professional theatre company in Boston. Founded in 1974, the non-profit theatre is located in the YWCA building at 140 Clarendon Street. It produces about seven plays and musicals each season and is ...

. "Animal Crackers" opened the 2013 season at the

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

, running from June 26, 2013, to July 13, 2013.

References

External links

*
''Animal Crackers''
- whyaduck {{Marx Brothers 1928 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals set in the Roaring Twenties Original musicals Marx Brothers